GGL Wire

Mahmood Ali

Feb

GomTV Star Invitational: Round of 8 Preview

Filed under: AnyTime, BaekmaGoji, Bisu, Blue Storm, Flash, GomTV GSI, GSI, IriS, JaeDong, Katrina, Much, Protoss, SC, Sea, Star Invitational, starcraft, Stork, Teamliquid, terran, Zerg

Group play of the StarCraft GOMTV Star Invitational has concluded, with the two best players from each group advancing to the single elimination brackets. Four Protoss, three Terran, and one Zerg continue to duel for prestige and honor. Only the top players will survive, facing a best of three match in the Round of 8.

The map set follows (as reported by TeamLiquid) :

Blue Storm
Katrina
Baekmagoji

Quick analysis: It’s interesting to see two maps with 1v1 setups, sandwiching Katrina, a very controversial map.

The Matchups

Flash (Terran) v Jaedong (Zerg)

Flash really surprised me. Not only did he win out of his group 3-0, but he managed to really rise up and show everyone why he’s here. Jaedong took a strange loss and came out of his group 2-1. Some experts claim he threw the match to avoid playing his teammate so early on. Either way, these players aren’t going down easy, especially with Jaedong as the only Zerg making it out of group play. Both of them are not ready to back down.

With Jaedong on fire and Flash in shape, expect this to go to three maps.

BlueStorm: Jaedong > Flash
Katrina: Flash > Jaedong
Baekmagoji: Flash > Jaedong

Flash advances (2-1). Continued…

Bisu vs. Sea (Blue Storm)
GGPlay vs. Sea (Katrina)
GGPlay vs. Light (Blue Storm)
Bisu vs. Light (Katrina)
Bisu vs. GGPlay (BaekmaGoji)
Sea vs. Light

Feb

GomTV Star Invitational: Group D results

Filed under: Bisu, GGplay, GomTV, group, Korea, Light, LIVE, Protoss, Sea, starcraft, stream, terran, vod, Zerg

Group D of the StarCraft GOMTV Star Invitational is finished, with two players advancing to the round of eight.

Here’s how it all went down, with video on demand links:

These VODs are not working at this very moment, but will retain the URL links. As always, any VOD casted in English counts toward Tasteless’ future job opportunities in Korea, so watch and show your support.

View below for the spoilers. Continued…

Feb

GOMTV Star Invitational: Group D preview

Filed under: Bisu, GGplay, GomTV, invitational, Korea, Light, LIVE, Protoss, Sea, Shield, star, starcraft, stream, terran, Zerg

Marking the end of group play, Group D continues the StarCraft GOMTV Star Invitational’s best of the best going head to head. The quartet is composed of players whose chances are as good as anyone else’s in the 16-man fight for the title. Before Bisu’s move to SKT1, the group had 3 MBCHero members. The players are all familiar with each other’s styles, meaning some cheese tactics and innovative plays can also be expected.

Cast of Characters

Name: Taek-Yong Kim
Alias: Bisu[Shield]
Race: Protoss
Team: SK Telecom 1 (Recently transferred, originally MBCHero)

Strength: During Savior’s reign, Bisu rose up to become the anti-Savior and dethrone the Zerg Maestro. Each time the players met, Bisu fortified his place in the annals of StarCraft fame. While Bisu’s Dark Templar/Corsair strategy is not entirely new, his technique and skill at its implementation are flawless. Continued…

Feb

GOMTV streams Star Invitational in English — help Tasteless get a job

Filed under: Bisu, Boxer, GomTV, invitational, JaeDong, Korea, Lim Yo Hwan, Ma Jae Yoon, NaDa, nick plott, Protoss, sAviOr, starcraft, Streams, tasteless, terran, vod, Zerg

GOMTV announced in January a special invitational league featuring the top names in StarCraft. Legendary veterans like Yo Hwan “SlayerS_Boxer” Lim and Yoon-Yeol “ReD[NaDa]” Lee, as well as new stars like Jae-Dong “n.Die_Jaedong” Lee will fight it out in the event Feb. 17-20.

Possibly the biggest news about this event comes with GOMTV broadcasting the games live over the internet to American audiences, featuring Nick “Tasteless” Plott as one of the English-language commentators. Tasteless is in the running for a new gig, but won’t make it without the help of his dedicated fans. GOMTV has informed him that any further employment opportunities depend on his viewing numbers. That’s where you come in.

A new GOMTV player has been made specifically for international audiences. View the match schedule here and get ready for some hot Tasteless action. VOD views count toward Tasteless’ views as well.

More info, schedule, and streams can be found at gsi.gomtv.com.

2 Comments

Jan

StarCraft GOMTV Season 4 - Bisu Out! Jaedong In?

Filed under: Bisu, JaeDong, Korea, starcraft

JaeDong Bonjwa? Unstoppable Protoss? After losing to Song “Stork” Byung Goo in the Ever OSL quarter finals, fans have begun to question Bisu’s ability to hold onto his throne.

With the Group B of GOMTV MSL Season 4 taking place on Jan. 3, fans couldn’t have been more excited for the group of death that included Bisu, Jaedong (winner of the most recent Ever OSL), Julyzerg and Yellow[arnc].

