Lim Yo-Hwan
Encyclopedia
Lim Yo-Hwan known by the pseudonym SlayerS_`BoxeR` (usually shortened to Boxer), is one of the most successful players of the real-time strategy
computer game StarCraft
to date. Dubbed The Emperor by his fans, he is the most popular Starcraft player with a fan club of more than 1,000,000 members and a DVD
compilation of his greatest games released in South Korea
. He is also a newly signed member of his own founded team SlayerS.
and endorsement contracts that bring in an additional $90,000 per year. In 2004 he was voted the greatest gamer of all time by readers of ESReality, a popular Western electronic sports
website, and in June 2006 he was included in an MTV
list of "The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers Of All Time."
(unit control) skills. He would often continue the game despite heavy disadvantages yet still pull out a victory. In contrast, his weakness is thought by some commentators to be poor macromanagement (economy/unit production) skills in comparison to other top-level professional Starcraft players, although his macromanagement has improved over the last few years.
BoxeR is most renowned for his creativity; oftentimes building proxy barracks. In many games, he has gone for quick attacks ("rushes") or special ops units ("ghosts") which make the games extremely entertaining. He is very well respected in Starcraft both in Korea and abroad.
Though he is no longer as dominant as he once was, he was ranked 11th in the April 2006 Korean e-Sports Players Association
(KeSPA) rankings, and made it to the finals of the EVER Ongamenet
Starleague
(OSL) of late 2004 (losing to iloveoov
by three games to two) and the finals of the 2005 So1 OnGameNet Starleague (losing to Anytime by three games to two).
Lim has played professionally since version 1.07 of Starcraft, and has managed to stay competitive by constantly changing his style, and has had a great influence of the development of modern playing styles, especially for Terran players. He is the all-time leader in games played and wins. He is a two time OSL champion, one time MSL champion, two time WCG champion, and leader of the SK Telecom "T1" team. He is considered to have a strong eye for talent in that position, as he drew Choi Yeon-Sung (iloveoov), among others, from the amateur ranks. His team has consistently been the strongest in the Proleague.
On August 2006 Lim announced at the MSL group draws that he had received his draft letter from the government, and would be entering the Republic of Korea Air Force
(ROKAF) by the end of the year. He later said he would try his best to return after his 2 and a half years of service.
After Lim joined the Air Force, he started putting his fame to work. After a month and a half an Air Force pro-gaming team was created. Lim found some retired pro-gamers who joined the Air Force before him, including H.O.T-Forever, CLon, ChRh, fOru, Rage, Qoo) Sunny and MuMyung. Together they formed the first military pro-gaming team. Two months after the team was announced, ACE (Airforce Challenge E-sports) was official. ACE first played in the 2008 ShinHan Proleague, and has participated ever since.
On December 22 2008, Boxer returned to SKT1 and played on that team as military service was ending, and has remained on its A-Team; however, he has concentrated on playing individual league matches since then.
In September 2010, Boxer began playing high level Starcraft 2 games against other pro gamers as Terran under the username "ManofOneway," but has switched to SlayerSBoxeR since he announced his return. He is now playing Starcraft 2 at a professional level and has made it to the Round of 4 in GSL (GOMTV Global Starcraft II League
) Open Season 2, where he lost 0–4 to NesTea. However, he would not fare as well in following seasons, even dropping to Code A (the lower GSL League) in March 2011.
He is currently forming a Starcraft 2 clan
, SlayerS (sls). As well, he is featured in a documentary T.V. show, named Boxer's Wings, about his Starcraft career and his transition from StarCraft: Brood War
to Starcraft 2.
In March 2011, SlayerSBoxer's newly formed "SlayerS Clan" Starcraft 2 team won the GOMTV Global Starcraft II Team League
, just months after their formation, defeating teams Startale, and oGs (Old Generations). They would go on to defeat IM(Incredible Miracle) by 5 games to 4 in a best-of-9 series. The same month SlayerSBoxer was also one of the few Koreans drafted for the North American Star League, a new tournament outside of the Korean Starcraft scene, with a prize pool of $100,000. "SlayerS Clan" repeated the feat by winning the next GOMTV Global Starcraft II Team League
in May 2011, beating the team "MVP" in the final and proving to be a very consistent team.
