BW-2-SC2: NaDa's killer consistency

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20.06.2012, 23:59 PM

BW-2-SC2: NaDa

BW-2-SC2 is a feature which presents to the SC2 audience a famous BW player who has moved to, or is going to move to, competitive StarCraft 2. Rather than leave modern fans lost in a jungle of stats and thousands of games to wade through this feature will present the major storylines in a coherent thread for the interested fan to follow to the heart of the story.

Yesterday, June 19th, StarCraft: Brood War legend Lee "NaDa" Yoon Yeol announced his retirement from StarCraft 2 competition, citing a wide array of difficulties, from personal through to family and military related. As he leaves esports NaDa walks away as one of the two or three most successful competitiors in history, perhaps even first amongst all other names. Prodigy, genius, legend, he's been described by all of these terms and with good reason.

This is the man who set most of the important records in BW, who maintained a dizzying high level of consistency across his decade-long esports career and who showed what excellence in execution coupled with an unquenchable competitive desire could accomplish. Winner of the most individual league titles in BW's 12 year history, NaDa won his first title at the end of BoxeR's reign and was still making it to the Round of 8 in individual leagues in the TaekBangLeeSsang ( Bisu- Stork- Flash- Jaedong) era, seven years after. There never was anyone quite like NaDa.

Until Flash put the final touches on the BW masterpiece he had been painting for the last two years there was little doubt in everyone's minds who Brood War's greatest player was. With six individual league titles and ten finals appearances NaDa had blazed a trail nobody else could seemingly walk. When discussing sheer dominance people could go back and forth over iloveoov and sAviOr, when it came to influence and inspiration BoxeR's name would be thrown into the ring, but in terms of winning and consistent greatness nobody could match NaDa.

With many in the modern audience having come to know NaDa through his time competing in SC2 this article aims to take the reader into a time machine and back to the beginning of the career of 'The Genius Terran', following him from a BW prospect up through to being a champion and on into his career in StarCraft's sequel. This is NaDa's story and it's one, above all, about consistency.

[Note: this article will focus on the OSL, MSL and GSL, for the sake of streamlining the story, being as those are the true proving grounds of greatness in their respective games]

2002 - Our hero arrives on the scene, becomes the prodigy and transforms into a champion

In 2001 NaDa was just a name upsetting more established progamers in tournaments like "Lord of best race", and had been unable to break into the major individual league, the OSL. Playing for Ideal Space (later known as Hwaseung OZ) NaDa was overshadowed by team-mates BoxeR, YellOw and IntoTheRainbow. Early in 2002 though he took his first step towards being a legitimate top tier player by making it into the first KPGA Tour (the predecessor of the MSL).

Losing to IntoTheRain there in the Ro8 there was no reason for anyone to imagine BW's greatest ever player had arrived, he had lost to the same player in the OSL preliminaries seven months prior. When the tournament was won by BoxeR the status quo seemed to have been restored, after The Emperor had fallen in the OSL final that season to Garimto. Still a mark had been made, as NaDa climbed into the top 30 of KeSPA's rankings, where he would remain for the next seven straight years.

The next KPGA Tour marked the on switch being flicked for NaDa's time at the top, the Terran lost only two maps in the group stages of the Reebok KPGA 2nd Tour. Squeezing through a five map semi-final he arrived at the final facing YellOw. As well as torturous losses to BoxeR in the CocaCola OSL and WCG finals the Zerg had been a finalist in the previous KPGA Tour before losing to the same opponent. Now surely seemed like the time YellOw could take his first title, facing a fresh-faced NaDa. Instead another five map battle ensued and NaDa once more came out on top, claiming his first title.

In the following Pepsi Twist KPGA 3rd Tour NaDa again proceeded to the final and again found himself facing an OSL finalist, this time it was the manly Protoss Reach. Reach had once more enacted 'the Legend of the Fall' (a Protoss winning the Fall OSL) by taking out BoxeR in that season's OSL, leaving the path open for numerous contenders to vy for the crown of best BW player. With NaDa sweeping Reach 3:0 to take his second straight KPGA title he put his own hat in the ring of that discussion.

2002 finished with NaDa at a blistering 70% winrate for the year over 128 maps played.

2003 - The greatest of starts, a waltz up the royal road and encounters with new kinds of beast.