First Match: Bisu < Jaedong
Second Match: YellOw[ArnC] < July
Winners: July < Jaedong
Losers: Bisu < Yellow[ArnC]
Final: July > Yellow[ArnC]

Jaedong, after having dismantled Stork 3-1 in the Ever OSL finals, was out to prove that his win this wasn’t due merely to his opponent’s terrible PvZ and that he could take down any Protoss - including Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong. Continued…

1 Comment

Dave Kuniski

Dec

Bisu: The battle for ‘bonjwa’

Filed under: Bisu, starcraft, year in review

The competitive gaming scene in Korea is a lot like the sports scenes of other countries. You can be the man one day and have your name in lights, but get beaten by a razor thin margin the next day and everyone will be second-guessing you. At such high levels of play, there are no second chances. Kim “Bisu” Taekyong is nobody’s scrub, but he’s not the undisputed best StarCraft player in the world, either.The wily Protoss player is coming off a rollercoaster year that saw him win the GOMTV MSL and IEF final among others.

Better still, he “figured out” Zerg dominator Mae “Savior” Jae Yoon this year, and more or less deposed him from the throne of being “bonjwa,” or undisputed top player. Even with this accomplishment (and it’s safe to say most fans didn’t see that coming), he’s still plagued by adversity.

Many say the World Cyber Games Korea qualifiers for StarCraft are harder than the WCG Grand Final. Bisu might agree; he was knocked out of the Korean qualifiers when he lost 2-1 to Light. Can you still be the man even if you don’t get to make the national team for the most prestigious international StarCraft tournament?

What if you lose the GOMTV MSL3 final in what was probably the biggest upset of the year? Can you still be the man then?

Fans may be forgiving, but opponents are rarely so generous. The contender that won the World Cyber Games 2007 Grand Final, Stork, has already proved his point. Bisu is the Korean eSports Players Association’s StarCraft player of the month for December, but Stork just played (and lost) the Ever OSL finals against JaeDong after eliminating Bisu.

As long as he’s at this level of play, Bisu will always be a top player. Whether or not he’s bonjwa depends on who you ask.

Bisu’s 2007 stats: 60 wins - 39 losses (60.61%).

1 Comment

E-Sports

Mahmood Ali

Dec

Stork trumps Bisu, advances to OSL Finals

Filed under: Bisu, JaeDong, starcraft, Stork

Song “Stork” Byung Goo has advanced to the StarCraft Ever OSL Finals after defeating 3 time MSL winner Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong. The two protoss players met in a best of 5 match up with Stork winning 3-0 on the maps Persona, Fantasy II and Blue Storm.

Stork playing StarCraft at the World Cyber Games 2007 Grand Final

Stork takes on Lee “Jaedong” Jae Dong next Saturday, Dec. 21 for the finals in a Best of 5. The runners up, Bisu and Shin “Upmagic” Hee Seung, will meet for the 3rd place match on Tuesday Dec. 18th.

VODs will be availible at www.youtube.com/jon747 within the next few days.

3 Comments

EG @ Spike TV’s Scream Awards 2007 - Part 2

Dave Kuniski

Nov

Thursday Story Roundup

Filed under: Bisu, Epileptic Gaming, i32, KeSPA, Quake, scandal, Spike TV, Warhawk, WCG

At last! Warhawk v1.1 patch coming Nov. 1

Update: $20,000 Quake 4 competition confirmed at i-32 LAN with invite list

Bisu ranked KeSPA’s no. 1 for November

Referee blogs about WCG scandals

i32 changes Quake 4 tournament prizing

News

Erik David Even

Nov

Bisu ranked KeSPA’s no. 1 for November

Filed under: Bisu, Free, GGplay, Hwasin, IriS, JaeDong, kespa ranking, NaDa, sAviOr, Sea, starcraft, Stork

KeSPA has released its ranking of StarCrraft professionals for November. The world’s most fearsome Protoss, Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong, is back on top of it.

The Koren eSports Players Association, among other activities, runs a ranking of the best SC players in the country. It is a calculation of points awarded based on winning percentage of players in major and minor events that took place within the past three months.

After a one-month stint in fourth place, the “Zerg killer” Bisu has regained his lead in the ranking. Other than Bisu pipping Song “Stork” Byung Goo for first place, there were very few significant changes in the top 10. Ma “sAviOr” Jae Yoon, August’s leader, is staying in a safe third place.

See the ranking below:

1. Bisu (Protoss) +1
2. Stork (Protoss) -1
3. sAviOr (Zerg) -
4. IriS (Terran) -
5. Hwasin (Terran) -
6. Sea (Terran) -
7. GGplay (Zerg) +1
8. free (Protoss) +3
9. NaDa (Terran) -2
10. JaeDonG (Zerg) -

8 Comments

The Carmac

Oct

MBCGame StarLeague heats up

Filed under: Bisu, Hwasin, MBCGame StarLeague, sAviOr, starcraft, Stork

While the World Cyber Games is still being discussed around the world, South Korea has already moved on. Sixteen of the deadliest StarCraft players in the world meet in the GomTV MBCGame StarLeague this week.

After the group stage, the first round of playoff games starts with an absolute hit - the World Cyber Games StarCraft champion Song “Stork” Byung Goo will meet the legendary Ma “sAviOr” Jae Yoon. Another very hot game would be that between Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong and Jin “Hwasin” Yung Soo. Continued…

13 Comments

The Carmac

Oct

Stork climbs on top of KeSPA ranking

Filed under: Bisu, FirebatHero, GGplay, Hwasin, IriS, JaeDong, kespa ranking, NaDa, sAviOr, Sea, starcraft, Stork, WCG 2007

The Korean eSports Players Association has published October’s edition of their StarCraft rankings. On top of it for this month is Song “Stork” Byung Goo, but only 2.4 points ahead of Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong.

The KeSPA ranking one of the most prestigious rankings in competitive gaming in general, even though it is only for players that play in professional StarCraft leagues in South Korea. Regularly televised, those happen to be the most lucrative and the most difficult in esports. Continued…

6 Comments