Flash, Jaedong, Bisu and Stork will play a showmatch series before Stats takes on soO, while fans have high hopes for an HD remake announcement.
March 25 will be a great day for StarCraft enthusiasts all over the world. Blizzard is hosting an event called “I <3 StarCraft” which will see the father of eSports BroodWar be played next to its modern successor StarCraft 2.
When it comes to BroodWar, no line-up is more impressive than the four greats of the late era: Flash, Jaedong, Bisu and Stork, collectively known as TaekBangLeeSsang or TBLS. The quartet dominated the esport between 2007 and its decline in 2011, while Flash and Jaedong defined possibly the richest rivalry in esports to date.
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The reunion of TBLS after the fade-away of BroodWar first happened in the latest season of the Afreeca StarLeague, which also aligned with a curious resurgence of BroodWar’s popularity, especially in South Korea. It’s no secret that StarCraft 2 never took off as a game even in the Mecca of esports and the local fans craved something to bring them back to the old glory days, when poor UI and flawed pathfinding were not an issue, on the contrary—they made for a more memorable experience. ASL 2 gave them that and more: It saw Flash, Jaedong, Bisu and Stork together in the playoffs of a major tournament for the first time in eight years.
TBLS’ appearance at “I <3 StarCraft” won’t be as grand as ASL 2, as the showmatches are in Bo1 and Bo3 format and will only serve to warm up the public for the GSL grand final between soO and Stats. StarCraft fans, however, hope that there’s more to event than Blizzard are revealing.
RELATED: ASL 2 and the significance of TBLS
Recent rumors—first reported by Sports Seoul on March 14 based on industry sources—hinted towards a possible HD remake of StarCraft: BroodWar. According to a translation by Team Liquid’s Waxangel, the project is simply titled “StarCraft: Remastered” and is to feature “high-resolution graphics, as well as an updated Battle.net service”, as well as gameplay that is unchanged from the original.
According to the report, Blizzard is to make an official announcement in Korea and “I <3 StarCraft” sounds like the perfect moment. Naturally, nothing has been confirmed, so it could all be a forlorn hope.
Back in StarCraft 2 land, the very GSL final itself carries a major storyline as Yoon-Su “soO” Eo has now made it to five GSL grand finals. For all his consistency, the Zerg is still searching for his first premier gold and is looking to break the curse of the silver against back-to-back IEM grand finalist Dae-Yeob “Stats” Kim.
RELATED: StarCraft 2’s silver king just qualified for his fifth GSL final