The year began with NaDa reaching the final of both his first ever OSL and his third straight KPGA Tour. It was to be all about NaDa's TvZ as he had beaten out two Zergs, JinNam and YellOw, in the semi-finals to reach both individual league finals. Not only had nobody ever won both leagues in a single season, with Reach failing the previous one, but NaDa would face the same opponent in both finals: the 'Cowboy Zerg' ChoJJa. The Baskin Robbins KPGA 4th Tour took the full five maps before NaDa had claimed his third crown but the OSL was another kettle of fish entirely. Sweeping ChoJJa with a 3:0 victory NaDa capped an 11:4 map run through the tournament.

Not only had he claimed his first OSL title, but he had become only the second Korean, after BoxeR, to walk the royal road (win in the first season of qualifying) and he had made history by becoming the first player to ever win both leagues in the same season. This feat would go unmatched until September of 2010, over seven and a half years later, when Flash took his dual season crown.

Despite falling to the Champion's curse in the following OSL NaDa made it to his fourth straight final in what had now become the MSL. Standing in his way was Nal_rA. 'The Dreamer' Protoss dispatched NaDa without a map loss, going 4:0 against the reigning champion overall in the tournament, and that sparked his own run of success. Nal_rA would make it to the next two OSL finals and win the second.

As the year came to a close NaDa found himself battling through the consolidation final of the TriGem MSL, having lost in the upper final to YellOw. Here he faced another new beast, this time of the most dangerous kind: iloveoov. NaDa had beaten iloveoov in the opening round 1:0 in the upper bracket but this reversal, as he fell 1:3, saw the passing of the torch from one bonjwa (dominant scene-defining player) to another. oov was headed on his own steep upward trajectory, which would include more significant wins over NaDa, and cruised to the title.

At the end of year NaDa's 2003 winrate was still an impressive 65% over a mammoth 179 maps.

2004 - what to do with a monster called oov?

In the very next MSL final iloveoov would find himself facing NaDa in another BoX. The Genius Terran was in his fifth MSL/KPGA final in the last six seasons and seemed determined he could push the Gorilla Terran to his limits. This time the two locked horns and went the distance, with oov emerging the victor after five maps and claiming a second straight MSL title.

iloveoov was the only player who could truly say he got the better of NaDa during their careers, with the lifetime winrate only being a staggeringly low 26% over 23 maps for NaDa against his Terran successor. Crucially he never won a BoX against oov. With NaDa's stomping ground of the MSL firmly under oov's control he would struggle for high results that year, having bowed out of the previous two OSLs in the Ro16 and losing out in the Ro8 of the next three. He even failed to make the top 8 of the SPRIL MSL, which was again scooped up by a greedy iloveoov.

That last OSL Ro8 defeat of 2004 was, fittingly, handed to him by oov, as the youngster stormed towards his first OSL title and equalled NaDa's total haul with 1 OSL title and 3 MSL of his own. Not only were the two the successive bonjwas of their lined up eras but NaDa had laid the blueprint for what iloveoov had aspired to be.

Speaking in an interview a number of years later oov admitted:

"Wow... [NaDa] was the man who I wanted to be, at the time I was [an] amateur, just saying 3 words .Lee. .Yun. .Yul. was GG"

The inspiration flowed both ways as NaDa found iloveoov the force pushing him to become a champion again:

"it's iloveoov's successive triumphs that press me very hard. I can't release myself at any time, the competition is so cruel."

NaDa was often considered the Terran who wrote the playbook, thanks to the style he had developed. Rather than focus on a specific opponent he had instead trod the path of developing a number of builds which he refined and tweaked until, coupled with his flawless execution, he ground down opponents, regardless of their skillset. Where BoxeR's micro and innovation had thrilled and electrified the scene and iloveoov's macro had astounded and confounded opponents NaDa's strength was his ability to consistently execute with both of their strengths: micro and macro.

Like many of the greatest sportsman of all time NaDa's greatness came from an incredible work ethic to hone the fundamentals of the game, producing a style which constantly gave him opportunities to be successful in the face of opponents who were not able to maintain the same level of excellence, or at least did not have the stamina to for as long. Mechanically he was one of the early monsters amongst the top tier.

