Best Korean · Best Foreigner · Break-out Player · Strongest Team · Community Effort
Most Memorable Event · Hardest Streak · Transfer Coup · Story of 2012 · Community Poll Results
We cannot not mention how bizarre 2012 was in many aspects. On the background of some of the most exciting displays of competition the scene has ever witnessed we had drama of all kinds, mighty teams disbanding, players getting suspended, transfer coups the size of a mountain finalized, bonjwas playing SC2 (and winning!), legacies forged and legacies destroyed, StarCraft examined by mainstream media and so much more. The whirlpool of stories did not care about viewership numbers, zerg imbalance or if HotS needed saving.
Today, as it is GosuAwards tradition, we look back to some of those storylines as we crown the most excelling players, teams, personalities and events in the business as well as praise the topics that got us all talking. We present to you the winners in all nine categories for SC2 GosuAwards 2012, selected by both the editorial crew and you, our readers!
Never has the StarCraft 2 scene witnessed a rise of such magnitude before the coming of StarTale Life. Just 15 years old, the eSports prodigy appeared out of nowhere and began humiliating players much older and more experienced than him. What started with GSTL or IPTL all-kills here and there developed into career that would feature two royal roads and one ultimate championship in the course of just two months.
It’s very logical to put Life as the best Korean player for 2012 but it wasn’t an easy choice by far. The youngster competed in a tough category with the double World Champion PartinG, the new KeSPA star Rain and the dreaded duo of old-timers MarineKing and DongRaeGu, each with long list of achievements behind their back to support their cause. Yet for the sheer magnitude of his achievement, compared only to Flash’s own royal road in BroodWar, this year’s GosuAward for Best Korean goes to StarTale’s zerg ace.
Runner-up: MVP.DongRaeGu for keeping a very consistent level of ownage throughout the year, spanning over MLG, GSL and OSL events.
Community poll winner: ST.Parting
Community poll runner-up: IM.Mvp
It's simple really, this was Stephano's year. The French Zerg seemed to be everywhere, starting 2012 after a stay in Korea and very quickly hopping on a plane to the US to dominate the scene there by winning NASL Season 3. The travel-win-travel sequence continued from there on and Stephano spent the year touring the world and defeating anyone in his way. Being the main part in one of the years biggest headlines - the transfer from Millenium to EG simply set fire to the scene, with a funny video to watch and ton of discussion.
Following that great story, he carried on to beat one of the year's biggest tournaments - the World Championship Series Europe Finals. His bubbling personality kept Stephano's fans on toes as he supplied a cocky attitude and much controversy and backed it all up with incredible performance. Among his achievements for 2012 include 4th place in HomeStory Cup VI, Bronze at ESWC 2012, Second at ASUS ROG Winter and winning Lone Star Clash 1 and 2. Stephano has proved he has what it takes to compete on the world's greatest stages and remain a cheeky personality with crazy big hair.
Runner-up: Acer.Nerchio for making a lovely name for himself during 2012 winning HomeStory Cup V, DreamHack Bucharest and placing Second at IEM Cologne. He is definitely one to look out for in 2013.
Community poll winner: EG.Stephano
Community poll runner-up: Acer.Scarlett
Life? Again? But yes, dear readers, again, because nobody else broke out as Life did. Spending the first half of the year in the never-winning-anything ZeNEX, Life remained very much in the shadows, surfacing when his team needed him in team leagues. But as few people ever pay attention to those, Life was just that guy that would eventually six pool or nydus you and make for an unorthodox entertainment.
Not until TSL 4 was Life fully recognized, despite his run ending with a silver medal. That put the young zerg in the spotlight just enough so that the audience can get excited for his GSL S4 participation.
Yet little did the audience know that Life will make history (on multiple occasions), walking the royal road twice (at GSL S4 and MLG Fall) and coating his glamorous success by becoming the champion of champions at Blizzard Cup 2012. How is that not the perfect break-out story?
Runner-up: ST.PartinG for ascending to the PvT and PvZ maestro his now is while winning both World Cups for the year. Rumor has it that his defeated opponents still mutter "wonwonwon" in the dark of their cells.
Community poll winner: ST.Life
Community poll runner-up: Acer.Scarlett
It’s not like no one knew who StarTale were before 2012, but if it wasn’t for July and Bomber and the occasional team league victory, the team around Coach Won would’ve easily be missed by most people’s radar. And even until half way through the year it was only Squirtle’s remarkable second places at IPL 4 and GSL Season 2 that put StarTale on the map.
Then StarTale merged with ZeNEX and what came out was the winningest, strongest and scariest team of the year. Not a month went by since August during which either the key players Life and PartinG didn’t rake in top results in any given major tournament. 2012 is the year that catapulted PartinG to the top 10 of overall prize money winners in StarCraft 2 and Life into the top 5 of last year at just 15 years of age.
The reason we awarded StarTale the “Best Team” trophy is not only that they’ve had two of the best players of two different races in their roster. Or that those two managed to so their names printed on so many medals throughout the second half of the year. The reason is that, while last year’s StarTale was doing alright, you can’t write annals of this year without a giant chapter featuring the conquests of this team.
Runner-up: FXOpen because synergy is hard to come by and dominating the most prestigious team league for almost an entire year speaks volumes about their team spirit.
Community poll winner: StarTale
Community poll runner-up: Incredible Miracle
The GD Studio approximates the kind of operation that could succeed only in a movie. Here is a show that is gaudy, irreverent, varied, and often smart, all traits necessary to its success. There is much to be said about 2GD’s peculiar charisma, his strange mix of foul language, honesty and directness that seem drawn directly from the mind of an inebriated man (which he often is) - and also his sense of humor, sometimes brilliant, sometimes disgusting. But James Harding is only part of the GD Studio. Loyal co-host Semmler and regular guests like Apollo and Newman support and elevate the show, rescuing it from Harding’s madness and giving it a relevance and respectability it would otherwise lack. It is precisely this combination of off beatness and professionalism, combining real content with 2GD’s worrying but often amusing mental wanderings, that secured the GD Studio’s nomination and victory.
