Meet the TL:FE Writers

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
Started reading late 2002, registered 12-9-2003, became staff 31/12/2005.

Brood War Race:
90% Protoss, 5% Zerg, 5% Random.

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
Rainbow, because even though you know he's gonna go Reaver Drop on you in 90% of his games he can still totally fuck you over with it. Plus he's sexy!

Favorite Proleague Team:
SK Telecom T1 without any doubt. Been a fan of whatever team Boxer was in since the beginning, Orion -> 4U -> SKTT1 (I'm not counting Air Force ACE here, because it's only temporary). Also it has 2 of my 3 favourite Protoss players (Rainbow & Kingdom), my favourite Zerg player (Gorush and not even July) as well as my 2nd favourite Terran next to Boxer (iloveoov).

Favorite Past Starleague:
I don't know about the best, but So1 OSL is certainly up there. It had everything, drama, awesome games, etc. After all the criticism Boxer had received about being seemingly bad at TvP he proved everyone wrong and looked stronger than ever in doing so. Only undefeated player after the group phase, 2-0 vs Reach in quarters who was like his TvP nemesis, 3-2 vs Pusan in semis in what was without any doubt the biggest comeback in a series this game has ever seen and then losing so incredibly closely to Anytime, falling to the curse that is the Legend of the Fall for the Terran players. I could probably watch that 4th game of the finals on Neo Forte with the commentators going so nuts as never seen before every week and still enjoy it.

What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
Haven't decided yet nor given it enough thought. Maybe something statistics related? Not sure at all.

Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
Day[9].

Make a Bold Prediction:
Gorush will win the GomTV MSL without giving away a single game.

Would you like Hot_Bid to record ceremonies and upload them to youtube whenever Midas loses?
[Editor’s note: Unfortunately I couldn’t do this, it was taking way too long

]

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
I joined TL on October 21, 2003, but I think I lurked for almost a year prior to that. I joined the staff around, I don't know, October or November of 2006.

Brood War Race:
Protoss, but I usually dodge (or play Terran against) other Protoss players; PvP is the Special Olympics of Brood War.

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
Either Sea or Pusan, but because he plays Protoss, I'll go with Pusan. He's one of the few Protoss players, along with Anytime, who can beat you either straight-up or with something totally non-standard, and unlike Ra and Kingdom, you don't get the sense that he took one look at the map, thought of a strategy, said, "could work, I guess," and immediately used it in a Starleague game.

Favorite Proleague Team:
MBCGame Hero. They just seem like a breeding ground for exciting players. And I use "exciting" literally; their players are just fun to watch. At first, they had no one but July (who's now gone--bummer). Then came Pusan... and Sea... and Light... and Bisu. And every one of those players has a non-standard approach to the game. Hell, even Shark is starting to make Starleagues. And now they've got Sea.Ruby, who has some potential. Teams like KTF and SKT1 seem more focused on buying the services of top players rather than shaping promising, young players into champions.

Favorite Past Starleague:
I'm torn between EVER 1, SKY 2002, and Gillette, but if I had to pick one, I'd probably give EVER 1 the nod. EVER 1 had three of the best Bo5s ever (no pun intended)--and in a single Starleague, no less. Reach vs. oov, especially their games on Mercury, was jaw-dropping. Then there was the final between Boxer and oov, which is the only entertaining TvT series in the history of StarCraft. And finally we had Reach's heroic 3-2 victory over Yellow with double Mercury and Pelenor, without which there would have been zero Protoss players in IOPS. The only disappointment was Boxer's 3-0 bunker rush demolition of poor Yellow. That series had so much potential!

What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
Analyzing and predicting strategies by map and matchup.

Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
Jathin.

Make a Bold Prediction:
Free will win a Starleague before 2009.

How does it feel to be one of the most controversial writers on TL?
It feels really good. If there aren't people out there who disagree with what you're doing, you should probably examine whether or not you're really accomplishing anything.

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
Joined: 26th September 2004, Becamse Staff: Sunday 15th July 2007 when I woke up.

Brood War Race:
Protoss but Terran in and there, but mainly Protoss.

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
Legionnaire. I'm a bit biased considering he is an Aussie, but I simply loved how he played his Protoss. It was natural and fluent. His reaver control was orgasmic as well. I'm sure he has a losing record but who cares. If your reading Peter, Good Work!

Favorite Proleague Team:
OnGameNet Sparkyz. I don't really have a favourite team, so I’ll pick OGN because no one else had picked them. If they got back Draco, released Bifrost and got Casy to be better at TvP, it would be my definite favourite team. I just <3 Yarnc and Lux.

