The Call of the LeeSsang Rok – Duncan 'Thorin' Shields

Published on SK Gaming in August of 2010.

Tomorrow morning, for those of us who live outside of South Korea, the best rivalry in Esports will see the next chapter written in its nail-biting history as the the LeeSsang Rok, the battle of the Lee’s, decides the MSL final for a third straight time. Yes, for third consectutive time in the MSL finals the dominating Terran terminator Flash will face the impossibly clutch Zerg aggressor Jaedong.

In the first MSL final Jaedong swarmed one step closer to the golden badge for 3 MSL titles, power outage and all, while in the second Flash steamrolled his way to his first MSL title. Now all eyes are on the rubber match as the immovable object (Flash) meets the irresistible force (Jaedong) once more on the field of war. If Jaedong prevails he collects a golden badge and joins NaDa as the only man to ever win 6 titles across both leagues and becomes only the fifth player to ever receive that badge. If Flash triumphs he becomes the fifth player to win 4 titles across both leagues and sixth to win at least 2 MSL titles. Even more crucially for Flash a victory will put him only one title behind his rival.

The LeeSsang Rok (Flash vs. Jaedong)

Event: Bigfile MSL 2010 Grand Final
Date: 28th August
Time: 18:00 KST / 11:00 CEST / 05:00 EDT / 02:00 PDT

Watch it live by visiting Teamliquid.net and looking at the list of streams on the right in the column with the calender at the top.

Flash (Lee Young Ho)

Race: (T) Terran
Team: KT Rolster

Birth Date: 1992-07-05 Age: 18 (Korean: 19)

Nickname(s): Little Monster, Ultimate Weapon

Total OSL-MSL titles: 3
2 OSL golds (1 silver)
1 MSL gold (1 silver)

Jaedong (Lee Jae Dong)

Race: (Z) Zerg
Team: Hwaseung OZ

Birth Date: 1990-01-09 Age: 20 (Korean: 21)

Nickname(s): Legend Killer, The Tyrant

Total OSL-MSL titles: 5
3 OSL golds (0 silvers)
2 MSL gold (2 silvers)

The greatest rivalry in Esports history

Competitive StarCraft, as played by the South Koreans, is the hardest Esports game ever and Flash and Jaedong are the two best players to ever play the game. There are players with as many as or more individual titles than both yet those players are now names in the history books while these two titans are the very pinnacle of their respective races and competitive StarCraft in general when the game is at its most developed and scrutinized.

The two have collectively dominated professional StarCraft in the modern era and others, sadly for Bisu and stork fans, need no longer even be mentioned in the conversation of who is the greatest of this era.

Consider the following:

In the previous 8 seasons of the OSL (Ongamenet StarLeague) Flash and Jaedong have collectively won 5 of the last 8 titles and have featured in 6 finals. Both are currently alive in this season’s playoffs too, which are at the Ro8.

In the previous 8 seasons of the MSL (MBCgame StarCraft League) Flash and Jaedong have collectively have won 3 titles and featured in 4 finals. Include this season and they have reached 5 finals out of the last 9.

The original great rivalry: when the the Emperor did battle with the Storm Zerg

BoxeR’s map record vs. YellOW (all competitions): 33 wins – 31 losses (51.56%)
BoxeR’s map record vs. YellOW (individual competitions): 28 wins – 26 losses (51.85%)

Traditionally, indeed up until 2010, the best rivalry in StarCraft history was the Lim-Jin Rok: the meetings of the ‘Emperor of Terran’ BoxeR and the ‘Storm Zerg’ YelloW. During their era the two defined their races and played some of the closest and most exciting StarCraft ever seen to that point in time. Indeed a look at their overall head-to-head statistics shows what a great rivalry the two’s wars amounted to.

Still the one knock on their rivalry becomes apparent when one narrows the factors being considered: BoxeR won when it mattered the most and YellOw never captured any of the most important titles. In professional StarCraft the two most important leagues are the OSL and MSL, these are the titles by which careers are defined and greatness is measured. BoxeR’s career resume reads 2 OSL titles and 1 MSL title* from 7 total finals. YelloW’s reads 0 OSL titles and 0 MSL titles from 5 total finals. The disparity is even greater in considering their most significant meetings.