Still, with iloveoov the big bad boss of the BW scene NaDa felt the pressure to find new ways to improve:

"I'm trying to add other Terrans' specialities to mine. I'm watching every single game of Terran gamers, especially the important ones. [I] keep following other gamers' patterns."

The year closed with a 2004 winrate of 65% over 143 for NaDa.

2005 - The return to the top, the start of the slump and tragedy strikes!

NaDa looked reinvigorated as 2005 began, repeating his miraculous feat of two years prior as he reached both of the finals in the first season of the year. In the February's You Are the Golf King MSL final NaDa faced first time finalist GoRush, whom he had beaten in a tight five game series in the upper final. In what became a Bo7 final NaDa lost out to the Zerg and was denied a fourth MSL title, he would never again reach the Ro4 of an MSL. The NaDa era of the MSL had ended.

Facing the very same GoRush two weeks later, in the OSL semi-final, he came out on the right side after five maps. The significance of the impact of his loss in the MSL was apparent as he spoke in an interview following his semi-final win:

"During the MSL finals my friends and family came to watch and support me. I wanted to show them a victorious moment, but I couldn’t. I felt like crying but I sucked it in. I came here with revenge on my mind, but I experienced games that will be remembered. A memorable game is worth more than vengeance."

While the first part of NaDa's career had been largely focused around his success in the MSL the following saw his greatest work done in the OSL. That season his march to the final of the IOPS OSL was an SK Terran (a famous marine-medic combined with science vessel usage style) clinic from the Genius Terran. Beating YellOw, GoRush and July in successful rounds NaDa went 10 for 12 in maps against Zergs that OSL. Even more astonishing was that the final against July saw him pitted against perhaps the games best ZvT player, with July having been the brick wall which iloveoov's godlike TvZ ran into in 2004. In winning the final NaDa became only the third player to ever win two OSL titles.

The words NaDa chose following his victory spoke to his philosophy of competition and his approach to self-motivation:

"what makes me sick most is those voices that "NaDa got runner-up in every league he participated in". So I have to defend myself from them with victories."

"I haven't thought about any revenge. The rival is myself in fact. I am so eager to [be] the champion, my will is much more furious than [anyone else's]."

Despite having vanquished GoRush and retaken the lead for the most major titles, with five, NaDa was in fact headed into the worst period of his career and life, to that point in time. In May he was eliminated from the next OSL in the Ro16 and would not taste even that stage of an individual league for almost a year and a half, but that was not the worst thing which would happen to him in 2005.

On July 18th, a month after NaDa had dropped out of the OSL in the prelims for the first time in nine seasons, it was announced that NaDa's father had been killed by a drunk driver. From perhaps the darkest moment in his personal life NaDa emerged two weeks later to post an update called "Letter to the sky" on his fan cafe. Addressed to his deceased father the letter contained some potent words that would shape the remainder of NaDa's career:

"my dad was very strong...
he wasnt skinny like me
he was big..
and strong..
he never lost vs people"

"i realize it now... now... now i realize...

yes i have to wake up again...
having no practice now is killing me...

if i go back to seoul...
practice hard... so no one can beat me...

and for sure... i will dedicate all those winnings and honors to ..
my father...

i..
im going back ...

dont worry...

im going back to the real nada...

so

remember

i will take care of my family dad.."

Having been excused from his professional duty for two months NaDa put his nose back to the grindstone and began his battle to achieve that win to honour his father. With two OSL titles under his belt it would have been easy to imagine NaDa already had had the motivation required to seek a third, being as nobody had ever accomplished such a feat. OnGameNET even had a golden mouse trophy awaiting whoever could reach such fabled ground. Not for NaDa though, this was a quest for personal and emotional vindication.

Still, as many a progamer has found out in BW history, the road back to even the Ro16 can be fraught with obstacles once one has dropped out of the prelims, and thus faces the longest possible path back to the group stages. The rest of 2005 saw NaDa failing at both the MSL and OSL prelims. While NaDa had been slumping and weighed down with tragedy that year iloveoov had secured a second OSL title, drawing him once again equal, a young Zerg called sAviOr had won an MSL with a new breed of ZvT play and July had secured a second OSL title.

Three active players (BoxeR, iloveoov and July) all sat on two OSL titles as well, so the race to be the first to raise the golden mouse was well and truly underway.

2005's winrate had dropped to 55% and NaDa had seen the number of maps played drop to 112.