Favorite Past Starleague:
Olympus 2003 OSL. Yellow was all certain the win that coveted OSL but BAM Xellos just comes out of no where and snatches it from him. That's hype for you. It was also the first Starleague I ever followed.

-What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
Various Things.

Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
HonestTea!! Also Koreans like yakii, infinity etc.

Make a Bold Prediction:
Boxer is going to make his own pro team and manage it when he gets out of the army.

Favourite Map?:
I have many. Fantasy is one of them, because of it's new radical concept. Nostalgia because it feels..... nostalgic. And Neo Requiem because it bought many new strategies.

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
Dec. 05, 2005 / N/A.

Brood War Race:
I am, without a doubt, the worst BW player amongst any FE writer. I play whichever race God gives me (Random).

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
This is the hardest question ever. I love them all, and I especially love the ones that havn't won Starleagues. I guess if I had to choose it would be Light. Because I see a struggle in him, he's such a quiet type but one day he's like fuck it I want attention and dyes his hair red. I see you, Light, I see you.

Favorite Proleague Team:
MBCgame HERO. Because POS. Because July. Because July became July Pusan became July Pusan Sea became July Pusan Sea Bisu Light Shark became HERO became Proleague Champions.

Favorite Past Starleague:
So1 OSL. This was the league that brought me back. I had watched since Tooniverse, became a Giyom fanboy and watched the Garimto double. Then, for some reason, I forgot that progaming existed. So1 took me right back and I realized what I was missing. I immediately studied my history and watched all the important moments from the past leagues I had missed. It was Anytime's glory road (and the SKT Terran villains) that showed me how much I had been missing.

What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
The overall scene, the Korean fan scene, the progaming culture (pro personalities, team culture), jacking pgr21 stuff. In general, lots of out-of-game stuff. I won't be much good in strategic analysis, but I like to talk about The Big Picture. Oh, and I'd like to see a Proleague Power Rankings... weekly (thanks to the amount of games they play now). I don't know who would be the man for the job (Carnac?), but it could be a nice feature.

Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
Etter. Insightful and funny. MDT’s Image of the Day / Video of the week.

Make a Bold Prediction:
July will finish his career with a Golden Mouse. Oov will not. And… StarCraft 2 Multiplayer will not be much fun.

Insert your own question (be original!):
Do a team by team comparison between Proleague and another catagory.(Ex: Proleague:NBA = OGN:Golden State = STX:Utah), and give detailed reasons.

Or do the same with the semifinalists in OSL/MSL and individuals. (Ex: Daum OSL Final Four:Animal Kingdom = GGPlay:Alligator, GomTV Season 2 MSL:Starship Enterprize = Bisu:Worf, Progamers:Diner Menu = Midas:Chicken Salad Sandwich)

Shit, that's an essay topic. Fuck that.

As for question...

Which progamer reminds you the most of yourself?
My answer? Pusan.

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
I lurked for a year, joined officially in winter 2003, having barely ever played Brood War. I became staff in summer 2006 for LiquiScoop and became more and more involved since then (if "involved" meant "addicted"). Locked introduced me to Progaming and I ended up loving it.

Brood War Race:
Protoss. Though more and more lately, anti-Terran.

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
Chalrenge, obviously.

Favorite Proleague Team:
I love OGN for Yarnc and Chalrenge, but I'll have to go with CJ. Partly because the company seems classy and really into developing Progaming, launching a second team (is this confirmed?) and the SuperFights, and that they have Savior. I really cheer for Much and Iris too (one of the few Terrans I like).

Favorite Past Starleague:
I am relatively new to Progaming so I'll have to say the only Starleague I watched live, which was Shinhan3. If I was around and watched every single one live, I'd probably pick Ever1. Shinhan3 had a modern ZvT win, and a royal road at that. I'm a sucker for the TvZ matchup, and this one had Savior-Midas, Yarnc-Oov, July-Casy, Yarnc-Nada, Savior-Iris (EPIC game 5) and finally Savior-Nada. As for Ever1, enough people have written about it that I don't need to elaborate.

What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
A lot of really opinionated hype columns, with some stats analysis. Less gameplay, more player and big picture oriented content, as I really don't feel that comfortable with my ability to write about the intricacies of the actual game. I would rather higher tier BW players do that, like Day or Nony, who were great in their Bisu-Savior commentaries.

Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
I wish Mensrea would come back, but of the non-staff, it'd have to be Day. He's so excited in his live reports and commentaries and that sort of craziness and passion really translates well to writing if he can harness it.

Make a Bold Prediction:
When all things are said and done, Savior will be known as the most accomplished, if not greatest, Brood War player of all time.

What would you like to see in Progaming but will never happen?
I want to see a Starleague with a random-map generator, where players get to see the map for 2 minutes before the game starts. Yes, I realize this would basically assure Boxer another Starleague win. I'd also like to see two practice partners play in a bo3 where the winner gets his license and the loser is banned from professional play forever. The first two games are Starcraft and if it's 1-1 they have a wrestling match. CJ you can buy this idea for SuperFight 7 for one million dollars.

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
Joined TLnet 2004-07-10. Became news writer on 2007-03-21.

Brood War Race:
Zerg!

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
YellOw, obviously. There's just something about him. You gotta love him. When he wins 1 game I'm happier than Savior winning 3 finals (and I'm a maestro fan).

Favorite Proleague Team:
KTF. It's got all the old-school favorites, and YellOw. Mantoss, Storm Zerg, Dreamtoss, Gnome Zerg.... and now Flash!

Favorite Past Starleague:
’06 Shinhan-1. It was the OSL when YellOw made it to the top 4. He beat Midas, and GF to get there... and though he lost at the semis it was an epic 5 game match against Casy who was considered number 1 TvZ user. And I will never forget that first game on Cultivation Period. Pure sex.

What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
Not sure yet. A player or league I guess, for the most part.

Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
Manli-festo!!! I just love his work. The AnyTime vs BoxeR reports for the SO1 Finals brought tears to my eyes. But for non-staff.... I dunno, I just love mani.

Make a Bold Prediction:
StOrk rapes the rest of the players and wins both starleagues. (actually, that's not THAT bold... it's very possible).

What’s your opinion on Ceremonies?
It's fun and all but I think some people need to calm down... like FBH. Oh and need to practice more instead of making themselves look like a fool on TV. And only do it when it's a grand victory, not every single time you win a game.... and keep them clean!

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
I made an account in 2004 after lurking around the forums for over a year. The only reason I made an account was to get in on the awesomeness of Emlary's VOD downloads. Now I'm a hopelessly addicted forum goer. Go figure. I joined the staff in April 2006.

Brood War Race:
Protoss, of course! However, my favourite matchup to play is TvP and since 90% of the people I play with are toss players, I end up playing TvP more than anything else, including all of the Protoss matchups combined!

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
Stork. He is, in my opinion, the most dynamic Protoss player around right now. He can play straight up, just like Pusan, except he wins. He can pull cheesy strategic plays, just like TT, but he wins. He's a staple player for Samsung in PL and is currently in the quarter finals in both major tournaments. This young man is no joke and it's pretty clear to me that his little slump last year was caused by nothing more than unfortunate circumstances.

Favorite Proleague Team:
CJ/SumaGO. This team has a long history of creating great players. You might be a fan of SKT1 because of midas, but SumaGO made him a professional. You might be a fan of KTF because of Nal_rA, but SumaGO made him a professional. This team is responsible for bringing so much talent into the limelight in Pro SC over the years that I couldn't justify picking any other one. [Editor’s note: GoRush was also originally Suma GO]

Favorite Past Starleague:
IOPS. This SL represents the lowest point in the history of the Protoss race. One Protoss player qualified, we all know who, and he only made it by winning the third seed in the previous OSL. That means no Protoss players made it through the qualification tournament. From that point on I became a Reach fan as he represented the unflinching and stubborn perseverance of Protoss players everywhere. I realized that the true joy of rooting for a Toss player was the fact that he would always be an underdog. I wouldn't have it any other way.

What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
Giving exposure to great players, games, and even specific plays or moves within past games. With so much Pro SC being played nowadays it's important that the golden moments are given the attention they deserve rather than being lost due to the overwhelming quantity being thrown at us.
Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
Last Romantic.

Make a Bold Prediction:
Stork will win this OSL, beating Reach, Savior, and Bisu. In that order. Not bold enough? He will win 2 of the 3 series' by only one game. Watch it happen.

What got you interested in the world of Professional BW?
A friend showed me a streaming video of Boxer SCV rushing Yellow, in a game that I did not yet know the significance of. As I heard the commentators repeatedly yell out "SUNKEN COLONY!" as Boxer tore apart Yellow's natural expansion, I knew I needed to see more. A couple of Arbiter[frolix] battle reports later, I was hooked.