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
computer game StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
to date. Dubbed The Emperor by his fans, he is the most popular Starcraft player with a fan club of more than 1,000,000 members and a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
compilation of his greatest games released in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. He is also a newly signed member of his own founded team SlayerS.
Success
Lim has a record with 547 wins and 416 losses (56.80%) in his professional career. He is one of the highest-paid professional gamers, with annual earnings that exceed 400,000 US DollarsUnited States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
and endorsement contracts that bring in an additional $90,000 per year. In 2004 he was voted the greatest gamer of all time by readers of ESReality, a popular Western electronic sports
Electronic sports
Electronic sports comprises the competitive play of video games. Other terms include competitive gaming, professional gaming and cybersports...
website, and in June 2006 he was included in an MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
list of "The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers Of All Time."
History
Lim first came to fame by dominating professional Starcraft while choosing to use the Terran race. The following reign of dominance earned him the nickname the "Terran Emperor", a reference to StarCraft lore. During this early time in his career he innovated heavily, creating many new strategies which are still used today, most notably making much more effective use of the Terran Dropship unit than had been achieved in the past. He also gained a reputation for being able to turn around matches against the odds and having excellent micromanagementMicromanagement (computer gaming)
In gaming, micromanagement describes minor, detailed gameplay elements that must be manually addressed by the player. It appears in a wide range of games including strategy video games, construction and management simulations and pet-raising simulations...
(unit control) skills. He would often continue the game despite heavy disadvantages yet still pull out a victory. In contrast, his weakness is thought by some commentators to be poor macromanagement (economy/unit production) skills in comparison to other top-level professional Starcraft players, although his macromanagement has improved over the last few years.
BoxeR is most renowned for his creativity; oftentimes building proxy barracks. In many games, he has gone for quick attacks ("rushes") or special ops units ("ghosts") which make the games extremely entertaining. He is very well respected in Starcraft both in Korea and abroad.
Though he is no longer as dominant as he once was, he was ranked 11th in the April 2006 Korean e-Sports Players Association
Korean e-Sports Players Association
The Korean e-Sports Association or KeSPA is a South Korean body established to manage e-sports in South Korea. it was the managing body for 25 e-sports, including Starcraft: Brood War and Counter Strike.-History:...
(KeSPA) rankings, and made it to the finals of the EVER Ongamenet
Ongamenet
Ongamenet is one of two South Korean cable television companies , that specializes in broadcasting video game-related information and matches, which include StarCraft, Warcraft III and others. It is a subsidiary of On-Media, an owner of several cable channels....
Starleague
Starleague
The Ongamenet Starleague is a professional StarCraft individual league run by Ongamenet in South Korea. It is also known as the OSL .-History of Starleague:...
(OSL) of late 2004 (losing to iloveoov
Choi Yeon-Sung
Choi Yeon-Sung , also known as iloveoov, is a professional Korean StarCraft player who uses the Terran race. He is known for his excellent macromanagement, leading to his nickname "Cheater Terran". However he is better known as "Monster Terran" because of his ability to produce a massive amount of...
by three games to two) and the finals of the 2005 So1 OnGameNet Starleague (losing to Anytime by three games to two).
Lim has played professionally since version 1.07 of Starcraft, and has managed to stay competitive by constantly changing his style, and has had a great influence of the development of modern playing styles, especially for Terran players. He is the all-time leader in games played and wins. He is a two time OSL champion, one time MSL champion, two time WCG champion, and leader of the SK Telecom "T1" team. He is considered to have a strong eye for talent in that position, as he drew Choi Yeon-Sung (iloveoov), among others, from the amateur ranks. His team has consistently been the strongest in the Proleague.
On August 2006 Lim announced at the MSL group draws that he had received his draft letter from the government, and would be entering the Republic of Korea Air Force
Republic of Korea Air Force
The Republic of Korea Air Force is the air force of South Korea...
(ROKAF) by the end of the year. He later said he would try his best to return after his 2 and a half years of service.
After Lim joined the Air Force, he started putting his fame to work. After a month and a half an Air Force pro-gaming team was created. Lim found some retired pro-gamers who joined the Air Force before him, including H.O.T-Forever, CLon, ChRh, fOru, Rage, Qoo) Sunny and MuMyung. Together they formed the first military pro-gaming team. Two months after the team was announced, ACE (Airforce Challenge E-sports) was official. ACE first played in the 2008 ShinHan Proleague, and has participated ever since.
