Starleague
Encyclopedia
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...
individual league run by 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....
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...
. It is also known as the OSL (Ongamenet Starleague).
History of Starleague
Starleague started out as a program on Tooniverse, following the immense popularity of StarCraft in Korea, and the success of broadcast-gaming on other Korean channels. In 2000, Starleague was spun off into a gaming-dedicated channel, OnGameNet.Starleague started out modestly, with a small prize sum and a few cult followers. In its seven-year history, it has evolved into a major sport in Korea, with more viewers than most other professional sports. Recently in the related Proleague finals, 120,000 fans came out to watch the match between SK Telecom T1
SK Telecom T1
SK Telecom T1 is an e-Sports -works team of the South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom. At the end of 2003, SK Telecom took the StarCraft Team Orion by Lim Yo-Hwan under contract and set up so that the team First. Lim Yo-Hwan took the role of team captain...
and KT Rolster. Finals for Starleague now regularly attract more than 50,000 fans, and viewed nationwide on television by millions. Famous gamers like Lim Yo Hwan (Boxer) have more than 500,000 registered fans. Progamers are organized into teams supported by major Korean firms, and prizes, contracts, and endorsements are now huge in comparison to even 3 or 4 years ago.
Starleague started to attract major attention with the rise of the "Boxer Terran" in the HanbitSoft Starleague in 2001. Professional gamer Lim Yo Hwan swept the scene with a 3:0 victory against Jang Jin Nam, using a rare race at the time (Terran) and using the Terran dropship. Boxer continued to win the next league, Coca-Cola Starleague, against Hong Jin-Ho
Hong Jin-Ho
Hong Jin-Ho is a professional StarCraft player from South Korea who plays under the alias [NC]...YellOw or simply Yellow. He is enlisted in the South Korean Air Force as of April 2010.-StarCraft career:...
(Yellow), and ended up 2nd to Kim Dong Soo (Garimto) in the 2001 Sky Starleague. By this time, first-prize was 20,000,000 Korean Won, about USD 20,000.
Starleague became so popular that it began to attract several foreign players, including Elky (Bertrand Grospellier
Bertrand Grospellier
Bertrand Grospellier , also known as ElkY is a poker player and former pro gamer from France who has won a World Poker Tour , a World Series of Poker bracelet and a European Poker Tour title...
) from France and Grrrr... (Guillaume Patry) from Canada.
Starleague started to gain its own "color" with the 2003 MyCube Starleague, with a distinctive red, black, and white emblem and a much more polished opening computer-generated cinematic. Prize money by this time was more than double the amount in the 2001 Coca-Cola championships, and regular games started to attract more people, with a refurbishing of the Ongamenet studio.
In the start of 2003, with the rise of progaming teams and their popularity, Ongamenet decided to create a spin-off of the Starleague, simply named 'Proleague', in which pro teams play against each other for the championship title. These proleagues go at least twice as long as a normal Starleague.
The winner of 3 OSLs receives a special award called "The Golden Mouse". Until this day 4 players have accomplished that: Lee Yun Yeol (NaDa), winner of the 2002 Panasonic Starleague, 2004 IOPS Starleague, and 2006 Shinhan Bank Starleague; Park Sung-Joon
Park Sung-Joon
Park Sung-Joon is a professional player of the real-time strategy game StarCraft. He is known by his pseudonym July, a shortened version of JulyZerg...
(JulyZerg), winner of the 2004 Gillette Starleague, 2005 EVER Starleague, and 2008 EVER Starleague; Lee Jae Dong
Lee Jae Dong
Lee Jae-Dong, alias n.Die_Jaedong, nicknamed The Tyrant and The Legend Killer, , is a South Korean professional StarCraft player representing team Hwaseung Oz as its Zerg ace player...
(Jaedong), winner of the 2007 EVER Starleague, 2009 Batoo Starleague, and 2009 Bacchus Starleague; and most recently Lee Young-Ho
Lee Young-Ho
Lee Young-Ho is a South Korean professional StarCraft player who plays under the alias By.FlaSh or simply Flash. Lee currently plays for KT....
(Flash), winner of the 2008 Bacchus Starleague, winner of the 2009 EVER Starleague, and 2010 Korean Air 2 Starleague. Winners of 5 OSLs and 7 OSLs will receive the "Platinum Mouse" and the "Diamond Mouse," respectively. No player has achieved this as of today.
