2011 is poised to be the biggest year in e-sports history. More eyes are watching, more money is flowing and more competitors are dedicating their lives to professional gaming than ever before. As e-sports ascends to new heights, one man stands out among all others. He seems ageless as he’s been competing at the highest levels for over a decade. He is an icon, the most recognizable name in e-sports and a man dedicated to their success through his own. He is The Emperor, Lim Yo Hwan. SlayerS_`BoxeR.

What follows is Boxer’s story. It is a story full of moments which we can relate to and many moments we can aspire to. Before his revolutionary play as Terran, before his salary and championship purses filled his bank account and even before StarCraft itself, Boxer’s story of course begins in his childhood.

Inauspicious beginnings

On the soccer fields of South Korea, Boxer learned to compete until he was physically exhausted. He played year after year and cites neighborhood and schoolyard games as important moments in his life, teaching him to to lead and to win.

In the arcades, Boxer would spend hours simply watching games being played. He’d learn by imagining himself into each game. When his pockets did ring with a pile of coins, he competed vigorously until opponents would call for mercy, an end to the game. As he grew, the budding gamer challenged all comers. More often than not, he came out ahead.

Whether it was arcades or soccer, Lim Yo Hwan’s parents were displeased. His rising desire to compete ran counter to their own direction: Study, they commanded. Spend whatever free time you might have working to advance yourself in school. They insisted that it was the only way to success in life.

"School was simply a game of endurance"

“I didn’t understand why I needed these studies,” wrote Boxer in his autobiography entitled ‘Crazy As Me’, “and no one explained why. No matter how much my teachers and parents repeated the words, ‘Study, study,’ I could not find a reason to study. And so my school life was simply a game of endurance. I would spend the day in class falling asleep, scribbling on the paper, or blankly staring outside the window. My only reason for attending school was my friends; I was able to play soccer with them. After school, I would always spend time in the field, playing soccer with my friends. I thought that I would be sixteen forever. In my third year of junior high school (9th grade), at the age of sixteen, I had no idea of what I really wanted to do in life.”

In fact, Boxer’s apathy toward studies soon bore rotten fruit. As high school approached, it became apparent that he may not have the grades to attend ‘academic schools’. At the 11th hour, Boxer essentially shut himself off from the rest of the world for over a month in order to raise his grades and go to a good school. He did so, much to the surprise and pleasure of his parents.

When he got there, he was miserable. Unsure of what to do with his life as most teenagers are, he thought of college as simply following his friends, not something he had a real desire to accomplish. He did not know what he would study, did not know what he would do for a degree. He did not know what he would do the next day, nevermind years in advance.

Adolescence was “a dark tunnel” for Boxer. When he was obligated, he endured tedious hours studying while dreaming of the soccer field and the arcade. When he was not, he spent the day kicking the ball and the night playing games. Time passed slowly for him as he searched for a purpose, a goal, something he thought of as “life’s treasure.”

A found purpose

During one fateful summer break in 1998, Boxer travelled to a friend’s house in an attempt to gain a tutor, a mentor and a way to raise his grades and satisfy his parents but not himself. Ironically, it was there that he discovered StarCraft. As he sat impatiently waiting for his friend to teach him English and mathematics, his friend was too busy playing Protoss. When Boxer saw the game, he was immediately sucked in. Over the course of the summer, he played the game at his friend’s house as though it was a job. It occupied his thoughts day and night. He felt flush with happiness when he was able to defeat the computer. He strained to improve. This was a purpose, a goal for Boxer. It was, as he describes it, the light at the end of the dark tunnel.

Boxer left the arcades and soccer fields behind. He entered a new world in which a computer game gave him the power to express and experience his imagination in a way which excited him to no end. He discovered PC Bangs, Korean internet cafes, and began to learn the intricacies of the game, the worldwide community that it held. At school, he befriended other StarCraft players and soon learned what it meant to win.

As he slept through his last year of high school and spent his evenings playing StarCraft at PC Bangs, Boxer began to dream of playing professionally. The game became his sole source of excitement, the rest of his life faded into the background. Friendly rivalries with Boxer’s sparring partners emerged which helped him develop his play immensely. Professional gamers began to emerge on television in South Korea and a deep feeling stirred within Boxer.

“I will become the best gamer.”

His first big competitions in 1999 ended in quick defeat. From defeat, he learned the necessity of physical speed in StarCraft. He learned to exploit an opponent’s weakness. Most of all, he learned to watch and to absorb a superior game.