On December 22 2008, Boxer returned to SKT1 and played on that team as military service was ending, and has remained on its A-Team; however, he has concentrated on playing individual league matches since then.
In September 2010, Boxer began playing high level Starcraft 2 games against other pro gamers as Terran under the username "ManofOneway," but has switched to SlayerSBoxeR since he announced his return. He is now playing Starcraft 2 at a professional level and has made it to the Round of 4 in GSL (GOMTV Global Starcraft II League
GOMTV Global Starcraft II League
GOMTV Global Starcraft II League is a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty tournament hosted by GomTV and Blizzard Entertainment in South Korea. There is an English stream available for non-Korean viewers. The tournament features two leagues, Code S and Code A...
) Open Season 2, where he lost 0–4 to NesTea. However, he would not fare as well in following seasons, even dropping to Code A (the lower GSL League) in March 2011.
He is currently forming a Starcraft 2 clan
Clan (computer gaming)
In computer and video gaming, a clan or guild is an organised group of players that regularly play together in a particular multiplayer games. These games range from groups of a few friends to 1000-person organizations, with a broad range of structures, goals and members. The lifespan of a clan...
, SlayerS (sls). As well, he is featured in a documentary T.V. show, named Boxer's Wings, about his Starcraft career and his transition from StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War is the expansion pack for the award winning military science fiction, real-time strategy video game StarCraft. Released in 1998 for Windows and Mac OS, it was co-developed by Saffire and Blizzard Entertainment. The expansion pack introduced new campaigns, map tilesets, music,...
to Starcraft 2.
In March 2011, SlayerSBoxer's newly formed "SlayerS Clan" Starcraft 2 team won the GOMTV Global Starcraft II Team League
GOMTV Global Starcraft II Team League
GOMTV Global Starcraft II Team League is a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty tournament hosted by GomTV and Blizzard Entertainment in South Korea. The GSTL focuses on team play to see which is the best team...
, just months after their formation, defeating teams Startale, and oGs (Old Generations). They would go on to defeat IM(Incredible Miracle) by 5 games to 4 in a best-of-9 series. The same month SlayerSBoxer was also one of the few Koreans drafted for the North American Star League, a new tournament outside of the Korean Starcraft scene, with a prize pool of $100,000. "SlayerS Clan" repeated the feat by winning the next GOMTV Global Starcraft II Team League
GOMTV Global Starcraft II Team League
GOMTV Global Starcraft II Team League is a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty tournament hosted by GomTV and Blizzard Entertainment in South Korea. The GSTL focuses on team play to see which is the best team...
in May 2011, beating the team "MVP" in the final and proving to be a very consistent team.
Major achievements
- Most wins on televised matches (500)
- Semi-Finalist (4th place) in Starcraft 2 GSL Season 2 2010
- Two times World Cyber GamesWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
champion (2001, 2002 as gonia119_kr) - First player to achieve 100 wins in Ongamenet Starleagues (OSL)
- First player to win more than one OSL (Hanbitsoft 2001, Coca Cola 2001), and the first to win two consecutive OSLs
- First player to make the OSL finals three times in a row
- Longest time to hold first place in KeSPA (Korea e-Sports Players Association) rankings (17 months)
- Earned an income of over $US 300,000 (annual)
- Won the first KPGA Tour (now MBC starleague)
- Has finished 2nd in Ongamenet Starleague 4 times (2001 SKY, 2002 SKY, 2004 EVER, 2005 SO1)
- Finished 2nd in the first KT-KTF Premiere league
- KPGA MBC Starleague Champion February 2002 to March 2002
- Signed with "Team Razer" February 14th, 2011
- Leader of SlayerS Clan, the championship team of GSTL March and GSTL May 2011
External links
- Boxer international fansite
- Overview of Boxer's archievements and games played
- BoxeR's Translated Biography
- BoxeR's fan cafe (Korean)
- Gamer is royalty in S. Korea Article, about BoxeR after joining AirForce
- How to Earn Six Figures by Playing Videogames Article about BoxeR
- The Boys with the Flying Fingers. South Korea Turns PC Gaming into a Spectator Sport Article, mainly on Lim Yo-Hwan
- Interview with Lim Yo-Hwan
- Lim Yo Hwan -- The BoxeR
- Lim-Yo-Hwan :: Inside StarCraft