The time has come for the WCG Grand Finals to take place, where the StarCraft stars from all over the world vie for dominance. Out of all the stars out there, one star is currently shining brighter than them all: Song ByungGoo
Photo by: fomos.kr
The Past Is Silver
Anyone who has followed Stork's career will agree that the fates have not looked too kindly on the Dinosaur Toss. His skill and ingenuity have brought him to several finals in various tournaments, but again and again he has only managed to claim the silver while the gold has continued to elude him. It is clearly not his skill or talent that has failed him in these moments, just watch his play throughout the rest of the tournament in question for confirmation of this. No, there's always been something else that has stopped him just short of the finish line.
His first rendezvous with the silver medal was in 2007, July the 17th, where he faced Bisu in the MSL finals. After a grueling series Bisu finally finished Stork off on the map Loki and won with the score 3-2. The bitter taste of silver was not to Stork's liking. He then stormed through the Ever OSL later that year, only to meet his demise at the hands of the Legend Killer Jaedong. Fans and experts alike had seen Stork defeat Jaedong earlier in the tournament and thus they predicted a decisive victory for the cunning Protoss player. Stork was apparently not disheartened by his loss; After all, he'd reached the finals in both starleagues and he was determined to do so again and claim the victory at long last.
Alas, this was not to be.
Prior to the Bacchus OSL in 2008 Stork encountered his future opponent in the finals, Flash, in the GomTV Star Invitational. Stork's carrier play was one of his most feared weapons, especially on some of the maps that were used at the time. Stork's encounter with the Flash-build in the GSI stopped him in his tracks, and Flash was able to defeat him and take home the tournament. Now that Stork had encountered the anti-carrier build Flash had devised, experts agreed that it would not work against him again. When Flash walked over Stork in the OSL finals 3-0, the disappointment the fans experienced with their Protoss hero was dwarfed by the disappointment Stork felt with himself. Was he doomed with the YellOw curse, a fate of cold silver instead of sparkling gold?
All this being said, as the old saying goes: "Every silver cloud has a golden lining". Stork is not completely unfamiliar with the weight and feel of the gold medal. Last year at WCG07 Stork tore through the competition, only dropping a single game in the group stages, and proceeded to defeat the Chinese Protoss Junchun "PJ" Sha in the finals 2-0.
Obviously Stork's past has been paved with silver. But what about his present?
The Present Is Golden
Photo by: fomos.kr
As October transformed into November this year, the Incruit OSL had culminated into the finals. Once again, Stork had smashed everyone in his path to reach this point. His opponent was a Terran named Fantasy, whom fans have dubbed Boxer Junior in light of his creative and gutsy play. For one player this finals meant an end to a long streak of silver, for the other it meant being the third Terran player ever to walk the Royal Road. The matches were intense and exciting. Stork took the first two games, then lost twice, leaving only one deciding game to determine the winner. Surely visions of silver medals and shameful defeat flashed through Stork's mind at that time, increasing the already intense pressure.
But Stork prevailed. The YellOw curse was broken and Stork strode out of the gaming booth to accept his title to the cheer of his fans. There is no doubt about it, Stork is in terrific shape right now. He has won the OSL and is still in the GomTV Classic. Only two days after his victory in the OSL it was time for the next challenge. On November 3rd the Korean WCG team left for Cologne to prepare for the WCG Grand Finals 2008. The Samsung KHAN coach stated: -"After Song ByungGoo won the Starleague, he didn’t even rest and started practicing for WCG". She also added "He doesn’t want to have to play with Lee JaeDong, but he will still do his best to make winning WCG again possible."
Should Stork win at WCG this year, he will be the second player in history to take home the WCG Grand Finals twice in a row. Considering the shape he is in right now, this scenario is not that far fetched either. In an interview with WCG he states: -"I am really glad that I can participate 2008 Grand final as well. As a Korea StarCraft national representative, I feel really honored."
This year Stork shares a group with players such as Draco and Luo "Legend" Xian, as well as with nePh_Maix_AVG from Slovakia and fiRe)TempLar from Uzbekistan. His confidence is riding high, and upon being asked about his preparations for the matches he states:
-"I know those players because some of them played in some leagues in Korea. I plan to play just as I play, and I feel kind of relieved because my teammates will easily analyze those players and let me know their playing styles, since they had played in Korea".
He admits it will by no means be a cakewalk for him however.
-"I do think it will be very challenging to win all the league matches this year as well, since I am in a pretty tough group. From the experience of joining previous WCG and WWI, I know there are really good players around the world, and it is never easy to play with them".
How well Stork ends up doing in WCG this year remains to be seen. Things are apparently already somewhat difficult, as the youth hostel he is in housed lacks an internet connection, so Stork has been forced to play practice games against the computer on a laptop. His first match will be against Legend on November 7th at 12.00 CET. His next match against Draco will be streamed, so make sure to head on over to the WCG webpage at 13.00 CET to watch the two Protoss players collide.
Links
wcg.com - Schedule
teamliquid.net - Source
fomos.kr - Source - Translation by johnhoi