League Champions
| Year | Name of Tournament | Winner | Result of Final | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | ProGamer Korea Open | Choi "FreeMura" Jin Woo (ESC Net) | 3-2 | Kook "TheBoy" Ki Bong (Lime I&C) |
| 2000 | Hanaro Telecom Tooniverse Starleague | Guillaume "XD's~Grrrr..." Patry Guillaume Patry Guillaume Patry is a professional StarCraft player from Canada who plays under the alias Grrrr....Grrrr..., a French-Canadian from the region of Quebec City, was a StarCraft world champion in 1999. He dominated the scene as a random player before he arrived in Korea, where he then focused on the... (U2U4) |
3-2 | Kang "H.O.T.-Forever" Do Kyung (SM) |
| 2000 | Freechall OnGameNet Starleague | Kim "GARIMTO" Dong Su (SM) | 3-2 | Bong "SKELTON" Jun Gu (Hanaro Telecom) |
| 2001 | HanbitSoft OnGameNet Starleague | Lim "BoxeR"' Yo Hwan (IS) | 3-0 | Jang "Jinnam" Jin Nam (KISS) |
| 2001 | Coca-Cola OnGameNet Starleague | Lim "BoxeR"' Yo Hwan (IS) | 3-2 | Hong "[NC]...YellOw" Jin Ho (Gamei) |
| 2001 | SKY OnGameNet Starleague | Kim "GARIMTO" Dong Su (Hanbit) | 3-2 | Lim "SlayerS 'BoxeR"' Yo Hwan (IS) |
| 2002 | NATE OnGameNet Starleague | Byun "Sync" Gil Sub (Hanbit) | 3-2 | Kang "H.O.T.-Forever" Do Kyung (Hanbit) |
| 2002 | SKY OnGameNet Starleague | Park "[Oops]Reach" Jung Seok (Hanbit) | 3-1 | Lim "SlayerS 'BoxeR"' Yo Hwan (IS) |
| 2002 | Panasonic OnGameNet Starleague | Lee "[ReD]NaDa" Yun Yeol (KTF) | 3-2 | Cho "ChOJJa"Yong Ho (SOUL) |
| 2003 | Olympus OnGameNet Starleague | Seo "XellOs[yG]" Ji Hun (GO) | 3-2 | Hong "[NC]...YellOw" Jin Ho (KTF) |
| 2003 | MyCube OnGameNet Starleague | Park "KingdOm" Yong Wook (Orion) | 3-1 | Kang "Nal rA" Min Kang Min Kang Min a.k.a. Nal_rA is a former professional South Korean StarCraft player .Kang Min had relatively long career in starcraft, spanning victories in both major leagues and seeing his team to a 23 game winning streak. On 11 September 2008, Kang Min declared that he would retire from progaming... (GO) |
| 2003 | NHN Hangame OnGameNet Starleague | Kang "Nal rA" Min Kang Min Kang Min a.k.a. Nal_rA is a former professional South Korean StarCraft player .Kang Min had relatively long career in starcraft, spanning victories in both major leagues and seeing his team to a 23 game winning streak. On 11 September 2008, Kang Min declared that he would retire from progaming... (GO) |
3-1 | Chun "Zeus" Tae Kyu (KOR) |
| 2004 | Gillette Starleague | Park "JulyZerg" Sung Joon (POS) | 3-1 | Park "[Oops]Reach" Jung Seok (KTF) |
| 2004 | EVER Starleague | Choi "iloveoov" Yeon-Sung 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... (SKT) |
3-2 | Lim "SlayerS 'BoxeR"' Yo Hwan (SKT) |
| 2004 | IOPS Starleague | Lee "NaDa" Yun Yeol Lee Yun-Yeol Lee Yun-Yeol, , also known as '"NaDa", is a South Korean professional gamer who competitively plays StarCraft II and before that, StarCraft: Brood War... (PANTECH) |
3-0 | Park "JulyZerg" Sung Joon Park Sung-Joon Park Sung-Joon is a professional player of the real-time strategy game StarCraft. He is known by his pseudonym July, a shortened version of JulyZerg... (POS) |
