The 2007/08 season was quietly one of the most critical seasons of StarCraft’s history. It was around this time when many legends of old started to fade or retire; Boxer had gone to the military the previous season, Reach made his final OSL appearance and Nada was on his way out after his epic duels with Savior. At the time, people thought the Golden Age of StarCraft had come to an end. How silly that seems in retrospect since the year saw the rise of Bisu, Stork and Jaedong, but there were legitimate causes for concern at the time.
The bitter OGN-MBC vs IEG-KeSPA dispute over the rights to Proleague erupted at the conclusion of the 2006/07 season (in April) and threatened the game's very existence. It was the first indication of turbulence within the scene and one of the major challenges prior to the match fixing scandal in 2010. Moreover, interest in the game began to wane. By the end of the year, the scene found itself with leagues filled with players whom fans had little to no attachment to. With fan favorites falling away, the scene would need fresh blood to secure the future of the game.
Bisu was the first to step up to the plate; following his charismatic play in 2006, he turned PvZ on its head when he defeated Savior 3-0 in one of the most famous finals of all time. He followed up this success with a successful MSL title defense over Stork and it looked like Bisu would be the player fans would flock to much like they had done for Boxer, Nada, OOv or Savior before. However, critical eliminations at the hand of Flash in Daum OSL, Stork in EVER 2007 OSL and a crushing defeat in the finals of GOMTV S4 MSL prevented Bisu from attaining the aura of invincibility that bonjwas had attained before and suggested that the future of StarCraft would be a volatile one without bonjwas or recurrent champions.
Jaedong’s meteoric rise at the end of 2007 was the start of the story that would echo through the scene for years to come. Jaedong’s rise was defined by a killer instinct, the ability to win any game and make his opponents look hopeless in the process. The ‘EE HAN TIMING’ moment from the EVER 2007 OSL finals, where his 2 hatch mutalisk build on Katrina (with scourge to snipe corsairs) ruthlessly destroyed Stork, epitomized his uncanny ability to win.
Coming into 2008, Jaedong’s play had earned him the expectations of fans to become the next legend of the game. This was the start of a time where Jaedong rewrote the rules in every matchup. He reversed the trend towards management-focused zerg that Savior popularized and pushed the meta to a place which rewarded his creativity/mind games and his ruthless aggression. For instance, 2 hatch mutalisk vs Terran was popularized during this time while 3 hatch mutalisk became standard.
To open 2008, Jaedong blitzed all of the group stages and made the Ro8 in the OSL, MSL and GOM Star Invitational (GOM’s first foray into StarCraft tournaments). He had become the unstoppable force and was odds on favourite to win everything. But in each of the Ro8 matches, he drew a rookie on the rise – none other than Flash.
Flash’s early career was defined by those three Ro8 encounters with Jaedong, but those games have almost been forgotten by history. Up until that point, Flash was just another Terran struggling to differentiate himself from the pack of other Terrans such as UpMagic or Mind. His sole claim to fame was a brilliant cheese against Bisu in Daum OSL which knocked him out of the Ro8. Ironically, in 2007, Flash had gained a reputation as someone unable to play the meta and found success in the unconventional. Indeed, even during the group stage of Bacchus OSL, he was still trying to work out how to play the meta and struggled against the carrier usage of Rock and reaver usage of Stork. He had to play tiebreakers to get out of his group.
It’s impossible to undersell the significance of the three encounters between Jaedong and Flash that were about to unfold. These matches built a rivalry that brought the fans back to StarCraft and together with Bisu-Stork, ushered in an unexpected Golden Age of StarCraft which was arguably better than anything that had come before. The pull of these players rebuilt the scene after the fading of legends in 2007/08 to the point where the scene was healthy enough to weather the match fixing scandal that emerged in 2010.
The first of the three encounters was a Bo5 in GOMTV S4 MSL. History notes the scoreline as being 3-1 to Jaedong, but that doesn’t illuminate the impact of this first bout. Flash was the heavy underdog coming into this match but went blow for blow against Jaedong – even winning the first match. Game 1 saw Flash use mech on Katrina to eventually overwhelm his opponent, while Game 2 was a Jaedong clinic on mutalisk control and a well thought out strategy (hidden expo into Guardian). Each of these opening games were closely fought and typified the playstyle of each player. Game 3 was an epic slugfest using the meta of 2006-7 (lurker opening/mnm pressure) which showed that Flash could keep up with Jaedong, even if Jaedong eventually won the game. Game 4 had Jaedong defend an uninspired bunker rush. If nothing else, this series made people take note – here was a rising player going toe to toe with the best player in the world. This only served to build anticipation for their next meeting in the OSL.
Their OSL encounter was a Bo3 and once again, Jaedong was the heavy favorite. Flash unexpectedly won the first game with a pristine mnmnf timing attack while Jaedong took the second with another clinic on mutalisk control. The deciding match was on Katrina – the same map as the first match of their MSL Ro8 encounter. Once again, Flash pursued a mech strategy and won the game off of a single push – an even cleaner victory than in the MSL. Flash defeating Jaedong 2-1 here sent ripples through the community. Jaedong was mortal after all. Flash instantly rose in popularity and any memory of his mediocre 2007 was erased and replaced with the moment that he took down the best player in the world. Flash later repeated this feat by defeating Jaedong in the GS:I, proving that this was no fluke. The map score over this 3 week period was 5-5, and 2-1 in series in favor of Flash.
