BoxeR may not return until Heart of the Swarm
Starcraft II pro Lim Yo Hwan may continue rehabbing shoulder injury until Blizzard's next chapter in RTS franchise launches; longtime Terran player teases switch to Protoss or Zerg.
Lim "BoxeR" Yo Hwan, one of the most famous players in e-sports history, might not make his return to Starcraft II until the release of Heart of the Swarm. BoxeR has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since May 1, forcing him to forfeit his GSL games and drop out of competition temporarily.
In a new interview conducted by gamechosun.co.kr's Siwoo Lee, SlayerS founder and captain BoxeR discusses his current state and when we might see The Terran Emperor--so named for his innovative and dominating play as the human faction--return to action. "This is the longest break that I've had since my debut as a Starcraft player; it's been nice," said BoxeR, who has been competing professionally since 2000. "I might return at Heart of Swarm's release, or possibly sooner than that."
SlayerS coach Hong "Cella" Seung Pyo feels the Heart of the Swarm launch time frame might be the more appropriate one for a return. "Lately, he doesn't even play the game at all. I think that he will probably return with Heart of the Swarm." BoxeR has been undergoing treatment for his shoulder, but has not had surgery.
Earlier this month it was reported that Blizzard is "99 percent done" with Heart of the Swarm, but that company is still on "Blizzard time," and it will be done when it's done. Heart of the Swarm lead designer Dustin Browder talked to GameSpot about putting the finishing touches on the last 1 percent, stating the process was more difficult and meticulous than the first 99 percent.
Blizzard has not committed to a 2012 launch for Heart of the Swarm, so BoxeR might be sidelined until sometime next year. With such a long break, he was asked if he was worried about losing his game sense and general skill level.
"The release of Heart of the Swarm would make the game completely new again, having everyone start from the beginning. Plus, having a convenient interface in Starcraft II, I am not so worried about it," BoxeR said. "Unlike Starcraft 1, which had almost no updated patches at all, Starcraft II is divided into three games and multiple patches, which gives less pressure."
The longtime Terran player may not be as satisfied with the game itself, which has been seen by some as helping out Protoss and Zerg more than the race that he has used throughout his entire Starcraft 1 and Starcraft II career. That may force BoxeR into a position he has never been in before: a different race.
"It seems like things are continuously getting worse for Terran. I might switch to either Protoss or Zerg," BoxeR said. When asked if he was serious in switching races, he said, "Actually I am half joking and half serious, but there is no law requiring me to play only Terran forever. I think that being able to embrace other races easily is one of the pros of Starcraft II."
No matter when BoxeR returns, his fans worldwide will be waiting for him. He'll have his chance with OnGameNet StarLeague switching to Starcraft II for the first time, giving him the opportunity to win the Golden Mouse, which is awarded to any player who has won three OSL championships. Only four players in history have ever won the Golden Mouse: Lee "NaDa" Yoon Yeol, Park "July" Sung Joon, Lee "Jaedong" Jae Dong, and Lee "Flash" Young Ho. BoxeR's last title win came over a decade ago in 2001.
"Of course, I'd love to stand on the stage I've always dreamed of," said BoxeR. "When you're on a winning streak, winning isn't inspiring anymore, but when you lose continuously, winning once gives you all the excitement you need."
515 comments
1 Like Damn, I hope this dude is recovering well. Cant be jerking off in a full house man. people can just be walking in while your beating your meat and scare the hell out of you.
bah SC2 is boring played it too much
how do these pros stay interested in the game for so long??!! and yes i was diamond ZERG player so I was good (not epic overlord bane drop good) but good...
I just find the game blehh now?!!!!
and LOL at shoulder injury... always thought zerg players should have that trying to keep up with terran and protoss lol fest noobs XD
@vadagar1 "i was diamond ZERG player so I was good"
BAHAHAHAH! Then I must be good too since I can maintain Top 20 Diamond as Terran. Diamond is garbage, even Masters is garbage until you're in the Top 8. Then you can say "I'm pretty good."
