Volamel
2017-03-11 05:11:51
Every progamer's dream is to one day hoist a championship trophy and hears their name’s echoed throughout the halls of time. Every pro gamer's worst nightmare is falling inches short of greatness. The pro's and con's act as a sharp juxtaposition; to come so close to your goals, only to fall flat. History has shown that a select few of esports’ famed stars have succumbed to their fears of failing. They wear a crown bathed in silver, not gold. Time after time they seem to reach the finale but are halted on the biggest stages, forever stuck at the gateway, never reaching the climax of their personal journeys.
Some may even call them cursed.
Lunatic-Hai are known as South Korea’s “golden boys,” drawing fans from across the country, but they have yet to fully blossom and capture a major title.
Many have tried, few have succeeded, but can Lunatic-Hai outrun the “Kong Curse”?
Merriam-Webster defines a “curse” as: “a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one” [1]. The “Kong Curse” isn’t exactly a textbook definition of what a “hex” might be, but it is an apt example of someone who is fixed in their loop of second place finishes. The term has transcended its beginnings in StarCraft: Brood War and has moved into something more “enigmatic.” “Kong” or “Kong Curse” can be used to help define, explain and shape the careers of habitual silver medalists in every esports title.
The quintessential runners-up, the supporting cast, champions of dashed dreams -- these are but symptoms of an overarching illness, An ailment that teases strength of the mind and physical abilities right before the apex of their competition. As the subject reaches the grandest stage, their skill and knowledge of their craft diminish. One minute they stand tall, being touted as one of the greatest only to watch as their body and mind fails them. Certainly, this curse is a double-edged sword, allowing the victim to stand infallible up until it matters the most.
Most who fall trap to the curse are very consistent and perform with excellence throughout the offseason and even into the playoffs. They always seem to reach the final, where they fall short. Not once, not twice -- 3 or more silver medals puts you at risk. And this isn’t something you outgrow or can out train. This mindset doesn’t vanish; the curse sits in the back of your mind and slowly creeps towards you, like a panther on a midnight hunt stalking an unsuspecting deer. Its thirst only quenched by silver -- the more you pay this toll, the longer you can stay afloat.
“They are the unsung heroes, the shadows that give depth to the Winners' light. The players who became the final sacrifices to the glory of the Champions” - Victor “Zealously” Llyod in “Kings of Silver”
Spectators can chalk this up to “stage fright” or “finals jitters, ” and it may start off being as innocent as just that, nothing but nerves. But, you reach a certain point where the consistencies of these nerves are inexcusable, it becomes more of a mental battle with one’s self than it does with the opponent placed in front of them. The player’s and team’s in question, without a doubt, have the skill and in-game prowess to reach the grandest stage of them all, but when is it something more than “an upset” or “a simple misstep.” This is the Kong Curse; a corrupted bloodline of silver, a second-place reality.
(YellOw in his famous KT Rolster jacket)
The Kong pedigree hits its genesis in Starcraft: Brood War with the “Storm Zerg” himself: Hong “YellOw” Jin Ho. Highly regarded as one of the best Zerg players in the world coming into the new millennium. Known as the “Storm Zerg,” he ran headlong into his Terran opponents with zealous fervor. Few could rival YellOw’s storm and would repeatedly fall to BoxeR and a lesser degree, NaDa.
Overall, YellOw would retire in 2012 with a total of 15 silver medals, almost half of them coming from either OSL or MSL runs. With the storm and mayhem YellOw wrought, sadly throughout his career he never could seize a major league (MSL/OSL) title. This would cement him as the undisputed “King of Silver” and would grandfather the lineage Kongs.
(Samsung’s Stork in his latter years)
Next in line for the mantle of Kong would be Song “Stork” Byung Goo. Considered to be on of the best Protoss to ever play the game, Stork was a man of many titles. He was one of the Four Gods of Brood War (TaekBangLeeSsang), one of the “Neo-Kings” of Protoss and was a member of the “Six Dragons ” of Protoss. Stork was the “Commander and Chief of No Weak Points” and would revolutionize how modern Protoss versus Terran would look with a huge emphasis on long, macro play.
Stork was the shadow to the Winner’s light. He always seemed to be destined for the finals but would find himself faced with an unbeatable opponent. He lost multiple times to Flash, Jaedong, and Bisu all who were, at that point, at the pinnacle of their game. Of course he rivaled the other four Gods, but his only other major defeats came from Jangbi and Fantasy. Stork accumulated 11 silver medals over his career, only ever capturing the goal of a major league during the 2008 Incruit OSL.
(“FoxeR” himself, MarineKing Prime)
The year is 2010 and Starcraft 2 has finally hit store shelves, or battle.net, in this instance. Emerging as one of the rising star’s is Lee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon, but originally his ID was “BoxeR,” an homage to his idol Lim “BoxeR” Yo-Hawn. After the return of the first Emperor, fans and casters alike would refer to MarineKing as “FoxeR” a portmanteau of fake BoxeR. Known for stellar micro and an affinity for overly greedy play, he would put his name to good use making every Marine count and would push the limits of micromanaging. MarineKing would also be known for his very early triple-expand build orders and fly his Command Center to the gold base on maps like Metalopolis. MarineKing would make three consecutive GSL Code S finals and would finish them all in 2nd place.
Over the course of his career, he would rack up ten silver medals through major and minor titles. MarineKing would find success, as many of the Kong lineages do, being one of the only people to win repeating titles at MLG Winter Arena and the Winter Championships. MarineKing will go down as one of the most talented Starcraft 2 player’s to never claim the glory of a GSL Code S title.