Jaedong went on to win GOMTV S4 MSL, while Flash won Bacchus OSL and the GS:I. Jaedong’s victory in the MSL was proof that Jaedong was not slumping, Flash’s wins were the real deal. However, another meeting in a high profile match would have to wait months as ForGG made a historic run in Arena MSL where he defeated Flash and Jaedong on his way to the championship.
To this point, Bisu, Jaedong then Flash had all made incredible but short lived runs and it seemed like the scene was destined for volatility. However, rather than new faces taking the final titles of 2008, instead, we had Bisu win ClubDay MSL, Stork win Incruit OSL and Jaedong 3-0 Flash in the finals of GOM Classic S1. Little did we know that the volatility we had experienced to this point was a symptom of having four of the most incredible players of all time rise up almost simultaneously.
In the fall of 2008-09, Jaedong struggled to make deep runs in any tournament to the point where he had dropped out of the OSL and was fighting to get back in. Jaedong’s return to form after this slump was even more meteoric than his rise in 2007. Starting from the offline preliminaries, Jaedong fought his way to the championship of Batoo OSL and won his second Starleague. It was at this point that the scene realized that the old had been replaced with the new, and fresh blood was pumping through the veins of the community. We found ourselves with the first wave of community casters as streaming and youtube became more accessible; all of them eager to tell the stories happening in Korea. The legends of TaekBangLeeSsang were being forged.
Jaedong’s history making OSL title defense (the first since Boxer) earned him a Golden Mouse and cemented his status as an all time great. But the Tyrant’s rampage had one footnote – Flash had been in a slump during this time. After their clashes in 2008, fans were eager to see a full strength Ultimate Weapon against the relentless Tyrant. After all, the last time, Jaedong looked immortal and the only player that could touch him was Flash. When Flash found his form at the end of the year and out of nowhere, eliminated Jaedong in the Ro8 of EVER 2009 OSL, the community fixated on seeing a championship match between the two. Flash would end up making the final of both MSL and OSL that season, and would win his second OSL over Movie. While Jaedong bounced back from his loss to Flash to reach the finals of NATE MSL.
NATE MSL was the first major league final between Flash and Jaedong, and remarkably, both players were in their best form.
The hype surrounding the NATE MSL final was palpable. Fueled by memory of their epic duels in 2008, fans worked themselves into a frenzy for the upcoming match. Many rivalries in StarCraft history have been forged through a close final – LimJinRok (Boxer-Yellow) is of course the most famous of these (Boxer 3-2 Yellow in Coca Cola OSL). But very few rivalries ever get to be played out in a final with both players in their best form. Prior to NATE MSL, the only finals which might meet this description would be Boxer vs Yellow in the first KPGA Tour (KPGA tour turned into MSL later), iloveOOv vs July in Shinhan 2005 OSL and Nada vs Savior in Shinhan 3 OSL. There was no question that this final would be something special.
The opening two games made fans giddy with joy – the first showed off Jaedong’s clinical mutalisk control while the second was a tensely fought macro game where Flash ultimately came out on top. The two were evenly matched and the games were living up to the expectation of the crowd. Game 3 on Odd Eye has become one of the most memorable games of all time… for all the wrong reasons.
Game 3 continued where Game 2 left off with Flash pressuring all over the map and Jaedong hanging on trying to get an overwhelming force of Hive units. The critical moment was this – Flash had one mining base while Jaedong had 2 or 3. Jaedong had also just defended Flash’s onslaught onto his fourth base and looked to be in a position to stabilize. Both players and their fans thought that they could still win the game. Suddenly, everything went dark – it was a power cut – the game abruptly ended. After at least 20 minutes of consultation, the referees awarded the game to Jaedong having deemed that he had a clear advantage. For the most anticipated match in a year, this was a blow to the gut for fans and players alike. Flash rolled over in Game 4 without resistance – perhaps disheartened after what had transpired – and Jaedong emerged victorious. If not for what happened in the rest of 2010, the fans may have felt forever cheated.
Flash after the decision was announced
The conclusion of NATE MSL left the fans wanting more and if StarCraft had ended right then, the Flash-Jaedong rivalry would forever be overshadowed by a technical error. Fortunately, NATE MSL would not be the last time the two would meet in a final.
Flash and Jaedong made history by meeting each other in 3 consecutive MSL finals and in the last OSL final of the year. Their consistency during this period remains the most remarkable period of time in StarCraft history. The feeling at the time was that Flash and Jaedong were invincible – despite Effort's upset win over Flash in Korean Air OSL – and settling the question of which player was better was the most important storyline of the year. Flash would best Jaedong in Hana Daetoo MSL 3-0, getting revenge for NATE MSL. BigFile MSL was also won by Flash 3-2, with mostly one sided games. This put Flash up 2-1 in finals over Jaedong. The final meeting would be in Korean Air S2 OSL. Flash would emerge victorious 3-1, winning a Golden Mouse in the process, but with much closer games than in BigFile MSL. This put Flash 3-1 up over Jaedong and – in conjunction with making every final in 2010 – cemented Flash’s legacy and edged him ahead of Jaedong in their rivalry.
Flash vs Jaedong is the greatest rivalry in StarCraft, and one of the greatest rivalries in any sport. It’s so rare to see two players be so dominant at the same time. Without Jaedong, it’s likely Flash would be the unquestionable greatest of all time. Equally, without Flash, Jaedong would likely be the unquestionable greatest of all time. There were no other players that could consistently match Flash or Jaedong in their prime – at best, a map or series here and there, but nothing more. No other rivalry was as even or contributed as much depth to the game as this one, and we’re unlikely to see anything like it again in any esport.
The lifetime score between Flash and Jaedong during the KeSPA era was 25-24 in maps, 6-4 in series.
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