You may not know much about the South Korean Zerg player Leenock because, whilst he has been on the scene for a while now, he hasn't really shined until this weekend past. First coming to prominence by competing in seasons two and three of the Sony Ericsson StarCraft II Open he was directly seeded into Code S for the first ever GSL in January. Leenock is the youngest person to ever achieve Code S status as he was only fifteen when he first competed. Over his career so far Leenock has played on two teams; fOu and, his current team, FXOpen.
Leenock's time in the GSL has been rocky to say the least. Originally seeded into Code S in January he was defeated 2-1 in the group stages (Ro32) and knocked into the up and down matches where he lost to Byun and LiveForever, causing him to fall to Code A. Leenock got to the semi finals in his first Code A league but LoSirA stopped his journey there. He was knocked out of the GSL altogether in May after losing in the Ro32 to Creator, a relative unknown, though he managed to re-qualify for the next GSL in July; where he got to the semi finals again this time losing out to Tassadar. Both times he got to the semifinals he went to the Code S up and down matches but lost so didn't get back into Code S. It wasn't until getting to the semi finals for a third time in August that Leenock would show his true potential winning 3-0 and going back up to Code S.
In September of this year Leenock went to IPL3 with his team mate lucky; whilst he couldn't perform, because he was too young, it was his first experience at a 'foreign' tournament. Lucky went on to get second place just behind Stephano. Returning to Korea for GSL October Leenock managed to get to get to the Ro16 this time however here he was defeated by Ganzi, returning him to the Code S up and down matches. He managed to re-qualify again and is currently in the Ro8 of GSL Novemeber; the furthest he's ever got. Before that GSL was over many Koreans travelled to Providence to compete in a little tournament called MLG.
Up until now Leenock's story hasn't been that impressive as he struggled to stay in Code S and was even briefly knocked out of Code A. But from here Leenock has stood taller than the biggest giants of the StarCraft world. Leenock tore through the open bracket at Providence defeating seven players 2:0 before finally being knocked into the losers bracket by DongRaeGu; though he would have his revenge. Leenock continued his run through BoxeR, SLush, MMA, IdrA, HuK and Mvp, all impressive players and four of the top eight seeds. Now the only person standing in his way was DongRaeGu, who was the only person to have given him any problems before and who he had to beat in an extended series starting two games down. Three games in it was 2:3 to Leenock, who seemed to have rallied himself since their last encounter. The fourth game went to DRG, evening out the series and making the winner of the next game a grand finalist.
The last game went to Leenock meaning that he now had to face NaNiWa in the grand final. NaNiWa's MLG story was just as impressive as Leenock's having beaten both NesTea and Mvp, two of the worlds top players, in the 2011 MLG Global Invitational just days before. Because of MLGs rule set Leenock had to beat NaNiWa in a best of three to then play an extended series; a feat that seemed impossible at the time. After the first game went to NaNiWa I was convinced that he would come out on top as he had before, in the Global Invitational. However, after losing the first game Leenock impressed by constantly throwing NaNiWa out of his comfort zone and eventually took the series 4:1 to win the $50,000 prize. The future seems bright for the sixteen year old who will hopefully continue to impress in the GSL.
If you liked this post then follow me on twitter at @RobinTerran and 'stumbleupon' me with the button below. Also check out my other articles including this weeks Life in the Middle and my NaNiWa player profile. Please feel free to comment in the section below. Thank you for reading.
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| It may not seem it but underneath his cuddly exterior he is a ruthless killing machine. |
Leenock's time in the GSL has been rocky to say the least. Originally seeded into Code S in January he was defeated 2-1 in the group stages (Ro32) and knocked into the up and down matches where he lost to Byun and LiveForever, causing him to fall to Code A. Leenock got to the semi finals in his first Code A league but LoSirA stopped his journey there. He was knocked out of the GSL altogether in May after losing in the Ro32 to Creator, a relative unknown, though he managed to re-qualify for the next GSL in July; where he got to the semi finals again this time losing out to Tassadar. Both times he got to the semifinals he went to the Code S up and down matches but lost so didn't get back into Code S. It wasn't until getting to the semi finals for a third time in August that Leenock would show his true potential winning 3-0 and going back up to Code S.
In September of this year Leenock went to IPL3 with his team mate lucky; whilst he couldn't perform, because he was too young, it was his first experience at a 'foreign' tournament. Lucky went on to get second place just behind Stephano. Returning to Korea for GSL October Leenock managed to get to get to the Ro16 this time however here he was defeated by Ganzi, returning him to the Code S up and down matches. He managed to re-qualify again and is currently in the Ro8 of GSL Novemeber; the furthest he's ever got. Before that GSL was over many Koreans travelled to Providence to compete in a little tournament called MLG.
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| Leenock (second on the left) at Providence with other top players, from left to right DRG, Oz, SeleCT and HerO. |
Up until now Leenock's story hasn't been that impressive as he struggled to stay in Code S and was even briefly knocked out of Code A. But from here Leenock has stood taller than the biggest giants of the StarCraft world. Leenock tore through the open bracket at Providence defeating seven players 2:0 before finally being knocked into the losers bracket by DongRaeGu; though he would have his revenge. Leenock continued his run through BoxeR, SLush, MMA, IdrA, HuK and Mvp, all impressive players and four of the top eight seeds. Now the only person standing in his way was DongRaeGu, who was the only person to have given him any problems before and who he had to beat in an extended series starting two games down. Three games in it was 2:3 to Leenock, who seemed to have rallied himself since their last encounter. The fourth game went to DRG, evening out the series and making the winner of the next game a grand finalist.
The last game went to Leenock meaning that he now had to face NaNiWa in the grand final. NaNiWa's MLG story was just as impressive as Leenock's having beaten both NesTea and Mvp, two of the worlds top players, in the 2011 MLG Global Invitational just days before. Because of MLGs rule set Leenock had to beat NaNiWa in a best of three to then play an extended series; a feat that seemed impossible at the time. After the first game went to NaNiWa I was convinced that he would come out on top as he had before, in the Global Invitational. However, after losing the first game Leenock impressed by constantly throwing NaNiWa out of his comfort zone and eventually took the series 4:1 to win the $50,000 prize. The future seems bright for the sixteen year old who will hopefully continue to impress in the GSL.
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| Such a big cheque for such a small person. |
If you liked this post then follow me on twitter at @RobinTerran and 'stumbleupon' me with the button below. Also check out my other articles including this weeks Life in the Middle and my NaNiWa player profile. Please feel free to comment in the section below. Thank you for reading.
Your picture of Oz Select Hero Leenock, yeah the guy on the left is DRG :p probably should mention that.
ReplyDeleteThat is not drg
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure who it was so I didn't mention it but after looking at some photos I think you're right.
ReplyDeletethats a sick pick of oz select hero and leenock aha :P
ReplyDelete-@jtom783