Sense of Star

Over the past few weeks, as I watched through the Ongamenet Starleague, I noticed a certain person standing by the gaming arena. He was well-dressed, looked sharp, and had a very calm composure. He looked familiar. Was he a commentator from long ago, or perhaps a coach in a progaming team? All of a sudden I remembered who he was.

[z-zone]byun. An old-gamer from the archaic days of Starcraft history. The legendary Zerg user of antiquity, known as the Father of the Offensive-Style Zerg. During the period when macromanagement, expansion, and execution were the trend for the Zerg, Byun created low-economy, micromanagement-intensive plays that pierced the weaknesses of the opponents. His destructive, blitzkrieg-style plays still continue to breathe in other progamers today. The "Storm Zerg" YellOw developed the style to include more intensity, with waves of onslaughts on the opponent, while the "God of War" July[z-zone] stretched the limits of micromanagement with savage and abusive tactics.

"Shut up and 9-drone." This notorious phrase by Byun characterizes his style precisely. Forget about the greedy, macro-oriented plays that are so common in the progaming world today. Enter the raw, carnal mind of the Zerg and maximize the aggressive traits to barrage the enemy with unending assaults. And so he did, particularly decimating the Protoss, even crushing Guillaume Patry countless times, who was the dominant Protoss at the time. Though it's hard to determine who the originator was for certain Zerg unit combinations such as mutalisks & zerglings, most agree that Byun innovated the three-hatchery hydra wave and first used the 5-drone-spawning stratagem, which was heavily controversial at the time. It was even rumored that Byun was able to end the game whenever he desired.

Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, Byun retired the life of a progamer, studying game development at a university, serving mandatory time in the army, and commentating Starcraft games for a short period of time. He eventually returned to the scene as a coach for the Plus progaming team, but only recently was Byun made known again to the public, especially through his vital role as a coach and strategist for the KOR progaming team.

Since then, the team KOR has been going through a revival. Under the supervision of Coach Byun, team KOR is performing well in the Proleague, presently ranked fourth with four victories and two losses. Additionally, three progamers from KOR were able to enter the latest Shinhan Bank Starleague, Season One. All of the players climbed to an impressive 8-round except one, [Oops]ClouD, who was eliminated by a fellow teammate, Casy[Alive].

Using the strategies prepared by Byun, YellOw[Name] was able to defeat last season’s Starleague champion, iloveoov, with a remarkable low-economy, micro-based strategic play on the half-island map 815 III. Though YellOw[Name] regrettably lost to a 4-drone spawning build against another Zerg and was eliminated from the 8-round, Casy[Alive], also called the “Neo Boxer,” is currently the only Terran in the semi-finals along with three Zergs, and he faces YellOw, a veteran Zerg who some consider as the protégé of [z-zone]byun.

After the last two Starleagues which were thought as being under the rule of the Protoss, [z-zone]byun’s spirit and indignation were finally unleashed through the Zerg. It’s definitely the Zerg season. How interesting that a “Neo Boxer” is facing only Zergs in the Starleague. This reminds us of the time when SlayerS_`BoxeR` first appeared many years ago. The problem that Byun may face as a coach, however, is aiding the Terran on his team to fight against his ethereal restless Zerg spirit that lives in the Zerg users in the Starleague.

Team KOR Opening Video:

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Posted by Marencielo on 05 June 2006 at 12:18 | Permalink