Enjoy.
Old School Veterans.
They say: "Remember me? Been around a while." It’s not easy to be a veteran these days. In the notoriously crowded pro-StarCraft scene, these are guys who have managed to evolve their game and stay around, which is a feat in and of itself. Just look at the recent extra qualifiers for the OSL. Many top names fell to the hands of eager, younger, fearless rookies.
All of the following players have enjoyed their glory days of being on top, and had to endure long slumps at the bottom. Through all that, these guys have accumulated experience, victories, and heartbreak, which they bring to the next OSL. They may be old, but five of the following six are past champions (Yellow... T_T). Dismiss them at your own peril.
(in order of qualification)
GoRush
SKT Telecom T1
Zerg
Best finish: MSL Champion (You Are the Golf King)
How did he qualify?
Through the Dual Tournament. He qualified through the offline qualifiers, then beat Much[gm] (GO) twice to advance to the ODT Round 2. There, he went [L Iris W SaferZerg W Anytime] to advance to the Starleague. His two wins were both pretty standard ZvZ and ZvP affairs, although for a moment he looked to be at disadvantage against Anytime.
GoRush is the guy who started the “management” thread a while back. The Magician of Management. In the first half of 2005, he was stellar, winning the MSL and reaching the top 4 of two OSLs, constantly dueling with July and Nada in the process. After many top-4 finishes, he then went into a mini-slump and crashed all the way down to the offline qualifiers. Now he’s back this OSL, and it would be the perfect opportunity to break his slump and reclaim his throne.
Chojja
KTF MagicNs
Zerg
Best finish: MSL Champion (CYON)
How did he qualify?
Through the Dual Tournament. Chojja defeated Silver (P&C) and Tester[gm] (eNature) in Round 1 to advance. In Round 2, he went [L IntoTheRainbow W Xellos W Child] to advance to OSL, showing off top form in ZvT and ZvZ.
Chojja is the original macro Zerg, who was the one to popularize the ling-ultra combo a couple years back. He is a long time OSL mainstay who had many top-four finishes in his glory days. He then went through the mandatory KTF slump, but he has recently enjoyed a second wind of great form, which lead to a dramatic championship over ipxzerg in the most recent MSL. He looks sharp coming into this tournament, and must be considered a favorite. Plus, you never know when he just might 5-pool you.
Yellow
KTF MagicNs
Zerg
Best finish: innumerous OSL and MSL 2nd places.
How did he qualify?
Through the Dual Tournament. After being eliminated in the round of 16 in So1 OSL, Yellow fell all the way to the offline qualifiers. But he bounced back quickly, defeating Siva (P&C) and Dongrae (Lecaf OZ) to advance to Round 2. In Round 2, he showed atrocious ZvT form, but he managed to qualify for his 13th OSL by going [L Cloud W Silver W Cloud].
The best player to never win a championship. The original micro Zerg, one-base Zerg. Unfortunately, Yellow is in the midst of a deep slump that starts with his poor ZvT. In the last 50 games against Terran, Yellow is 18-32 for a 36% win percentage. Although he still remains a good player, the hopes of Zerg seem to have moved on to the likes of July and ipxzerg. This OSL will serve as a test for Yellow. We will find out if he still wants it, if he can relive the glory days when he was the only hope for Zergs… and finally win his much deserved championship.
Nal_Ra
KTF MagicNs
Protoss
Best Finish: OSL Champion (Hangame), MSL Champion (Stout)
How did he qualify?
Through the Dual Tournament. After a long, long, looong slump (nearly 2 years) of not making it back to the OSL, Nal_Ra started in the offline qualifiers, then beat Mumyung (SKT) and Hwasin (Soul) and eventually made it to the Round 1 finals, but lost to the enfant terrible Sea and found himself in Round 2. There he beat Boxer and Nal_Rock to advance to the OSL.
Everybody’s favorite Dreamer Toss is back, after a long absence from the top. In the meanwhile, Nal_Ra has been busy saving KTF’s ass many times as the ace and Game 5 specialist in the ProLeagues. However, fans were itching to see him back in the majors, and after a few appearances in the MSLs, Nal_Ra finally made it back to only his fourth OSL. The fact that he is so widely remembered and admired after only 3 OSLs from two years ago show that is special style of strategy and creativity have last an impression upon his faithful.
Boxer
SKTelecom T1
Terran
Best Finish: two-time OSL Champion (Coca-Cola, HanbitSoft)
Golden Mouse candidate
How did he Qualify?
Through the Extra Eight qualifiers. Boxer had a decent showing in the Shinhan OSL, going 2-1 in his group (W July, W Stork, L Iris) before bowing out to his protégé, oov in the quarters, 1-2. He then failed to qualify for the next OSL, losing to Nal_Ra and Rock. However, with the format change of the OSL, Boxer was seeded in the Extra Eight qualifiers (for coming in third in the Dual Tournament 2) and took full advantage, beating Jju and the scary rookie jy (G.O.) to advance.
He’s Boxer. HIM. 14 OSLs. Six OSL finals. With Boxer, you never know. He could go 0-3 in the group stage, or he could win it all. Recently though, he looks to be in good form, having won more than 10 TvZ games in a row. Yet there are concerns. Although he’s been in six OSL finals, the last one he won was in 2001. Every final since then he has lost to a Protoss (or oov), and his TvP still looks suspect, especially against A level Protosses. But it's Boxer. If anything, it is guaranteed that he will continue to innovate, amaze, and excite his fans.
Sync
KTF MagicNs
Terran
Best Finish: OSL Champion (NATE)
How did he qualify?
Through the Extra Eight qualifiers. Sync had clawed his way to the Dual Tournament Round 2 by beating Doggi (Samsung) and Free[gm] (Hanbit) in Round 1. But he failed to qualify for the OSL, going [W Zergman L Casy L Zergman]. Seeded for the Extra Eight qualifiers, he took advantage by going [L Bifrost (KOR) W Siva W Bifrost], and qualified.
The Forgotten Champion. Sync was the last man standing in the 2002 NATE OSL, which coincided with the Korea-Japan World Cup and didn’t grasp the attention of many fans. Although being the inventor of the sunken-breaking infantry “Spark Terran” strategy, Sync has slipped into a long slump like his other KTF teammates. Like Yellow, Sync enters this OSL will doubts after a long absence from the majors and mediocre play in the qualifiers. But the bottom line is that he’s here, and with the 2006 Germany World Cup on the horizon, could this be Sync’s return?
Next:
7-14 Familiar Faces
15-18 New School Rookies
19-24 Top Seeds