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

Jason Lee

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…

Jason Lee

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…

Jason Lee

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

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

Sep

Bisu climbs to top of KeSPA ranking

Filed under: Bisu, FirebatHero, GGplay, Hwasin, IriS, kespa ranking, Light, NaDa, RTS, sAviOr, Sea, starcraft, Stork

Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong has finally pushed Ma “sAviOr” Jae Yoon off the top of the KeSPA ranking. Song “Stork” Byung Goo, the WCG Korea runner up, also pipped sAviOr who is now ranked third among the best StarCraft pros.

Bisu is one of the two Protoss players that have managed to beat sAviOr in the last year. He was dubbed the sAviOr killer for his ability to handle (arguably) the best Zerg player so well. Continued…

3 Comments

Aug

sAviOr vs. Hwasin, Stork vs. Free or Sea for WCG tickets

Filed under: Free, Hwasin, IloveOOv, JulyZerg, Midas, RTS, sAviOr, Sea, starcraft, Stork, WCG 2007, WCG Korea

WCG Korea for StarCraft, the fiercest World Cyber Games qualifier, is now almost down to the final four. The players that will battle for three tickets to the finals in Seattle are Hwasin, Stork and sAviOr. Either Free or Sea will join the club tomorrow.

Not one of the players that qualified for the WCG last year, incidentally, they took all three medals for StarCraft, will make it to the WCG this year. The 2006 gold medalist IloveOOv and the bronze medalist Midas were knocked out in the top 16. Continued…

5 Comments

Aug

Another giant out of WCG Korea

Filed under: AnyTime, Free, Hwasin, JulyZerg, Light, Much, NaDa, Nal rA, RTS, sAviOr, Sea, starcraft, Stork, WCG 2007, WCG Korea, Yellow

IloveOOv on Monday, Bisu on Tuesday… The time has come for Lee “NaDa” Yoon Yeol, the only three times Starleague winner on the planet. Today, he was another giant to be eliminated from the Korean World Cyber Games qualifier for StarCraft.

Two out of the remaining four top 16 matches were played today. In a Terran mirror match, NaDa lost 2-0 to Yum “Sea” Bo Sung. The current number one in StarCraft, Ma “sAviOr” Jae Yoon, has gone through at Park “Yellow[ArnC]” Myung Soo’s expense. Continued…

1 Comment

Aug

Bisu, Midas out of WCG Korea

Filed under: AnyTime, Bisu, Free, Hwasin, IloveOOv, JaeDong, JulyZerg, Light, Lyn, Midas, Much, NaDa, Nal rA, RTS, sAviOr, Sea, SoJu, Spirit Moon, starcraft, Stork, warcraft 3, WCG 2006, WCG 2007, WCG Korea, WhO, Yellow

The legendary Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong and the World Cyber Games 2006 bronze medalist Jun “Midas” Sang Wook will not be going to the U.S. consulate in Korea any time soon. They were knocked out of the WCG qualifier for StarCraft today and will not be going to the finals in Seattle.

Tuesday was the second day of the WCG Korea top 16 stage. Two matches took place: Bisu lost to MBCGame HERO teammate Lee “Light” Jae Ho 1-2 after taking the lead in maps. Midas lost to Yoon “Free” Yong Tae, also 1-2. Continued…

3 Comments

Aug

WCG champion IloveOOv out of WCG Korea

Filed under: AnyTime, Bisu, Free, Hwasin, IloveOOv, JaeDong, JulyZerg, Light, Midas, Much, NaDa, Nal rA, RTS, sAviOr, Sea, starcraft, Stork, WCG 2007, WCG Korea, Yellow

Choi “IloveOOv” Yun Sung, the World Cyber Games 2006 champion for StarCraft, was knocked out of the 2007 WCG qualifier today by Park “Much” Yeong Min in the top 16 stage. The champion of last weekend’s WEG e-Stars 2007 tournament, Lee “Jaedong” Jae Dong, will not live to see the quarterfinal as well. Continued…

1 Comment

Aug

WCG Korea in StarCraft is down to sixteen

Filed under: AnyTime, Bisu, Free, GGplay, Hwasin, IloveOOv, IriS, JaeDong, JulyZerg, Light, Midas, Much, NaDa, Nal rA, RTS, sAviOr, Sea, starcraft, Stork, WCG 2007, WCG Korea, Yellow

The Korean World Cyber Games qualifier for StarCraft is now well underway with sixteen players left playing for tickets to the finals in Seattle. It is a preliminary that defies the meaning of the word “qualifier,” as it is the only national tournament that is actually more difficult to win than the WCG itself.

Only a handful of players from abroad would have made it to the top 16 of this competition. A good indicator of this qualifier’s difficulty is the fact the winner and the runner up of Starleague, Kim “GGplay” Joon Yung and Byun “IriS” Hyung Tae, are already out at this stage. For those that do not know, Starleague is one of the two most prestigious events in StarCraft for solo players. Continued…