BoxeR’s OSL/MSL finals series record vs. YellOw: 2 wins – 0 losses

While the two’s style matchup and skillsets were incredibly close and yielded a lot of great StarCraft for spectators it cannot be ignored that YellOw always carried the stigma of being the ‘King of silver’ while BoxeR is one of the bonjwas and was the greatest player in history at one point in time. Viewed in terms of all of the maps they ever played against each other the two could still contend to be the greatest rivals ever, but viewed in terms of the most important moments the rivalry is barely a rivalry and instead becomes a one-sided affair.

To paraphrase something I’ve heard said about professional basketball which I think applies in this context: it’s only really a rivalry if both sides win when it matters. This leads us neatly into why the LeeSsang Rok has surpassed the Lim-Jin Rok and usurped the title of greatest rivalry in StarCraft history.

Usurping the Lim-Jin Rok

As mentioned in the second paragraph when Flash and Jaedong met in the previous two MSL finals the end result was a 1-1 split of the titles. When one breaks down their head-to-head records we see each dominating in a different area to the other and so even on a statistical level the rivalry is more potent and vibrant than the legendary Lim-Jin Rok.

Flash’s map record vs. Jaedong (all competitions): 17 wins – 17 losses (50.00%)
Flash’s map record vs. Jaedong (individual competitions): 13 wins – 14 losses (48.15%)
Flash’s map record vs. Jaedong (MSL): 6 wins – 6 losses (50.00%)
Flash’s map record vs. Jaedong (OSL): 4 wins – 2 losses (66.67%)
Flash’s map record vs. Jaedong (2010): 6 wins – 5 losses (54.55%)

In overall maps the two have incredibly an even record and as one goes through the various significant filters things remain ridiculously close. This is the greatest rivalry because these two are the two greatest players of all time, both in skill level and in as much as their titles have come in the most difficult era when the parity of all the progamers has been so much closer, as well as because each has been the one enduring road block in the path of the other. It is no exaggeration to state that if Jaedong did not exist then Flash would be the bonjwa and if Flash did not exist then Jaedong would be likewise. Even co-existing they have both achieved incredible winrate records at different points in their careers, truly a testament to how good each is.

The more one breaks down the stats the more one sees how as one player gains an advantage at the expense of the other so the other gains one where the he is weaker. On the surface those initial stats tell the story that Jaedong has overall been slightly better in maps across the individual competitions but Flash has been twice as good in the OSL and slightly better this year in general. Flash fans should not get ahead of themselves though as when considering a different set of stats we soon see the favour pulled over to Jaedong’s side.

Flash’s Bo3 record vs. Jaedong (individual competitions): 3 wins – 1 loss (75.00%)
Flash’s Bo5 record vs. Jaedong (individual competitions): 1 win – 3 losses (25.00%)
Flash’s BoX record vs. Jaedong (individual competitions): 4 wins – 4 losses (50.00%)

Flash’s Bo3 record vs. Jaedong (OSL): 2 wins – 0 loss (100.00%)
Flash’s Bo5 record vs. Jaedong (MSL): 1 win – 3 losses (25.00%)

Flash’s finals record vs. Jaedong (individual competitions): 1 wins – 3 loss (25.00%)
Flash’s finals record vs. Jaedong (OSL-MSL): 1 wins – 1 loss (50.00%)

Breaking down the stats through these filters we soon see that Jaedong comes out ahead, or at least tied, in the ones which are most important. The two’s overall series records are tied but Flash’s wins mainly come in semi-finals, in part due to the OSL only featuring Bo5 in the semi-final and final whereas the MSL features it in each round of bracket play. It should be a fairly easy case to argue that it is easier to win a Bo3 series than a Bo5 and that in general the better player will win more Bo5 series, against the same opponent, than Bo3s.

Jaedong gets the advantage in that area as he has better record in Bo5 victories, strengthened further by having the better record in finals themselves. One of those finals was the WCG 2010 finals and it should be mentioned that each had already qualified for the Grand Finals and knew they would be facing each other in the MSL final shortly afterwards so in reality the record in all finals should more reasonably be thought of as Flash 1 win to Jaedong’s 2.

Trends and conclusions

So let’s put together these stats and get some overall trends and conclusions to draw thusfar in two’s history of battle:

In terms of raw skill and how closely they match up there is nothing between the two, they are the two greatest players of all time and likely it comes down each time to who is the most mentally focused and who has the best day/map. Going further we can conclude that thusfar Jaedong is the better Bo5 and finals player while Flash is the better of the two at Bo3 and matchups outside of the finals. This all makes sense as Jaedong’s Bo5 record against all opponents sits at 22-4 in series for a monsterous and mindmeltingly impossible 84.6% series win rate.