@MachShot if you are in diamond league, you are roughly within top 20% all active players, so its harsh to say you are garbage since you are better then atleast 80% of people (top diamond is better then ~95% of players). Master league is top 2% of all active players. Yes they are all bad comparing to pros, but not garbage..
I dunno what the hell you imbeciles are talking about. Watching the best players in the world duke it out in SC2 with excellent commentary delivered by professional-level announcers (Husky is my personal favorite, but Day9, Ahnaris (not sure if that;s how it's spelled) and HD are pretty great too) is incredibly entertaining to watch.
So, by all means, keep brushing it off and displaying your ignorance. We'll just keep enjoying great content.Oh, and let's not forget, we'll all gamers here, and based on how stigmatized our hobby has been throughout the years, no-one on this forum has any right to throw stones.
@dagrimmreepa although ohter sports pur more pupolar for example: how many people are watching the starcraft 2 pro final and how many watched the euro final yesterday
@godofwarbfcodfa Well, footy is one of the most popular sports in the world, so that's not really a fair comparison. Besides, since when is the amount of viewership synonymous with quality or watchability? UFC only does ~200-250 thousand for most of its PPVs, but that doesn't mean it's a bad sport or somehow not worth paying attention to.
2 Like Just to outline the cause of his shoulder injury, if you go on to youtube and search "BoxeR's Wings" the first result will be a documentry on Boxer's switch over to sc2. If you skip to about 36 minutes in it shows BoxeR having his shoulder checked out by a doctor. To me it seems to be that it is gaming that has caused the injury.
I know I may be opening myself to ridicule by posting about a documentry about esports but I would recomend anyone who has not seen this to watch it all of the way through just to get an idea of how much time and effort people put into this profession.
Meh BoxeR is old news, it can be argued he was the best of his time, but IMO he cant hang with the new generation. The likes of MMA, MVP, Symbol, Genius, DRG, Nestea, even Squirtle.
BTW all you haters, watch the GSL sometime, its more entertaining than most real sports out there. Dont be a skeptic till you've seen it, its amazing stuff.
@duron2 The current Boxer is more of a brilliant strategist than a brilliant player. I don't know how much of management he does at the Slayers house, but that could definitely cut into his practice time. Also remember that MMA is his student.
I mean if "professional" video-gaming is such a big thing in Korea then put it on some Korean site. When I click on the PC section I expect to see news about PC games not something absurd about some kid who actually gets paid to play them.
2 Like People get paid tens of millions of dollars every year just to chase a ball around in a field of grass and put it into the designated scoring area.... enough said.
1 Like @cirugo People getting paid to do what they love and are good at? What has this world come to!
2 Like @cirugo Its BIGGEST in Korea, but also becoming big in many other places. Its about a PC game, and a celebrity who plays it. Clearly a lot of people here enjoy the article, so if you don't, just don't read it. Pretty simple really.
1 Like @Vari3ty The ignorance in this comment section is palpable. You don't have to enjoy it, but esports is a real thing. Don't be an asshole.
2 Like Really? A shoulder Injury? From playing a computer game? I love games, but that's crazy XD
@Darklurkr23"A shoulder Injury? From playing a computer game?" where in the article does it state he injured his shoulder playing a game ?
Stop calling it "esports" and call it what it is, competitive gaming. The awkwardness of the word "esports" makes me cringe, and the fact that people unfamiliar with competitive gaming see this term being used and laugh condescendingly shows how ridiculous the word "esports" is.
@echoexit I don't see why 'esport' is any sillier of a name than 'email'. It's just the term that suck, and it's not going away.
It's pretty clear that all of those that are laughing at this article, are kinda sad peoples.
Trying to uplift their mood by joking about those topics, because it hurts their EGO...