| 2005 | EVER Starleague | Park "JulyZerg" Sung Joon (POS) | 3-2 | Lee "GoodFrienD" Byung Min (PANTECH) |
| 2005 | So1 Starleague | Oh "AnyTime..[gm]" Young Jong (PLUS) | 3-2 | Lim "SlayerS 'BoxeR"' Yo Hwan (SKT) |
| 2005 | Shinhan Bank Starleague | Choi "iloveoov" Yeon-Sung 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... |
3-0 | Park "JulyZerg" Sung Joon (POS) |
| 2006 | Shinhan Bank Starleague Season 1 | Han "Casy" Dong Wook (OnGameNet) | 3-1 | Cho "ChOJJa" Yong Ho (KTF) |
| 2006 | Shinhan Bank Starleague Season 2 | Lee "NaDa" Yun Yeol (PANTECH) | 3-2 | Oh "AnyTime..[gm]" Young Jong (Lecaf OZ) |
| 2006 | Shinhan Bank Starleague Season 3 | Ma "sAviOr[gm]" Jae-Yoon Ma Jae-Yoon Ma Jae-Yoon , known by the pseudonym sAviOr , and dubbed The Maestro, is a former professional South Korean e-sports gamer of the real-time strategy game StarCraft... (CJ) |
3-1 | Lee "NaDa"Yun Yeol (PANTECH) |
| 2007 | Daum Starleague | Kim "GGPlay" Jun Young (Hanbit) | 3-2 | Byun "Iris[gm]" Hyung Tae (CJ Entus) |
| 2007 | EVER Starleague | Lee "Jaedong" Jae Dong Lee Jae Dong Lee Jae-Dong, alias n.Die_Jaedong, nicknamed The Tyrant and The Legend Killer, , is a South Korean professional StarCraft player representing team Hwaseung Oz as its Zerg ace player... (Lecaf OZ) |
3-1 | Song "Stork[gm]" Byung Goo (Samsung KHAN) |
| 2008 | Bacchus Starleague | Lee "FlaSh" Young Ho (KTF MagicNs) | 3-0 | Song "Stork[gm]" Byung Goo (Samsung KHAN) |
| 2008 | EVER Starleague | Park "JulyZerg" Sung Joon (STX) | 3-0 | Do "BeSt[WHITE]" Jae Wook (SKT T1) |
| 2008 | Incruit Starleague | Song "Stork" Byung Goo Song Byung-Goo Song Byung-Gu is a professional StarCraft player from Pohang, South Korea who plays under the alias Stork[gm] or simply Stork... (Samsung KHAN) |
3-2 | Jung "By.Fantasy" Myung Hoon (SKT T1) |
| 2009 | BATOO Starleague | Lee "Jaedong" Jae Dong (Lecaf OZ) | 3-2 | Jung "By.Fantasy" Myung Hoon (SKT T1) |
| 2009 | Bacchus Starleague | Lee "Jaedong" Jae Dong (Hwaseung OZ) | 3-0 | Park "YellOw[ArnC]" Myung Soo (hite SPARKYZ) |
| 2009 | EVER Starleague | Lee "FlaSh" Young Ho (KT Rolster) | 3-1 | Jin "Movie" Young Hwa (CJ Entus) |
| 2010 | Korean Air Starleague Season 1 | Kim "Effort" Jung Woo (CJ Entus) | 3-2 | Lee "FlaSh" Young Ho (KT Rolster) |
| 2010 | Korean Air Starleague Season 2 | Lee "FlaSh" Young Ho (KT Rolster) | 3-1 | Lee "Jaedong" Jae Dong (Hwaseung OZ) |
| 2011 | Bacchus Starleague | Jung "By.Fantasy" Myung Hoon (SK Telecom T1) | 3-0 | Song "Stork" Byung Goo Song Byung-Goo Song Byung-Gu is a professional StarCraft player from Pohang, South Korea who plays under the alias Stork[gm] or simply Stork... (Samsung Khan) |
| 2011 | Jin Air Starleague | Heo "JangBi" Yeong Moo (Samsung Khan) | 3-2 | Jung "By.Fantasy" Myung Hoon (SK Telecom T1) |
2009 Bacchus OSL
2009 Ever OSL
2010 Korean Air OSL
2010 Korean Air OSL Season 2
2010 Bacchus OSL
External links
- OnGameNet http://www.ongamenet.com
- TLPD: Overview of all Starleagues & matches
- 2009 Bacchus OSL
- 2009 Ever OSL
- 2010 Korean Air OSL
- 2010 Korean Air OSL Season 2
- 2010 Bacchus OSL