The story doesn’t end there with surface stats and factors only though. Flash has a split record in MSL finals in 2010, the only times they have ever met in OSL or MSL finals. What’s more Jaedong’s Bo3 record against all opponents only drops to a 79.1% win rate with 72-19 in series. So taking into account that there is a much larger sample size of data for Bo3 as opposed to Bo5 we can see that it’s not as though other people have had better luck in Bo3s vs. Jaedong historically, he’s still ridiculously dominant. So taking that into account Flash gets a little more credit for his Bo3 wins than perhaps one would have given him considering the previous factors.

Jaedong had also won two titles (an OSL and MSL) before Flash won his first title. This is worth factoring into the equation as while their overall record in maps sits at 17-17 for 50% Jaedong won more early on and Flash won more as time went on. To put numbers to it in the first half of their history in, the first 17 meetings, Jaedong won 10 maps for 58.82%. In their last 17 meetings Flash has likewise won 10 maps for an identical 58.82%. This means overall that Flash has been gaining more as time has gone on and this point actually marks the moment at which each are tied but with Flash having the overall greater momentum as far as all of their matchups go map-wise. Take the WCG finals out of the picture for a moment as a thought experiment, for the reasons listed before, and Flash has won 9 of the last 14 for 64.29%.

So to tie the last three overarching trends together we can conclude that the two have been equally good in finals of only the OSL and MSL (when they face each other), Jaedong has been the better Bo5 and finals player overall but Flash is gaining in the matchup overall and generally can be considered to be catching up in the Bo5 and OSL-MSL finals scenarios.

Additional factors

Now let’s add in a few more factors from each side to see how it affects the balance. For Flash it is worth considering his overall play and when it has come in his career in comparison to Jaedong’s. Flash has reached all five of the last five consecutive finals in the OSL-MSL collectively. In the four which have been played he has won two, one of each variety, and obviously that means he has also collected two silvers from the other two. In that same space of time Jaedong has reached the three MSL finals and of the two played we have already seen that he has won 1 gold and 1 silver.

Flash over his whole career has reached 3 OSL finals, winning 2 golds and 1 silver, and 3 MSL finals, winning 1 gold and 1 silver so far. Jaedong over his whole career has reached 3 OSL finals, winning 3 golds, and 4 MSL finals, winning 2 golds and 2 silvers so far.

Putting those two categories of factors, performance in 2010 finals and performance in career finals, together the conclusions which can be drawn are that Jaedong is the better finalist overall and has the greater resume. On the other hand one must give Flash a lot of credit for his performance in 2010 and say that he has been the better player. He has twice as many golds as Jaedong in 2010 and two silvers to Jaedong’s one. Here is the same overall trend is seen from their careers in terms of maps and their rivalry in terms of BoX records: Jaedong led early on but Flash has now either tied things up or gained on the Zerg and performed better in other areas and other contexts.

The #1 players in the world, the favourites

The interest levels and storylines for the LeeSsang Rok only increase the more one attempts to introduce factors and context to the mix. Let’s consider their battles against one another in the bracket stages of individual competitions and see how context paints a different picture for each and the outcome is woven into the fabric of their back and forth history.

Event: GOMTV MSL S4
Stage: Quarter-final (Ro8)
BoX: 5

08-02-14 Katrina (Flash wins) – VOD
08-02-14 Blue Storm (Jaedong wins) – VOD
08-02-14 Loki II (Jaedong wins) – VOD
08-02-14 Zodiac (Jaedong wins) – VOD

Jaedong was the reigning OSL champion, winner of EVER 2007, having walked the royal road and defeated stork in the final. This was Jaedong in his ‘Legend killer’ phase still making a name for himself and transitioning into becoming a legend in his own right. This was back when Flash was the ‘Little Monster’ and his claim to fame was a Ro4 finish in the Daum OSL, having defeated Bisu, and had fallen to the aforementioned Stork in the EVER OSL.

Jaedong was still known as the aggressive player who came and came and the key to beating him was to withstand and survive those attacks at which points victory became an option. Flash meanwhile was labelled with the stigma of being the “guess hitter” by the South Korean community, considered a player who guessed when to cheese and won when he guessed correctly. While this position was understandable being as he had cheesed Bisu in Daum and then failed to win the title Flash was still certainly one of the best Terrans out there in all areas.

