Like the title suggests, I perhaps met the Greatest Starcraft player of all time, SlayerSBoxeR, shook his hand, got his picture with me in it, and also his autograph.
Likewise I perhaps also met the best Starcraft Brood War Protoss player of all time, Bisu from SK Telecom T1, shook his hand, got his autograph and a picture.
Last Sunday (08/26) some of my friends and I went to watch the Proleague, and besides that I also got to meet a legend, SlayerSBoxeR.
Through a friend I got in contact with a girl who helped arrange all this. Since Starcraft Brood War (Starcraft 1), is only played one more season, it was last chance for some of them to go, so I brought (some would argue and say forced) them along.
I have for almost two years only watched Proleague on stream or heard/read about it through TeamLiquid, and never in my wildest dreams I thought I would be able to watch it live.
Like I told you, I usually watched this on streams on the Internet, but it is also broadcasted on regular Korean TV. This means that it was actually a Studio we watched it in, and that everything was broadcasted live to Korean television, Youtube and other re-streams around on the Internet.
To spare you the troubles of finding it. 3 minutes in.
The two teams that were playing was "SK Telecom T1" and "Air Force ACE". We got to the studio early to get tickets (free distributed tickets) since our host, the girl who helped me arrange it, wanted us to have the best possible experience, which my friends and I thank her very much for.
The games are played in a best of five format. The first two games are Starcraft 1, and the following three games are Starcraft 2. The games started, and as expected T1 was smashing ACE in the first two matches.
During the first and second match I got help to get Bisu's autograph and picture!
T1 has for a long time been one of the dominating teams in Starcraft 1. ACE on the other hand has never really been that good. Since ACE is the official Korean Air Force's Starcraft team (true story), they also have to work with military related stuff, as compared to T1 players who only has to play Starcraft. So naturally T1 players can practice more.
Even though it might sound as it T1 had it, ACE went ahead and to win the two following matches, one of them really close though. It then came down to the last game, the ace-match.
The last match was a Protoss vs. Protoss match. This means that both players have the exact same means to use against each other. Luckily these matches tend to be full of tension, and when sitting in an audience that sighs when ever something bad happens, and cheer when ever something good happens, it really creates a special mood - an exciting mood!
Here you have it, the ace-match.
T1 won!
Right after T1 won we hurried outside to get a glimpse of BoxeR and hopefully an autograph. After waiting recklessly for 15 minutes, BoxeR came out and lucky me got to meet a living legend.
All in all this has been a really awesome experience, and I recommend everyone to go and watch this live if they have the possibility to do so. Being in a room full of people cheering for their respective teams and players, listening to overly hyped casters commentating and shouting, is just something that everyone with just the slightest interest in Korean culture or gaming should experience.
This you can only find certain places in the world, so if you have the possibility to do so, try and go. My friends do not even care about the game, but they still found it fascinating and exciting to experience.
Credit to 나니 for taking pictures, even though I kinda had to remind her to bring the camera ^^
Starcraft
It is a computer game, and one of the most popular real time strategy games of all time. So popular that there are professional players and sponsored leagues with lots of money to win. Professional players have screaming fan-girls and the best of the best are sometimes just as popular as regular sports stars. SlayerSBoxeR with the biggest official fan club to ever have existed in E-sports (electronic sports), 600.000 members.
To explain it quickly it is kinda like chess, but you do not have turns, which means that everything is controlled in real time. If you cannot relate to this, then try to imagine a war game with to armies that are controlled by each respective player. When a player gets attacked he has to react then and there, since there will not be a "turn" for him to consider what to do next. In short, the faster you are, the more you can to at once, and thereby outplay your opponent.
You start out with a base and some workers. You use the workers to gather resources to build up your infrastructure and army. This can be done in thousands of different ways which is the strategy element in the game.
This video gives an okay idea of what it is
HAHA lol there's quite the difference between "reminding" and "forcing"
SvarSlet