2006 - The golden quest, history in the way and a promise fulfilled.

The first season of OSL and MSL saw NaDa still unable to progress past the prelims and it wasn't until the last third of the year and the Pringles MSL Season 2 that NaDa once more returned to the Ro16 of an individual league. That season's champion was sAviOr, who had been in four straight finals and now had taken his third title, tying him with NaDa and iloveoov for the most MSL titles in history.

In November NaDa fully returned and navigated his way to the final of the ShinHan2006-2 OSL. If he was to fulfill his promise to his father and earn his golden mouse he would have to battle history as well as his own personal demons. The Protoss opponent he was faced across from was the same Anytime who had knocked BoxeR out of the OSL final a year prior, denying the Emperor his last opportunity at a golden mouse and once more forcing him to relive his personal nightmare of 'The Legend of the Fall'.

The legend said that a Protoss would win the OSL in the Fall, well here it was Fall and here stood a Protoss who had already fulfilled the legend once already, against another legendary Terran name. When the final reached a decisive fifth set, mirroring the aforementioned BoxeR-Anytime So1 OSL final, one could be forgiven for imagining the weight of all of his personal and professional pressures might have crushed NaDa, or at least given him reason to hesistate.

Instead, as the game began NaDa calmed himself by virtue of a small omen and a change in perspective:

"When I hoped to be placed at 1 o'clock, and was actually placed at 1, I knew the goddess of triumph was smiling at me."

"At the very last moment in the Finals, I wiped out all my obsessions directed at Golden Mouse. I only thought how I'd react after winning the match, and forgot about the Golden Mouse."

With some legendary drop play NaDa did what BoxeR could not, in a number of respects, and bested Anytime to win his third OSL title. As NaDa ran up the catwalk-esque area leading to the golden mouse trophy his face was one of unmitigated joy in the present moment.

"It's my first time shedding tears after winning the league. This is the best day of my life. I am so happy. I have never been happier. I never knew it would be this hard to climb all the way back to the top after having hit rock bottom."

Exactly, to the day, 16 months after his father's passing, and two days before his own birthday, NaDa had become the first BW player in history to win three OSL titles and six individual league titles in total. It had been more than four years since his first taste of championship glory but NaDa's thirst had gone unquenched until now.

2006 ended with a 59% winrate over 103 maps.

2007 - Another bonjwa born and another battle for the crown.

After having won the last OSL of 2006, and amongst the emotions of the implications of his victory, NaDa had mentioned his desire to be the first to truly defy the OSL champion's curse, which saw the champion almost never make a strong run in the subsequent season. The only player in history who had won two straight OSLs was BoxeR. NaDa had his sights set on this accomplishment too.

"I would like to break the "jinx" in ShinHan Season3 Starleague. I hope to make a mark in history starting now."

As fate would have it NaDa had another strong run left in him and the stamina to keep pushing. In February he reached the final of the ShinHan2006-3 OSL. There he met the dominant player of the current era: sAviOr. Just as NaDa had won three MSLs and then an OSL to cement his dominance, and iloveoov had followed suit with the same pattern of wins, now the man they called the 'Maestro' wished to follow that path of champions. He had been in the past four straight MSL finals and had just made his fifth, meaning he would also aim to be the first since NaDa to win both titles in a single season.

NaDa's TvZ would face its greatest test in this moment, as sAviOr's incredible management style saw him using the Zerg units to seeming perfection, cutting off armies, forcing them to double back on themselves and outright destroying them with perfectly timed counter-attacks. This was the era in which ZvT was supposed to be impossible and yet sAviOr was dominating. The greatest Zerg of all time against the greatest Terran of all time, with an OSL title at stake. sAviOr's victory meant ascension to the plane of oov and NaDa, while NaDa was looking to become the first to four OSL titles, and put himself two ahead of the others. He had overcome the champion's curse but now a much greater task lay ahead.

In a classic final sAviOr completed his destiny and became the bonjwa he was rightfully meant to be, ironically creating the very thought-form of the bonjwa which was then retroactively applied to BoxeR, iloveoov and NaDa. The Maestro's reign would only be weeks long but in this moment another seminal passing-of-the-torch moment seemed to be upon everyone and it was clear to see the order of things.