In their first individual league meeting Flash initially made a statement as he broke out his famous Mech build to give Jaedong his first ever loss on Katrina, Flash would later go down in history as the only player to give Jaedong any losses on this map and its special edition as he accounted for the entire three. Impressive as that was Jaedong made the biggest impact as he put together the first of what would be three incredible LWWW series back-to-back-to-back to win the title. His game on Loki II saw him overcome Flash’s macro and win a big time ZvT with multitasking and hive control.

Flash’s MSL run ended while Jaedong went on to become a legend in his own right and shed the ‘Legend killer’ title on his way to becoming the ‘Tyrant’ as he snatched any hope of victory away from every opponent in his way to the MSL title with his LWWW madness.

Event: Bacchus 2008 OSL
Stage: Quarter-final (Ro8)
BoX: 3

08-02-15 Troy (Flash wins) – VOD
08-02-22 Fantasy II (Jaedong wins) – VOD
08-02-22 Katrina (Flash wins) – VOD

8 days after their GOMTV MSL S4 battle the two met in what would be the second of three Ro8s the two would play against each other in the space of 12 days total. This time the ‘Little Monster’ came out on top, winning the decisive map on Katrina to hand Jaedong his second ever loss on that map.

From there Flash went on one of the all time great OSL runs as he beat Bisu in the Semi-final and stork in the final. The latter match was at the time the shortest OSL final in history as Flash rushed past stork 3:0 to win his first title and become the youngest Starleague winner in history. With his proleague play set to really kick in after this the ‘Little Monster’ was becoming the ‘Ultimate weapon’ before the StarCraft world’s eyes.

Event: GOMTV Star Invitational
Stage: Quarter-final (Ro8)
BoX: 3

08-02-25 Blue Storm (Flash wins)
08-02-25 Katrina (Jaedong wins)
08-02-25 Baekmagoji (Flash wins)

In the third in their quick succession of Ro8s Flash took the lead and put himself in the driver’s seat in their matchup by winning the third meeting. Another Bo3 Flash pushed past Jaedong in the first of the GOM leagues, which were at the time considered essentially the third most important individual league and carried some cache even if they invitational in nature early on.

After disapatching Jaedong Flash went on to win the invitational and was well on his way to establishing himself as the best player in the world. His dominance in the months following the Bacchus and GOM events saw him putting up an amazing 24-4 record as well as tying a Proleague record of 17 straight wins.

Event: GOM Classic Season 1
Stage: Final
BoX: 5

08-08-10 Blue Storm (Jaedong wins)
08-08-10 Katrina SE (Jaedong wins)

Flash was on top of the world thanks to his previous wins and his dominant play over all forms of competition. With Jaedong having earned a silver in the Arena MSL, being upset by ForGG in a series many felt was slanted against Jaedong due to map imbalance, he was understandly to be considered the second best player at worst. With both meeting again in a Bo5 many expected this to be one of the greatest finals in StarCraft history as the two best players in the world clashed in their first final.

In end what history remembered though was Jaedong smashing Flash 3:0 in emphatic fashion, taking the breath out of those who had lauded Flash as the #1 player. Jaedong was over his slump and ready to show the world the kind of player he could be in terms of overall greatness and hinting at what was to come in finals in general.

Event: EVER 2009 OSL
Stage: Quarter-Final (Ro8)
BoX: 3

09-12-18 Fighting Spirit (Flash wins) – VOD
09-12-25 New Heartbreak Ridge (Flash wins) – VOD

Over a year after Jaedong had seized back control of the #1 spot with his resounding thrashing of the ‘Ultimate Weapon’ in the GOMTV finals both players’s careers had understandably moved on. Jaedong had become the true ‘Tyrant’ of the pro scene racking up back-to-back OSL wins to become the third player to ever earn a golden mouse and taking his OSL-MSL gold haul to 4. Flash had become a confusing player who despite that early promise as the youngest Starleague winner had since failed to come up with any title wins in the OSL-MSL, yet was now one of the most dominating players as he was charging through anyone he faced in all competitions.

In this Quarter-Final Flash evoked beat Jaedong straight-up and then evoked memories of BoxeR and YellOW and he completed the sweep with a bunker rush. The best player in the world day in and day out was now the best player in the world in all regards it seemed. Off he went through the rest of the opponents in the OSL and claimed his second title.

