AznLiquid's blog

The release of SC2 really isn't too far away, and you can bet that the Korean eSports scene will set up professional leagues and tournaments in no time.

I thought I'd predict some future SC2 champions and reasons why I think they have the stuff to win, along with videos of their SC skills.

Jaedong (Lee Jae-Dong)
SC race: Zerg


Achievements:
1st Place: 2007 EVER OnGameNet StarLeague
1st Place: 2008 GOMTV Season 4 MBC StarLeague
2nd Place: 2008 Arena MSL
1st Place: GOMTV Classic Season 1
1st Place: 2008-09 Batoo OSL
1st Place: 2009 Bacchus OSL (third person to win 3 OSLs)


Jaedong is a monster, even his nickname in Korean is The Tyrant. He won 3 OSLs in less than 2 years, Nada and July took 4 years each. This man just tears through people in best of 5's (he has only lost 3 of them ever). And sometimes, he will win games with only Mutalisks, just because he can. His mechanics* are simply just better than everyone else, and will have no problem transitioning to SC2. You can expect him to do some crazy micro with the new air units.

Also, at only 19 years old, JD still has a solid 6-7 years before mandatory Korean military service, plenty of time to grab some SC2 championships.

*Mechanics in Starcraft terms: is your skill in micro, economy managements. It correlates to your mouse/keyboard control

Jaedong's recommended games
ZvT: vs Flash


ZvP: vs Bisu


ZvZ: vs Zero



Moon (Jang Jae-Ho)
WC3 race: Night Elf


Achievements (WC3):
1st Place: 2003 MBCGame Prime League 2
2nd Place: 2003 MBCGame Prime League 3
1st Place: 2004 WCG Grand Final
1st Place: 2005 MBCGame Prime League 5
1st Place: 2005 MBC Warcraft League 1
1st Place: 2005 World E-Sports Games Season 1
1st Place: 2005 WEG Season 2
1st Place: 2006 Digital Life Tournament
I'll stop here, his achievements are literally too numerous to list.


Moon is the most accomplished Warcraft 3 player, very much like Starcraft's own NaDa. He will make the switch to Starcrat 2 and according to rumours, is already smashing SC progamers left and right. We'll see how Moon will compare to the other players on the list once the game is finally released.



SlayerS_`BoxeR` (Lim Yo-Hwan)
SC race: Terran


Achievements:
1st Place: 2001 Hanbitsoft OSL
1st Place: 2001 Coca-Cola OSL
1st Place: 2001 WCG Grand Final
2nd Place: 2001 SKY OSL
2nd Place: 2002 WCG Grand Final
1st Place: 2002 KPGA Tour (later turned into MSL)
2nd Place: 2002 SKY OSL
3rd Place: 2003 Olympus OSL
2nd Place: 2004 EVER OSL
2nd Place: 2005 So1 OSL

If you don't know BoxeR, you must be new to this game because even casual fans are familiar with his games. While he may lack the mechanical skill of modern players like Jaedong and Flash, he has a creative mind like no other. During the early years of SC2, he will show us some crazy builds and do well in tournaments. He has stated that no one is taking SC2 as seriously as himself.

BoxeR's recommended games
TvT: vs HiyA (complete mindrape)


TvP: vs AnyTime


TvT: vs iloveOOv (perfectly timed, perfectly executed)



Savior (Ma Jae-Yoon)
SC race: Zerg


Achievements:
1st Place: 2005 UZOO MSL
2nd Place: 2005-6 CYON MSL
1st Place: Pringles Season 1 MSL
1st Place: Pringles Season 2 MSL
1st Place: 2006-7 Shinhan Season 3 OSL
2nd Place: 2006-7 GOMTV Season 1 MSL



The first ever Zerg 'bonjwa' (informal Korean term loosely meaning "the best"). During his prime, no one played Starcraft like Savior did. Particularly in the ZvT matchup, he always made just enough units to fend of a Terran force, while playing very economy-heavy with excellent Defiler casting to boot. His ZvP was simply unbeatable in a best of 5 for 2 years until Bisu revolutionized the matchup. MJY has been slumping since 2007, but if he brings even a portion of his brilliance he will dominate SC2.

Savior's recommended games
ZvT: vs iloveoov (completely dismantled the former bonjwa)


ZvP: vs Nal_rA (just one example of his godlike ZvP)



Bisu (Kim Taek-Yong)
SC race: Protoss


Achievements:
1st Place: 2006-7 GOMTV Season 1 MSL
1st Place: 2007 GOMTV Season 2 MSL
2nd Place: 2007 GOMTV Season 3 MSL
3rd Place: 2007 EVER OSL
1st Place: 2008 Clubday MSL
1st Place: 2009 GOMTV Classic Season 2

The only Protoss with 3 prestigious individual league titles (MSL or OSL). He used to win games purely from his great multitasking abilities, this will play an important role in SC2 with so many different units made for harrassment. His mechanics are also almost on par with Jaedong's. He could possibly be the only decent Protoss in SC2 for a while.

Bisu's recommended games
PvZ: vs Jaedong


PvT: vs Flash


PvP: vs Stork