GGL Wire

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%).

Indomitable. Invincible. Invulnerable.

Unemployed? After over a year of dominating the headlines — and the opposition — Johan “Toxjq” Quick finds himself facing off against the one opponent that can’t be beat.

The implosion of the World Series of Video Games left a giant vacuum in the Quake scene. Most fans that are left have lost faith that they’ll ever see giant, important competitions like the old days ever again.

Except for one notable exception (first place in i32’s Quake 4 comeptition in early November, worth $5,500), things have been bleak for Toxjq since the WSVG’s demise. His contract with Fatal1ty brand is probably still intact, but keeping him on the payroll to play a dead game is a dubious proposition.

His only remaining hope is to pick up a game that actually has competitions. Tox’s teammate, Stermy, adapted to the situation by signing up for the Championship Gaming Series qualifiers and got himself drafted by the San Francisco OPTX to play FIFA. Could Johan do the same?

“I will continue playing profesionally, but it’s unclear what game I will pick up yet. I’ll keep playing on a pro level as long as I believe it’s fun or worth it,” Johan told me. In terms of any sort of comeback, he didn’t rule out playing in online leagues again as long as it was the right game, with LAN finals.

Despite this optimistic note, Tox also added: “But I gotta say, you lose the inspiration when [organizers] don’t stick with the same games for a longer period of time. Also, you lose trust for organizations and leagues when they announce one thing and don’t stick with it.”

e-Sports legends never die; instead, it’s the organizations and communities that move on. Will Toxjq get left by the wayside like so many other pro gamers?