Runner-up: JP McDaniel Real Talk is an avenue for real thought. It’s a place away from drama and the dissimulation necessary in all types of performance. It’s where personalities cast off their screen presence and let us know their thoughts and opinions, thereby becoming people and not merely images of them.
Community poll winner: The GD Studio
Community poll runner-up: Day[9]
“How did a tournament without any Koreans turn out so great” many people asked after WCS Europe was done. “How would it not” ask we. In a scene traditionally dominated by the Easterners and where a deep run of a foreigner is as precious and rare as a diamond the size of a baby head, Stockholm Arena welcomed a clique of players as diverse and unique as Europe itself.
What helped WCS Europe immensely is that it hit the perfect combination of stories, making viewers sit from the very first to the very last second of the event. One step to the side and it could’ve been just another premier tournament but when favorites fell early, underdogs made it far, community favorites triumphed, brother fought brother and a titan sat on his rightful throne everything clicked to his rightful place. Spiced up with the immaculate, DreamHack-branded production and the combined charm of Rachel, RedEye, Tastosis, Apollo and Kaelaris, WCS Europe is easily the most unforgettable tournament of 2012 as far as we’re concerned.
Runner-up: HomeStory Cup IV for being a worthy successor of the uniqueness that is HSC and giving us .gifs like that.
Community poll winner: WCS Europe
Community poll runner-up: GSL Season 4
It’s pretty obvious that this award can’t go to anyone but Life himself. Not only does this streak include his first major tournament victory, the first instance of a Royal Roader in StarCraft 2 at all, his first appearance at a foreign event, and him towering over all the champions in 2012 in a best-of tournament, he did all while being, basically, a kid.
During his run at GSL Season 4, the youngster lost a total of two maps up until the finals against Mvp, despite facing names such as NesTea, Seed and Symbol in the group stages as well as MarineKing and TaeJa, who himself was at the top of his game, in the bracket. With an enticing 4:3 victory in the grand finals he eliminated the third LG-IM GSL champion in the course of the tournament, displaying complete dominance.
He then went to take on Dallas and his first time abroad proved nothing if not successful. The Championship Bracket saw the most epic comeback by Life in the extended series against Flash. The polite bow before the match seems like a shallow gesture, if you look at how unshaken by the grandeur of his opponent he was. Of course he went on to beat Leenock, whose forté lies not only with ZvZ, but winning MLGs as well.
The final feat of the year for the Zerg prodigy was the Blizzard Cup in which he was given the opportunity to show 2012’s champions who’s boss. He gladly accepted and beat his teammate PartinG to take home the $37,200 in prize money.
Runner-up: MarineKingPrime because, along with his high finishes at the Spring Arena and Spring Championship, he is the one player whose streak covers an entire tournament franchise.
Community poll winner: ST.Life
Community poll runner-up: TL.Taeja
One of the hardest categories to measure, there were some crazy transfers this year. Taking the cake however is The Tyrant's transfer from KeSPA to EG. Nothing could beat the shock of that story, and at the time it seemed the community was simply dumbfounded. KeSPA players were being closely watched by the community, as the great Brood War stars of old make their first steps in SC2.
Jaedong's transfer came so unannounced that it actually caused EG's site to crash as too many fans tried to get at the news. A player of such magnitude, a bonjwa, playing for a foreign team seemed far fetched before JD showed us all he can keep up with the times. This was a precursor to many other Korean players transferring to foreign teams and expanding their fan-base and influence. Jaedong showed us it can be done - truly an inspiration, growing SC2 as a global game.
Runner-up: MC to SK Gaming Coming up just short was MC's transfer from oGs to SK a story that was big for very different reasons. The transfer itself made sense, as MC was playing for SK as per the oGs-SK agreement, and it was only natural for him to transfer full time once the agreement would end. The problem was with the consequences. Due to a lack of strong names that started with MC's departure, oGs disbanded later in the year. This unfortunate state came to be mainly because of MC's decision to leave, and many pointed fingers and were upset. This story was powerful in its own way, and shows us some actions could have dire ramifications.
Community poll winner: Jaedong to EG
Community poll runner-up: Stephano to EG
Sleeping giant, late arrival, KeSPA ruled Brood War with an iron fist and was destined to integrate into Starcraft 2, although the question of when remained unanswered for some time. The implications for this are enormous. If once GOMTV’s sole competitors were western organizations, and the greatest challenge seemed to be getting Koreans interested in Starcraft 2, they now face much steeper competition at home. The problem is not merely having any competitor in their home territory, it’s dealing with a richer, more popular and - for that - more powerful organization.
We will see the fruits of this competition soon, but it may be a terrible yield for everyone but KeSPA. With major sponsorships in Korea being offered by just a few big names, KeSPA’s sheer star power and the wealth they control, GOM will find it tougher and tougher to play the same game even as KeSPA is sure to bring in many of those viewers who remained uncertain about Starcraft 2.
No organization in the world of eSports as we know it today has KeSPA’s standing. The titan may ensure none will develop it.
Runner-up: SlayerS Disbands It takes real work to destroy a team, and of all the newly formed enterprises SlayerS was figured to be the surest to succeed. Instead it was one of the first to fail. Boxer may be building up SK Telecom, but for now his legacy is a broken SlayerS.
Community poll winner: KeSPA Enters SC2
Community poll runner-up: SlayerS Disbands
Community Poll
Results
Results
Editor: Nydra