NaDa would never again reach the same heights or contend for another title in professional StarCraft: Brood War. In the last two seasons of 2007 he lost twice in the prelims of the MSL and twice in the Ro16 of the OSL. The latter of his OSL losses saw him dropping maps to an iloveoov who was all but finished and a young man named Flash who had only just begun.

2007's winrate was 52% over 88 maps.

2008 - The matchups that could have been

Of the year's six individual leagues NaDa would fail to qualify for three and two of the others would see his runs end at the Ro16. Still, his losses hold moments of interest and significance when we look back on them now.

In February NaDa made it all the way to the Ro8 of the GOMTV MSL Season 4, beating Anytime before losing to Mind 1:3. Mind was the reigning champion, so there was no shame in that loss, but fans had been tantalised by the prospect of a match with Jaedong in the next round. A similar scenario played out in the Arena MSL, as a loss to Hwasin in the Ro16 meant another Jaedong matchup went out of the window. Over in that season's OSL the Ro16 was again the final resting place for NaDa, losing in a tiebreaker with Protoss Dragons JangBi and Stork.

Elimination in the prelims of the Incruit OSL could never be considered satisfactory but a little of the sting was taken out of it when the player who had eliminated NaDa, a youngster named Fantasy, seemingly walked the royal road all the way to the final that year, before finishing runnerup.

In November NaDa made it to the Ro8 of the Club Day Online MSL, only to be swept 0:3 by free, spoiling a semi-final matchup with Bisu. Finally the prelims for the Batoo OSL saw NaDa again dropping out early, this time to an unknown player called Symbol who SC2 fans of the present will instantly recognise.

2008 saw a winrate of 42% and only 76 maps played.

2009 and 2010 - The last real run before the end

Watching the careers of sportsmen I've always had kind of perverse fascination with the period at which the player has lost a step, has fallen from his spot at the top of his field and at which young hungry lions circle the seasoned veteran waiting for their chance to feast upon his legendary name. While the most pleasure is naturally derived from watching the legendary individual at the peak of his powers, executing his plans flawlessly and overcoming even his stiffest opposition, the final portion of his career can be a useful measuring stick for his overall greatness.

Once all the advantages are gone we see what a competitor is made of. When he must use every ounce of his strength, cunning and experience to give himself even a chance of reaching the dizzing heights of the top again. Watching the great players, assuming injury had not hobbled them, in this scenario allows one to both measure the greatness of the players who surpass them and also their heart as competitors. So it was with this final period of real competitive drive in NaDa's BW career.

In March he made it to his fourth straight MSL Ro16 and his third Ro8 in four seasons, an incredible feat for a player almost seven years removed from his first title. Blocking his path to the semi-finals was JangBi, the previous MSL's runnerup. Less than a month prior JangBi had set the new ELO peak for PvT and what even today stands as the fourth highest vT ELO peak in history. An old dog like NaDa should have been easy work for a stud like JangBi, especially in light of free's demolition job in the previous MSL. This NaDa did not come out playing like a tired veteran of eight years slog though.

The first map of the series was perhaps one of the most beautifully executed and inspired games of NaDa's career, even at this late stage. Having eyed up the maps of the middle three potential sets of the Bo5 NaDa's victory in the first filled him with the confidence and belief he could pull off the upset. The second game shot him down though, as he later explained that he was anticipating a proxy gate but couldn't locate it due to JangBi's placement in a spot he had never seen used before. The game went to JangBi and despite fighting back to stave off elimination in the fourth set NaDa eventually fell on the very same Byzantium 2 which had started him off 1:0. Had he somehow miraculously moved past the PvT monster in front of him a matchup with Stork was awaiting in the semi-finals, but once more a dream matchup of old and new was not to be.

Following a battle which had taken everything out of him NaDa's emotions flowed freely:

"I had practiced with my everything. I wasn't even in the best condition, but I gave up everything and focused on practice but I still lost. I didn't want to cry, but I did. I felt sorry to Jangbi for crying. I usually don't cry, but after I lost I felt sad and just a burst of thoughts and emotions made me cry."

Perhaps fittingly that month would be the final time NaDa would be ranked in the top 30 by KeSPA, seeing his impossible 87 month streak come to a close. NaDa never qualified for another OSL or MSL, losing to players like Stats, fOrGG and Hydra. In his last ever attempt, for the Korean Air OSL S2, he beat an unknown Protoss named JYP but fell to current Woonjin star Zerg Neo.G_Soulkey.