"Well, it can't be, he/she getting coverage and i'm not, OUTRAGEOUS there must be something fishy here..."
Think about it ;)
Good luck "BoxeR" and get well fast :)
7 Like Wow, I had no idea he was even injured. I'm glad mainstream media sites are starting to pick up competitive gaming news. Thanks Gamespot staff and Slasher, this and your insightful articles like "The Limitations on Genres" keep me coming back to your site day in and day out.
@Silos911 ya that was one of the limitations that didn't let him be as could as he could have been at SC2. Just goes to show you have to be mindful of how you play :(
I`m so excited for his return. I dont think he has any obligation to continue playing terran he should just play whatever he thinks gives him the best chance to win.
Seeing as heart of the swarm could be released tomorrow (unlikely but possible) I think he should have given a specific month and not a game thats release date is TBA
1 Like oh he is going on the DL................................
i find this really funny for some reason
3 Like If so much people do not care and find esport ridiculous or whatever, why do they even comment ? I don't go on call of duty news to say " OMG COD IZ NOT A GAEM LOL GROW UP "
@ArcherRO Dude your opinion isn't a fact, people on the intenet need to get this. People who don't follow it find it ridiculous, I find that millions of people watching 22 men in shorts kicking a ball fucking ridiculous but I don't go around on soccer websites or news saying how ridiculous it is, if I find it bad or annoying I just don't care about it,; if so much people actually comment it's that they care a little bit be it jealousy or whatever.
@ArcherRO That every sport is ridicuclous to some people. basicly, why do you state your opinion as fact?
@neurosx That's also ridiculous.Elevating these sports stars and singers at the rank of demigods is just absurd.You know there was a boxer who won a golden medal on olympics with a broken hand?Now if he p[layed and won a tournament that would be news worthy and I would admire him.
These comments suck, seems like a lot of console lovers are jealous at the growth of esports. Another reason to hate console gamers and their 13 year old mentality.
2 Like @onlypc That's interesting, instead of being welcoming to a community and trying to spread your viewpoints in a positive manner, you instead decide to insult their intelligence.
I am a 17 year old console gamer. I am a big fan of Halo, especially in the competitive scene, however I also love Starcraft even though I don't play it, I merely spectate tournaments. If I was not a fan of either Halo or Starcraft, why would I want to join a community that thinks I'm ignorant? You're not helping to grow e-sports with your comment, instead you are detering people who might have an interest and may not understand fully yet.
@Silos911 I tend to fight fire with fire, if you somehow got offended please don't take it personally. No one insults the emperor on my watch.
@onlypc While I completely agree that the negativity here is idiotic, especially being a gaming site, I do agree with Silos911. The haters here are ignorant trolls and bullies, so "fighting fire with fire" will only lessen the image of those who support esports.
Hope he can come back, if not guess he will do what, just play games with the rest of us after work then. Gamespot has to love posting these articles and then sit back and laugh at what they start.
not to get into this fight again..
but can we call it something other than e"sports"?
how about competitive gaming? Sports require, well, athleticism. Video games do not.
@avsfan7733 I don't understand why people have such a problem with the term "esports". Its not like you will enjoy you favorite athletic sport less now that it shares a common category with video games.A competitive games and an esports are not necessarily the same. Playing a competitive game is something that you can do casually. Competing in an esport is something that you train for 12 hours a day for. Its something you can really dedicate your life towards.Also, I would argue that sports do not imply strict athleticism. Have you ever played a game of starcraft? When I play, I get mentally exhausted after only 3 or 4 games. These pros play 20-40 games a day, at 10 times the speed that I play. I have absolutely no problem calling an activity that requires that kind of ridiculous mental strength and discipline a sport :D
@avsfan7733 It is, the only issue is that it isn't very marketable ;) esports is and it is easier to understand. Competitive gaming is just boring(the word not the activity and doesn't start conversation(whether good or bad) like esports does.
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Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm
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- Genre: Strategy
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