Losing in a final hurts. Oftentimes you hear pro athletes talking about how there is nothing worse in the world of competition than getting to a tournament final -- the pinnacle of your craft -- and failing at the last hurdle. All the hours of tireless practicing for nothing. The emotions, pent up after a long journey, spilling out all at once, the anguish of defeat amplified by the joy of the champion. As the "runner-up" -- another word for first loser -- thinks over every little thing they could have possibly done to change the result that occurred, a party is occurring just a few feet away, the winner basking in the glow of a completed conquest.
South Korean Zerg player Eo "soO" Yoon-su, 24, felt this firsthand at the end of 2013 in the Global StarCraft II League Finals against Protoss player Baek "Dear" Dong-Jun. Over the years, SK Telecom T1, soO's club at the time, had become known for its unlimited success in all areas except one: its Zerg lineup. Before soO could become SKT's first Zerg player to become a force in StarCraft: Brood War, SCII's predecessor, he was required to switch to the newer game. After becoming proficient at the new title, he made it to the finals against Dear and came up short.
It hurt. Years of working toward a goal, even having to switch games, and the result of soO's shining moment was a loss in the finals of the most prestigious individual StarCraft II league in the world against a beatable opponent.
He would return to the GSL Finals for a second time in another season six months later, being one of the few players to make back-to-back trips to the ultimate match. In GSL, a grueling 32-man tournament, only some of the best players to ever play the game had accomplished that feat. There, he faced another Protoss, Joo "Zest" Sung-wook, the ace of SKT's arch rival KT Rolster. Although soO went up 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, he eventually fell at a second GSL finale in a row, slumped in his booth as another star was born in front of him.
"The NFL's Buffalo Bills had the same fate as soO in the early 1990s. In an alternate universe, the Bills won all four Super Bowls, or even three of four, and are considered one of the greatest dynasties in sports history."
It would be only two months from that point when soO would be seated in the familiar position of runner-up, this time having to watch his teammate, Kim "Classic" Doh-woo, inaugurated as GSL's newest champion. Three times soO had entered the 32-man tournament, the most difficult StarCraft II league in the world, and he had made it all the way to the finals, shedding blood, sweat and tears, and having nothing to show for it but a small pile of prize winnings, nowhere near enough to ease the pain.
"Even from my perspective, I am sure that a second place finish is very disappointing [for soO]," said Classic in his winner's interview following his GSL championship win (interpretaton via Team Liquid). "Even though soO says he's OK, I'm sure that he's struggling. I used to share a room with soO, and we're really close, so I'm going to buy food for him a lot and treat him well."
Money is certainly important in esports. It's impossible to sustain yourself without money from your salary, tournament winnings and sponsorships to make sure you can focus fully on playing the game you excel in. But beyond money, winning -- the feeling of having accomplished something and being the best player in the world, even for a short time -- is what drives most players. Competition. Argue as long as you like as to whether esports counts as a sport, entertainment, a game, whatever definition you want to think of, but there is one thing that esports players and athletes share in spades: the drive to win, over everything else.
That's why even when soO dusted himself off from his gut-punch defeat to Classic and marched forward, making a fourth straight GSL Finals and his third in 2014 alone, the impending loss could not be softened by any amount of money, food bought by his teammates or words of admiration from his fans or teammates. In the final, once more against a SKT T1 teammate, this one against Lee "INnoVation" Shin-hyung, a man often compared to robots or cyborgs for his mechanical, straightforward personality, it was a year of soO's life filled with futility, pain and hard work against a calculated monster, one whose only goal was to win.
I would like to write here this is where soO triumphed. He defeated "The Robot," the merciless destroyer who already possessed various trophies and accolades. With the year of losing in the finals, soO completed the harshest journey any player had ever gone through to win a major esports title, slaying his teammate, rival and friend in the GSL finals, tears of unfiltered joy pouring from his eyes as his parents and the rest of SKT T1 rushed on stage to congratulate him. They circled around him, patting him on the back and hugging him, even INnoVation, the man made of circuits and wires himself, joining on the festivities, everyone lifting soO from his chair to throw him into air in raucous celebration.
While there were tears, though, they were not made from joy. The journey of difficult losses did not result in an ultimate victory. SoO lost the series and championship to INnoVation, and he would not return to the final the next season, or the season after that. His streak of GSL Finals ended at four, and all four had ended the same exact way: soO putting up a fight, maybe even getting to the seventh game of the best-of-seven, and then crumbling, losing the final game, the series and his chance at redemption. He would sit in his booth, despondent, and have to watch the confetti rain down on his opponent, the trophy he put his entire being into winning so close but so far away.
The NFL's Buffalo Bills had the same fate as soO in the early 1990s. In an alternate universe, the Bills won all four Super Bowls, or even three of four, and are considered one of the greatest dynasties in sports history. Jim Kelly, the Bills quarterback at the time, is now considered one of the best to play the game. The city of Buffalo, cold and frigid in the winters, would be a bit sunnier even today, having the success of the Bills dynasty to look back upon.
The same can be said for soO. In all four of the finals, he had a chance to win. In the universe where he won all four, he is the greatest Zerg player in the history of StarCraft II, and there is a legitimate debate as to whether he is the greatest player period when compared to Jung "Mvp" Jong Hyun, the current player considered Greatest of All Time of SCII, who won four GSL titles during the Wings of Liberty era of the game. Instead of discussing the pain, we would be dissecting his greatness, mulling over his runs in tournaments as masterful runs and not roads that ultimately ended in despair.
Since his four straight GSL Finals losses, soO has earned only one trophy to his name, a KeSPA Cup win in summer 2015. When he won, there was cause for celebration, but it wasn't the same. It was a short tournament, not a league format like the GSL, and the GSL trophy that soO had worked so hard for couldn't be replaced with an equally shiny and heavy piece of hardware. No, for soO to change his history, to rewrite how he will be remembered forever in the legacy of competitive gaming, he needs to hold the GSL trophy in his hands, not as a teammate or runner-up, but as a champion.
On Sunday at 6 a.m. ET, more than two years removed from his loss to INnoVation, soO will enter the venue in Seoul, South Korea, walk up the stairs to the stage and sit down inside his booth for the fifth time in a GSL Finals. This time, he is no longer a part of SK Telecom T1, his longtime club having closed its StarCraft division in 2016 after having one for over a decade.
When he takes on Splyce's Kim "Stats" Dae-yeob, a former KT Rolster mainstay, in the Finals, it will not be a battle between rivals or teammates.
It won't be about SKT vs. KT. It won't be about anything other than becoming a champion. In a time when StarCraft II's future in South Korea is at its most uncertain with the disbandment of all but one of the major clubs, there is no telling how many chances soO will have left to win the GSL title. There is no certainty he will have a chance three years, two years -- a year from now, even.
This is soO's last stand, and one way or another, tears will be shed.