Game One – Bomber vs Sting – 1/5
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Game Two – 4.5/5
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Game Three – 2/5
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Game Four – 2/5
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Game Five – 2/5
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Game Six – 1.5/5
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Game Seven – 2.5/5
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Game Eight – 2/5
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Game Nine – 3.5/5
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Overall results
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Game One – IM_Yoda vs TSL_Shine – 1/5
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Game Two – 1/5
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Game Three – 2/5
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Game Four – 2/5
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Game Five – 4/5
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Game Six – 1.5/5
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Game Seven – 1.5/5
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Game Eight – 3/5
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Game Nine – 2.5/5
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Overall results
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Spoilers from this week's games inside.

After Bomber's 5 – 0 beatdown of NS HoSeo, on the tail of an ugly 1 – 4 elimination from Code S two weeks ago, I can't help but be reminded of a certain Brood War pro: Yum "Sea" Bo Seong. Wait, who?

In 2006, Sea led the financially challenged but feisty MBCGame Hero to a Proleague championship. Unlike any of the team competition we've seen in Starcraft II so far, Proleague consists of hundreds of games played over a yearlong season, similar to leagues for other sports. Over the 2006 season, Sea had a record of 15 wins and 6 losses, and often anchored his team as its 'ace.' Sea did not lose a single game in the playoffs, and clinched the championship for his team by winning in game seven of the grand finals. In the same period, Sea competed in three individual leagues (two OSLs, WCG Korea qualifier), and was eliminated from all three before the quarter-finals.


You can see where this is going. Ever since he debuted through an incredible Code A run in May of 2011, Bomber's career has been a story of unfulfilled expectations. Bomber is excellent in Code A, foreign tournaments, GSTL and up-down matches. There, he shows the kind of play that we would expect to see from a Code S champion. Yet, when he actually does play in Code S, he just cannot get past the RO8.

There are some key differences in the types of competition available to them, but the resemblance Bomber has is more with the archetype of player Sea represents than Sea himself. A player who has extraordinary skill and can beat anyone in the world, as long as it's not in top flight, Korean singles competition.

It's fascinating that such a type of player exists. The easiest way to explain it is by saying it's down to 'nerves,' which for all its use as a convenient, blanket excuse, is pretty valid. Many pro-gamers have said that pro-gaming is at least half a mental game, and the poor play of otherwise good players in pressure situations is testament to that. Code S, in particular, seems to have a special aura that makes people play below their standards, and Bomber isn't the only Code A phenom to stumble in Code S. It's the other way around for some players. Playing for themselves only, they don't feel enough pressure. Only when they have the expectations of their teammates on their shoulders, do they feel that they must play 100%.

Another part of it is type of preparation. Top Korean singles competition is defined by the long period between matches that gives players ages to prepare. Bomber's blitz through MLG Raleigh, or multi-kill runs in GSTL show that he's great at playing off the cuff. But when you play in Code S, you're in an environment full of so many meticulously planned build orders and cheeses that ten out of twelve finals ended up being borderline unwatchable. For instance, I'm not convinced that MMA was the player with the best micro, macro, or decision making during Code S October, where he won his championship. But he was definitely the most prepared player, and for that, he deserved his Code S trophy.

Of course, there's also just dumb luck. HongUn definitely did some things better than Bomber to make it to the semi-finals of Code S July while Bomber stopped in the RO8 (the famous choke reverse sweep against Byun). Still, you can't say his mentality and preparation were so much better than Bomber's. He had to get a bit lucky as well.

It's one thing to be good at Starcraft II. You need an appropriate combination of the above (and some other stuff) to be good at the one specific kind of Starcraft II known as Code S. Yet, the way Starcraft II culture has developed in the past year or so, the two have erroneously come to be seen as almost equivalent. That's something that needs to change.

The beauty of the team league is that Sea will be remembered as one of the best players of all time. He's been stopped at the RO16 ten odd times in the OSL, but no one will tell you he didn't play Brood War very well, nor will anyone try to tell you he wasn't a successful player. He contributed to his team in a way few players have in the history of Brood War, and he receives due recognition for the fact.

Now, Bomber's been around for less than a year, so I'm not going to say he's never going figure out how to get it done in Code S. But even if Code S stays out of his reach for the rest of his career, and his domain stays limited to all competitions outside of it, it's a better world where his career won't be defined more heavily by disappointment in one tournament over his many achievements in others. There's different kinds of Starcraft II outside Code S, and that many different kinds of Starcraft II to be good at.

As it stands now, the Code S type of Starcraft is disproportionately important. So yes, you could call Bomber a disappointment in Starcraft II so far. But hopefully, that's something the GSTL will change in time. For the Bomber of the present, and the others to come.