Up this point, Boxer had played Protoss exclusively. However, as patches and players shifted the game into new territory, he decided the race was too weak for him and wanted to switch. He considered Zerg, the most dominant race of the day, but decided on Terran. He viewed the race, which was held as the weakest at the time, as dynamic and with infinite potential, especially on offense. “Man is the lord of all creation,” Boxer quotes in his biography. “And are not the humans the ultimate victors in movies?”

His play became more aggressive and his winning percentage rose and rose. He ascended to number two on the Korean ladder, only losing out on number one because of an abuser. He set his eyes on professional gaming.

After establishing a positive reputation, a 21 year old Boxer received an offer to play professionally in 1999, much to the confusion of his parents. There was no salary, only an environment in which to hone your skill to compete for cash prizes. There were no coaches and barely an organization. It was a shadow of what professional StarCraft would later become.

The first victory

Nonetheless, Boxer was a success. He won his first major tournament for roughly $2,500 in 1999. His innovative, offensive play was gaining recognition. His use of the dropship in particular was viewed as atypical and impressive.

Boxer continued to absorb lessons. After exhausting himself in preparation for a major tournament, he learned that countless hours mean nothing if the player can’t perform on the day of the match. He writes that it was after this episode that his greatest opponent, his greatest focus became himself: to bring himself into the competition in the best mental shape possible. He had only lost to himself, he decided, not to any other opponent. He could fix that.

The Hope of Terran

The Starleague, the most prestigious tournament in StarCraft, was his next step. Boxer won the tournament through brilliant play. He won 11 games and lost only 1 to Kingdom, one of the greatest Protoss players of the era. He changed perceptions of the Vulture through his play: it is now an essential Terran unit where before it was viewed as too weak to be a difference maker. He beat professional after professional and immediately became famous. He became known as “The Hope of Terran.” It is a powerful name but, in retrospect, is quaint in its naivete: Boxer, the hope of Terran? No, he is more than that. He is The Emperor.

But not yet.

In the next Starleague in the middle of 2001, his play continued to impress. He made use of units and abilities that had not garnered a second thought prior to his play. He stretched single units far beyond their prescribed strength. As his fame increased, his schedule put pressure on him that he had never before felt.

It was during this tournament that he would first vie against his greatest rival, “The Storm Zerg” Yellow, for a championship. Boxer describes Yellow’s play as much like his own: offensive, relentless and hungry. Yellow was something like a younger brother, Boxer said, but competition is heartless.

The finals were a spectacle to behold. Back and forth with superior technique and imagination behind the play, Boxer won one of the most exciting championship matches to that point. He beat an exceedingly talented Yellow and earned even greater admiration from fans to say nothing of the considerable cash prizes he’d made claim to. He’d established a rivalry that would remain one of the greatest of all time. From that moment, he was no longer simply the hope of Terran. He was The Emperor, a global symbol for the beauty and potential in e-sports.

Conquering the world

As the world lavished praise on the Korean wonder, the new moniker made Boxer uncomfortable. After all, he had won the Starleague but what about the rest of the world? The opportunity he had been waiting for was found in the World Cyber Games. The power to conquer the world through a game was within his reach.

As his Korean professional counterparts fell to foreigners in the WCG, it was left to Boxer to claim the title of world champion. In his biography, he writes that he felt a strong need to win this, to prove the worth of professional gaming as a profession, as a life. Standing in his way was one of the greatest non-Korean players of all time: The French Terran ElkY.

With the weight of the world on both competitor’s shoulders, Boxer emerged victorious, as world champion. 2001 was the year the entire world learned of “The Emperor.”

It is important to note the gravity of what Boxer did in 2001. He was the first to win two Starleagues in a row, a feat that was not matched until 2009 by Jaedong. He was the first to win WCG, a personal victory for him but, even more, a victory for e-sports. He was a symbol. With his imagination, artistry, charisma and skill, he did not easily fit inside the small and simple box of ‘gamer’. He comfortably slipped into the expansive idea of greatness. He is the proof that there is more to games that pretty graphics and victory screens. There is depth, a richness that cannot be denied. There is a future.

As his popularity continued to build, as his tournament schedule became increasingly tighter, BoxeR entered his third straight Starleague finals (a feat not matched until earlier this year by Flash) against the Protoss GARIMTO under stressed conditions. The games were being played at similar times to the WCG and, Boxer wrote in his biography, this left little time for practice, thought or a calm breath.