Event: NATE MSL
Stage: Final
BoX: 5

10-01-23 Match Point (Jaedong wins)
10-01-23 Ultimatum (Flash wins)
10-01-23 Odd-Eye (Jaedong wins)
10-01-23 Fighting Spirit (Jaedong wins)

Flash had defeated Jaedong on his way to the EVER 2009 OSL title and now less than a month later the two faced each other in the MSL final. Flash’s dominance across all competitions had grown further and he was viewed as unstoppable and unbeatable by everyone. Even three of the four bonjwas predicted he would win this final and defeat Jaedong. Crucially the one who sided against Flash was fellow Terran NaDa who explained that since Jaedong had been eliminated from the OSL he would have been solely focusing on Flash and the MSL final while Flash had to focus first on the OSL final. As a result NaDa felt the preparation edge went to Jaedong and also explained that it is incredibly difficult to win both leagues in a single season, and he would know being the only man to ever accomplish that task.

Still many felt Flash’s overall record going into the final was too much and the maps also favoured Terran they claimed. In the final Jaedong came right out of the gate with a great map 1 to remind everyone he was far from out of contention for this MSL regardless of Flash’s form. Flash answered back with a mesmerising moment of dropship play on the second map to turn the game completely and level the series. At this point everyone’s heartbeat was racing, everyone’s adrenaline was pumping and everyone was sure the first ever OSL-MSL final between these two was living up to all the hype. There was no reason to think otherwise as the third map got underway and Odd-Eye, the map many had pointed to as imbalanced against Zerg in ZvT, was going overwhelmingly Jaedong’s way and the ‘Tyrant’ was in full effect and flowing in the finals.

Sadly the infamous power outage cost that last moment of closure which would have sealed one of the all time great ZvT performances. The ensuing drama also took the wind out of everyone’s sails, Flash’s in particular, and when the series resumed after what seemed like an eternity Flash fell in the fourth map, losing the title, in what looked to be a fairly standard though uncharacteristic build order loss for the Terran. Jaedong had won his 5th title overall, his second MSL title, and he had done what everyone had said could not be done: stopped Flash. The legend of Jaedong grew a little more while Flash’s doubters began to wonder what he could possibly do to win when at his peak Jaedong could still stop him in his tracks in a Bo5. Would Flash’s career go the way of stork: left to wonder what could have been if one of the other greats had not existed?

Event: Hana Daetoo MSL
Stage: Final
BoX: 5

10-05-29 Triathlon (Flash wins)
10-05-29 Odd-Eye 2 (Flash wins)
10-05-29 Match Point (Flash wins)

Flash had reached back-to-back dual finals for the second season in a row. This time though it was he who came into the MSL final as the underdog. Despite increasing his overall dominance, flirting with 90% win rates and other such seemingly impossible feats, and reaching the dual finals for a second straight time the world seemed certain Jaedong was set to repeat and win this MSL too. In the OSL Flash had been up 2:0 in maps against first time finalist EffOrt and managed to blow it in the fact of inspired play from the Zerg, losing to 2:3 and seeing an opportunity to win the golden mouse metaphorically fly away as his opponent took the Korean Air OSL title. With the deciding map loss being one of the classic infamous Flash 14ccs in a key moment which turns into a disasterous loss.

Now people were ignoring Flash’s win rate and focusing only on Jaedong’s godlike Bo5 records overall and against Flash. They said Flash had proven he wasn’t clutch in his performance against EffOrt. That imperfection still remained in the diamond of the Terran’s play as despite as much as or more potential than any single player in history he looked set to be one of those players who was great but not as great as he could have been, Jaedong being the vehicle by which that fate was realized. One well known member of the StarCraft community was even laying a lot of money against Flash going into the final, feeling confident he was taking candy from babies as Flash fanboys rushed to confirm their wagers.

The only pattern which would be repeated from the previous MSL to this one would be of the underdog overcoming all the odds to become the champion. Flash took his weakness, the 14cc which had cost him his golden mouse, and turned it into his strength and he took a turn to blast Jaedong out of the water as the Zerg had done to him back in GOM TV S1. Flash 14cc’d three times and stormed to his first MSL title 3:0 over an incredulous crowd who now looked at Jaedong and wondered what had happened. No angry determined face bringing the game back after the first map loss. No legendary clutch comeback and defiance of any map imbalance. The ‘Ultimate Weapon’ was on top of the StarCraft world again for the third time.

Event: WCG 2010 Korea
Stage: Final
BoX: 3

10-08-22 Grand Line SE (Flash wins)
10-08-22 Polaris Rhapsody (Jaedong wins)
10-08-22 Fighting Spirit (Jaedong wins)

This series was not such an important series in the context of its moment. Both players had secured their spot at the WCG Grand Final, being as South Korea sends three representatives, and knowing they would face each other in the MSL final days later there was no reason for anyone to get crazy and reveal some innovative builds. Instead one got the feeling both players used strategies they had practiced but which just felt right at the time, nothing too tailored or with too much emotional investment.