2009's winrate was 51% over only 68 maps, but that included heritage-based events. 2010's was likewise 56% over only 25 maps. The last two years of NaDa's career, following the JangBi series at least, were mainly filled with the occasional Proleague wins and victories or strong performances in events filled with other old legends.

In September of 2010 NaDa officially retired from BW and left WeMade FOX. Despite the potential to earn a hefty salary by staying on at his BW team NaDa decided to take the risk of moving into the newly established world of SC2. Thus would begin the next and final chapter of the NaDa story, which will be told below the following summary of his BW days.

Sum total of greatness

They say in professional basketball that if you look through the record book Wilt Chamberlain owns most of them, such was the shadow he cast across the game. With a similar towering stature in-game NaDa similarly has painted himself across the record books. From most titles to most finals to semi-final appearances to weeks at #1 on the rankings he is everywhere, seemingly. BoxeR may have showed the potential of the Terran race but NaDa perfected it, for a time, and taught us what consistency is. With his well-rounded skillset and approach to practice he was very much the prototype which the TaekBangLeeSsang era is predicated upon, as eventually excellence in all areas was required to have a shot at claiming titles.

Everyone in the early days of BW measured themselves against the marking stick of BoxeR, he was the first to dominate, claim multiple titles and truly electrify fans around the world. From iloveoov to NaDa they all followed in The Emperor's footprints and it's the measure of their greatness that they surpassed him in their own ways. NaDa knew he would never be the undisputed hero of everyone's hearts, compiling moment of inspired brilliance after moment of inspired brilliance to best his foes, BoxeR had that path to greatness cornered. Nor would he insense and infuriate opponents and opposing fans with the kind of domination iloveoov and sAviOr displayed, playing the role of big bad boss and heel to perfection. Instead NaDa had to achieve his legacy, respect and fame through the most arduous and unforgiving of tasks: winning consistently.

Perhaps we can see that NaDa himself recognised this as this telling statement from an interview in 2005 explained:

"When I advanced to the semis at Gillette OSL no one really paid any attention, but with [Boxer] advancing to the semis this time, the whole world is excited and on fire."

Speaking about winning his last OSL badge:

"I love it, no matter how heavy they may be. I have plenty esteem for them. I want them on my chest, even they number to be 100. All people will know I am the champion just by looking at my uniform."

NaDa won more titles than anyone else in BW history, at least until 2011, and finished his career with a 61% winrate over 1,000+ games played. He made a major final in six straight years and the Ro8 for eight straight. He won and he did it again and again. That sums up NaDa.

NaDa in SC2

While NaDa was never able to capture the kind of title or run comparable to his best days in BW he was able to showcase the kind of unrelenting consistency which kept him afloat for so many years in BW and rising back up again and again to have a chance at deep runs in individual leagues. The GSL was the proving ground of SC2 and NaDa immediately made it to the Ro8 of the second Open season, where his matchup against fellow BW bonjwa BoxeR broke records for the viewership it drew.

NaDa made it to the Ro8 of the next three straight GSL seasons, from the third, and final, Open season to the first two Code S of 2011. Each time he drew a famous name or a deadly opponent on a run of their own. In GSL Code S January and March he fell to finalists MarineKing and July, respectively. Then in GSL Code S May he made a deep run right to the semi-finals, only to lose out to InCa. That made three straight runs halted by one of that season's finalists.

The rest of his GSL runs were much less significant, and after two Ro16 finishes he repeatedly fell out in the 17th-32nd place range. What had been incredible though was his ability to stay in Code S regardless of the month. Infamously even Code S champions had frequently fallen down to Code A and had to fight their way back up, but NaDa continually retained his spot.

Abroad his campaigns were fairly muted for the most part, with the exception being a run to 4th place at MLG Raleigh in August. NaDa strung together successive wins over DeMusliM, SeleCT, HuK and PuMa before falling to DongRaeGu.

NaDa's career now comes to a close in June of 2012 and he heads off to face challenges in other areas of life. From a 17 year old growing up in the shadow of BoxeR to the most successful player in BW history NaDa's career was a marathon not a sprint and finally he must rest up and decide a new course to plot. Not to worry though, his parting words remind us of his ability to motivate and inspire himself to better things: