“I wouldn’t describe the series as epic, or any of the game as unforgettable. It was more like watching an adult play checkers against a four year old kid.”
“It’s like being a pop sensation: one minute you’re selling out the Staples Center with tens of thousands of teen girls crying at the mere sight of you; and the next minute you’re on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.”
In traditional sports, champions get to hang onto their title for at least a year. Their seasons don’t start and end every few weeks. But in StarCraft II, a GSL champion’s reign can be just a flash in the pan. Like we witnessed with IMMvp, a player can go from the pinnacle of their sport to getting knocked down to Code A in a matter of weeks. And when you consider all the other major tournaments popping up all the time, players have countless opportunities for both awe-inspiring success and for disappointing failure.
By winning his second GSL in the span of three seasons, oGsMC has solidified himself as our current “best player in the world” and also, probably the best “best player in the world” that we’ve had so far. His play looked virtually flawless in the finals of the GSL. He made beating July look routine, like it was something he could do in his sleep. I know there were some nuances to what he was doing, such as the fake expansion into surprise 4gate rush. But to the untrained eye, it looked like he was using Day9’s strategy of “just go effing kill him”. And it was working beautifully. At a basic level, he was simply making a handful of gateway units and rolling over July.
I wouldn’t describe the series as epic, or any of the game as unforgettable. It was more like watching an adult play checkers against a four year old kid. The adult would win in absolutely dominating fashion but no one would be talking about how awesome the game was. That’s a complement though. Making a GSL finals look so easy that it’s almost boring is incredible.
MC’s our champion now, but in StarCraft there’s no time to relax and enjoy being on top. The next tournament is always right around the corner, offering up a chance to fall from your pedestal. There’s the TSL3, the next season of the GSL and various other invitationals on the horizon. Everyone’s looking for their shot to take down the champion. It’s like being a pop sensation: one minute you’re selling out the Staples Center with tens of thousands of teen girls crying at the mere sight of you; and the next minute you’re on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew talking about your addition to prescription pain medication. At least you might get to meet Gary Busey.
Consider ‘N Sync. In the late 1990s, they were arguably the biggest musical group on the planet. Then just a few short years later they went on “hiatus” and have not released an album since. Besides Justin Timberlake can you even name another member of the band? Okay, maybe Lance Bass, but you had to think about whether he was a Backstreet Boy instead didn’t you? At one point ‘N Sync broke the all time record for album sales in a single day. Now, we need to google them just to remember who they were. Will MC be a Justin Timberlake, who manages to stay relevant and in the spotlight, or a Chris Kirkpatrick who you’ve probably never heard of unless you were a 14 year old girl in 1998?
If you ask MC, he’d probably tell you that he’ll be on top for a while. He knows he’s the best and doesn’t see that changing anytime soon, saying things like “I've heard White-Ra is a successful Protoss player abroad. However, I'm the best Protoss player in the world” and after his win in the first round of TSL3, “There was indeed, not much to [Ciara]... I felt comfortable all game, and because I was watching him with observers I didn't feel like I was in danger at all.” I love the confidence bordering on arrogance and I wish I understood Korean, because I imagine that some of the subleties that get lost in translation would be priceless too.
Just as seasons happen much more quickly in SC2 than in traditional sports, the rules change and the meta-game shifts frequently as well. For MC to remain on top, I’m sure he will need to adjust to new tactics and new strategies that his opponents throw at him. Similarly, Justin Timberlake had to adjust to no longer being part of a boy band and to being dumped by Britney Spears. Through the adversity, he managed to launch a surprisingly successful acting career and legitimized himself with his role as Sean Parker in The Social Network. Will the removal of khaydarin amulet be MC’s breakup with Britney Spears? Who will be his rebound chick?
Whatever the future has in store for MC, it’s great to have “best player in the world”s. The rise and fall of champions helps us write the history books in every sport. We just write them a lot faster in eSports.
Woody "soso" Favinger is the author of The soso column, published every Wednesday on GosuGamers.net. You can contact him via email at [email protected] or follow him on twitter at twitter.com/wfavinger