Flash won the first map but Jaedong came back to win the next two and finish first overall. Jaedong had won gold at the previous WCG Grand Finals and now Flash would attend also, not having qualified the previous year.

Event: BigFile MSL 2010
Stage: Final
BoX: 5

10-08-28 Polaris Rhapsody TvZ: 21-15 (58.3%)
10-08-28 Odd-Eye 3 TvZ: 6-2 (75%)
10-08-28 Fighting Spirit TvZ: 135-125 (51.9%)
10-08-28 Triathlon TvZ: 8-7 (53.3%)
10-08-28 Polaris Rhapsody TvZ: 21-15 (58.3%)

The first factor which springs to mind for this final is Flash’s impressive 3:0 over Jaedong in the previous MSL final. For many that was Flash both turning the corner on his Bo5s against Jaedong and exorcising some of his demons which had caused him to falter in the past. He may not have quite the win rate he did going into the previous MSL finals but he is still the best player in the world and still very beastly, except in ace matches in the Proleague for a while. What’s more he has just won the Proleague and added that MVP to his Winner’s League MVP. Now he stands at the door of winning everything in a single season, truly an accomplishment which would lift a lot of his ‘underachiever’ stigma from the titles part of his resume.

For Jaedong the positives are that individually he has been playing great and that recent results have shown some nice upsides for him if viewed from certain perspectives. The WCG final saw him beating Flash, something impressive no matter when it’s done, and doing so on Polaris Rhapsody which is a map many have singled out as one of the most imbalanced for Terran in TvZ, the stats certainly bear that out. In his MSL Semi-Final Jaedong experienced real adversity as Light leveled Jaedong’s 1:0 lead off to a 1:2 deficit by winning all the late-game maps of the series. This turned into a Jaedong positive though as he won the fourth, displaying classic Jaedong anger face demolition and truly wreaking Tyrant-esque terror as he infested two of Light’s command centers to really show what happens when you fuck with Jaedong and piss him off.

The fifth map went Jaedong’s way as he used his brilliant sense of timing to attack early with lings and then mutalisks and push past Light who unfortunately had indeed become the ‘Invisible Terran’. Some were angered by Jaedong’s attack in the fifth, feeling robbed of a late-game epic to truly cement the series as a great matchup but for Jaedong he cares not how he wins just that he wins and that is what makes him arguably the greatest player to ever plug in a mouse.

Now we really get to see the kind of matchup we’ve all been anticipating from these two. The immovable object will face the irresistible force for real. Flash will bring the impossibly dominant solid play to the table facing Jaedong’s inhuman ability to pull out clutch wins and overcome any odds. Flash comes in as the favourite but for Jaedong that seems to be a position which motivates him further. Crucially he doesn’t seem to consider himself as better than Flash, perhaps recognising that their battles are far from done and the Terran continues to come on in leaps and bounds to an extent that he is scary for anyone.

In the part of them which loves pure StarCraft competition most fans are surely hoping for an epic, not a thrashing like the Hana Daetoo final or a jilted victory which robs us of closure like the Nate MSL final. Instead let’s have four maps of brilliance from both players or even five to send the series down through the ages as one of the all time greats. Still if Flash has everything going for him into this final there’s one last stat which can be thrown out there to give Jaedong fans that little spark they need to stay locked in: Jaedong has won 100% (4-0) of the fifth maps he has played in Bo5 series.

Let thunder ring out and lightning thrash down to scar the earth as the battle for another MSL title rages between the two greatest players of all time who lock horns for another piece of history to add to their already hauls. Don’t miss the LeeSsang Rok tomorrow!

References and thanks

This article would not have been possible without the phenomenal work put in by those who helped create, maintain and update the Teamliquid Liquipedia. Likewise the Teamliquid website itself proved an invaluable tool for finding odd pieces of information here and there. If you love competitive StarCraft there’s no better place to go, whether you’re looking for the latest matches or to relive some of the game’s wonderful history.

Also a huge thanks to FOMOS, Nevergg and anyone else whose photos I may have used, they retain all copyrights and I thank them for their great work in capturing so many epic moments.

BoxeR’s 1 MSL title is technically a KPGA Tour title, the precursor to the MSL, but is typically counted as an MSL title as excluding it would likewise remove NaDa’s three titles in that league for the same reason. Two of YellOw’s finals were also in the KPGA Tour.