(The “Angry Zerg”: soO)
Eo "soO" Yoon Su is the youngest of the Kong bloodline, and his tale isn’t finished yet. soO has always been a staple of GSL and a top shelf Starcraft 2 professional. He is currently teamless after leaving his long standing team, SK Telecom T1 around 4-5 months ago. He is known for being incredibly flexible, being able to change playstyles from match to match. His fatal flaw is that he buckled under his own mental doubt’s which secured his way into the Kong line with haste.
soO may be the avatar of second place for Starcraft 2, but he did not fall outside of the grand finals. For every name he has checked off his list, soO has silver medals accumulating six silver medals, four of which were consecutive. soO would find his only gold medal, currently, at the 2015 KeSPA Cup: Season 2.
Now that we’ve experienced the history of what it means to be a “Kong” lets now talk about our potential candidate: Lunatic-Hai. As of the 3rd of Match, over.gg has them ranked as the best team in the world. [2] It’s hard to argue this the number one seed, few teams rival Lunatic-Hai’s consistency, the only glaring flaw is the lack of a major tournament win. Now, before we discuss Lunatic-Hai’s track record, can you decipher the consistencies with all of the players mentioned above? They all exude skill and consistency, but a lack of mental fortitude and “killer instinct” of champions holds them back from achieving greater glory. This makes them a perfect fit for the silver-clad family -- fantastic players, skilled in every way, but they cannot seem to retain that same muster for battle that they carry in the regular season.
(Sons of Silver?)
Lunatic-Hai’s journey starts towards the end of 2016 where they qualified to compete in the Overwatch Power League - Preseason. This was a smaller eight-man tournament which featured Quix X (half of which currently play for Meta Athena), Rhino’s Gaming Titan, LuxuryWatch Red (pre-roster shuffle) and Mighty AOD. Lunatic-Hai would advance convincingly to the semifinal where they would play LuxuryWatch Red and lose 1-3. They glided through the loser’s bracket and reached the final, where they would again fall to LuxuryWatch Red losing their best of seven, 2-4 and taking second place.
Their next large event was for China’s APAC Premier 2016, where they were invited as the South Korean representatives. They were seeded into group B, which also housed European hopefuls, Rogue. The group stage was in itself a mini-tournament. It was a best of three’s format and had featured a losers bracket. What is interesting is that Lunatic-Hai, throughout the group stage, held a winning record over Rogue, only dropping one map to the Europeans. Lunatic-Hai and Rogue would advance out of the group respectively in first and second seeds. They would defeat China’s Vici Gaming, North America’s NRG Esports and advance to face their would-be rivals Rogue in the grand finals. Again, the themes of “consistency and strength up until the finals” start to beckon Lunatic-Hai like the siren’s song. Going into the grand finals, they were favored to win and took the first map after a technical error forced a replay. They would then get reversed swept 1-4 and take home 2nd place, again.
Aa Lunatic-Hai traveled back from China; they also had to prepare for OGN’s APEX Overwatch League: Season 1 playoffs. They were heavy favorites to win it all, and this was supposed to be their tournament. They held a commanding 3-0 lead coming out of the group stage, only dropping two maps to Conbox Spirit and Team EnVyUs. Coming into the group draw stage, they were met with criticism and question when it came to drafting KongDoo Uncia, arguably the second best team at the time, as their opponents coming the next week. While the idea was sound, where you’d rather get the most arduous task done and out of the way early and coast to the final, the cards read a different narrative. Lunatic-Hai would proceed to get slammed by KongDoo Uncia, 3-0 and take an early exit in the round of 8.
Late into December brought Intel Extreme Masters; Gyeonggi, and this tournament was no different from the rest. As highly touted as one of Korea’s best teams they had a direct invitation and a bye into the Semifinals. They defeated Afreeca Freecs Blue 3-1 and advanced to meet the same team to knock them out during the Overwatch Power League; LuxuryWatch Red. Now, to be fair, this is after the acquisition of Flow3r, one of the best DPS players in the world. Lunatic-Hai steps up to the plate on paper the stronger team, not by much. They again, fail to achieve what they set out to do, losing to LuxuryWatch Red, 1-3.
This leads finally to present day, where Lunatic-Hai is in danger of taking another early exit in APEX Season 2. After a tumultuous off-season, where WhoRu and Zunba were added, the team looked stronger than ever. Coming from a baseline of “heavy favorite” and increasing upon that should assign them to be unrivaled going through playoffs -- right? Unfortunately, underdog team RunAway, upset our would-be hopefuls in the round of 8.
All's not lost for Lunatic-Hai at the moment, this season of APEX does feature a lower bracket where they most recently dismantled KongDoo Uncia in a convincing, 3-0. Lunatic-Hai will advance out of group A as the second seed going into the Quarter Finals. But, can these results last, does Lunatic-Hai have the stamina to achieve victory? How long can you run from the Kong Lineage?
In retrospect, this is not to say Lunatic-Hai is a bad or undeserving team -- they 100% are. They easily a top 3 team in the world, but what is odd is that they have not yet grasped their potential and driven it to a victory.
Can we call Lunatic-Hai part of the Kong Accursed? Not yet, but time is running thin for them. Out running the silver bloodline, once it starts to set in, is a marathon, not a sprint to the finish. Digging yourself out of the Kong Curse is possible, but can Lunatic-Hai manage? APEX Season 2 is their tournament to prove they have the stamina and mental fortitude to succeed.
Written by: @Volamel
Image courtesy of Fomos.kr, Inven Global, TeamLiquid.net, OGN and Blizzard Entertainment.
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curse
[2] https://www.over.gg/2980/over-gg-world-rankings-16th-dec-2016-3rd-march-2017
Quoted, “King’s of Silver”: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/478931-kings-of-silver