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
November 27, 2002, became staff a year or so later

Brood War Race:
Random. I think you miss out on 2/3rds of this great game by playing only one race.

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
Jju. To quote FireBlast...

Back then, around about Gilette the three big in form zerg trio were July Gorush and Jju.

Jju is my all time favourite Zerg player. He is kind of the Kingdom of Zerg. When he wins he wins in such entertaining ways, has the talent to beat anyone; one of the only non-Savior zergs to beat an in-form oov (in a stunning 2-0 win, one of which was the famous ensnare on wraiths victory)
Much like kingdom he can really, really blow. Losing two bo5 ZvZ series back to back and choking bad on a few occasions. But he always remained one of the few players to maintain a low econ aggressive style. When Samsung Khan had their bursts of glory, Jju was always their key player alongside the likes of Sigamari and Stork.

I also like how he is always full of expression, when something goes wrong or right you can really tell. I also liked how he was loyal to his roots back at SOUL before he moved to Khan, when Samsung Khan won the first Kespa cup, he was the MVP and said in an interview first thing he wanted to do was buy all his ex-teammates at soul dinner.

<3 Jju the jittery frowning zerg.

- FireBlast!

Favorite Proleague Team:
KTF. I am a sucker for the old school. I like the fact that they are a Protoss style team. There is great team dynamics with old pimps like rA and young guns like Flash.

Favorite Past Starleague:
EVER 1.

1. iloveoov (Terran)
2. BoxeR (Terran)
3. Reach (Protoss)
4. YellOw (Zerg)

Featuring the Boxer 3-0 bunker rush, the oov vs reach EPICNESS, and the most emotionally charged finals ever. I mean game 4... that was simply everything I love about the Boxer/oov battle. Just unbelievable stuff.

What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
Im not sure yet. I think people can add the most value not by seeing what is there, but by seeing what is missing. I hope to contribute in that way.

Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
Mensrea. HonestTea. Aficionado. Uhjoo.

Make a Bold Prediction:
KTF is gonna ride Flash train, supported by the Reach/Yellow 2v2 team and Nal_rA ace, all the way to the Proleague championships. Flash will then reveal himself to be a Midas / Casy hybrid made in the basement of the KTF headquarters.

Has all this been worth it?
Yes it has.

Date Joined TL / Date Became Staff:
Jan 30, 2006 / approx 1 year [Editor’s note: and 20,000 posts] later

Brood War Race:
Protoss.

Favorite Non-Starleague Winning Progamer:
Freedom.Werra. Maybe it's because I'm writing this after my 3 week hiatus, but no non-SL winner really stands out to me - and it is public knowledge that I am a Freedom fanboi. Being a convert from war3 myself, I simply do not have any choice but to root for this guy. I really do believe that he has the potential to develop into a pretty special player once he gets a firmer grasp of game sense.

Favorite Proleague Team:
Lecaf OZ. So1 finals was the first finals I saw after having made the "switch" to starcraft (I had seen several finals before, such as SKY - but I wasnt particularly interested in sc yet), and as you all know, that series was as dramatic as it could have gotten. Since I did know who Boxer was, and because I almost always root for the underdog, I was intrigued by Anytime's character and play. It didn't hurt that I was in accord with his sentiments during his interview afterwards. Lecaf abuses their ace players like none other in Proleague, constantly fielding Anytime, Jaedong and ForGG, making them a fun team to watch even without this inherent bias.

Favorite Past Starleague:
Shinhan 2005. December 2005 was when I really started following starcraft. Although the So1 finals was the first finals I saw, Shinhan 2005 was the first starleague that I was able to follow throughout its entirity. Even though its ending was anticlimactic, it has secured its place in the beginning of my starcraft enthusiasm.

What will you be focusing on in TL:FE?
I'd like to write about some of the more quirkier aspects of progaming that fancy my interest - rather than that of specific players, matches, etc. I have some ideas, but no spoilers yet ^_^.

Poster you'd most like to see become a guest writer:
Klogon. I just sense that he would be able to offer us something pretty unique.

Make a Bold Prediction:
By the end of 2010, there will be another TV network other than OGN and MBC that will be carrying a starcraft league.

What would be your ideal race composition in a Starleague?
8 Terran, 8 Zerg, and 0 Protoss. I firmly believe that this is what it would take for mapmakers and players to wake up from the recent stagnation of Protoss play.

(I do realize Stork and Bisu's brilliant play as of late, but I still feel that this is an extraordinary exception rather than a general trend for the entire race).