According to that biography, a glitch in the map used for game 1 of the finals did not allow him to unload his dropship, a key to his opening strategy. This obstacle was, at the time, inexplicable to Boxer and added to his stress. He fell in the first game. Although he rebounded he the next two games, he fell to GARIMTO in five games, his first loss in a Starleague final.

The beginning of a descent

In the beginning of 2002, Boxer was eliminated in the round of 16 from the OSL. It would be the next season when he would return to challenge for a championship against the Protoss Reach. He would fall 1-3 to Reach. As with most of his defeats, he claims that his biggest opponent was himself. He was exhausted, unsure of how to maintain proper energy and mental acuity. His eyes were heavy and his thoughts slow. He felt certain on that day that this loss would mark the beginning of a descent he had not expected.

“I was in need of a championship,” he said of this time. “And very urgently.”

The 2002 WCG tournament was his chance. Again, he describes an exhausting tournament with challengers such a the Protoss DIDI8 from Bulgaria draining him of energy. The American Froz, one of the greatest American players of all time, beat Boxer twice, shocking the world. Boxer did advance to the finals, however, where he would defeat his rival Yellow to claim a second straight WCG championship. Perhaps the descent was not so steep after all.

He signed a new contract for a salary of approximately $90,000. He played now in the three major leagues. OSL and MSL were the two individual leagues. Proleague was the premiere team league. The exhaustion continued to take its toll on Boxer as his play schedule increased and his sleep vanished.

In his exhaustion, Boxer leaned on those who were there for him the most. It was difficult to practice without strategies leaking and he frequently faced players who knew exactly what he was planning. Managing every aspect of his life and career became increasingly challenging. Joo Hoon, who had helped him through difficult times following WCG 2002, was chosen to help him create a new team: SK Telecom T1. Talented players coalesced around Boxer and aided him in his game. The most notable player, the one who caught Boxer’s eye was iloveoov.

The new team won the opening season of the prestigious Proleague against the odds, again raising the legend of The Emperor.

Losing the number 1 rank

Still, fatigue built up. He had fallen from the #1 KeSPA ranking for the first time since its establishment, ceding the top spot to the Terran NaDa. A man of 24, Boxer wondered frequently about life outside of professional gaming. He knew his peers experiences were much different - he wanted a taste of that. In his words, he felt the urge ‘to play’. Ironic, coming from a gamer but understandable when you see that he worked for 16 hours per day on his craft.

The descent that he had long feared came in force. His teammates surpassed him. Iloveoov, personally chosen and mentored by Boxer himself, became the dominant force in StarCraft of the era and probably had the most dominant period of play of all time.

SK Telecom signed Boxer to a $180,000 contract. His fan club had reached 500,000 members. He was a recognizable face around the world, the name Boxer was muttered by millions. At the time, there was much talk of his precipitously dropping level of skill but the value of his image as The Emperor endured. Although the time of him being indisputably the best in the world was not long gone, it sometimes felt like it had been a decade to Boxer. His new contract and his new team, a team which he captained, lit a fire under The Emperor.

While some muttered talk of Boxer’s need to retire, he drove to the top once more.

Fighting for a championship

The EVER 2004 OSL remains one of the most memorable tournaments of Boxer’s career. After very good play in the group stages, Boxer found himself deep in the tournament. In the semi-finals, he once against faced off against his eternal rival Yellow. In wildly aggressive style, the Terran bunker rushed the Storm Zerg in three straight games to advance to the finals with flair.

It was there, in one of the most highly anticipated finals in StarCraft history, that he would face his protege and teammate for the first time: the Terran iloveovv. iloveoov was in the midst of one of the most impressive runs ever. He had won three straight MSL titles and was poised to take an OSL win. Boxer, the mentor, was determined to claim one more championship, to prove to the world that he was still a great player.

Fighting yourself

“Oov knows me so well that I almost feel like I am going against myself in the final,” said Boxer. “They say the most difficult fight in the world is the one you wage with yourself and I think I understand that sentiment.”

The set lived up to the hype. It was back and forth, iloveoov’s overwhelming macro against Boxer’s stunning micro. iloveoov won one game, Boxer the next. iloveoov won the third game, Boxer claimed the next in what was described as one of his finest moments ever, a thrilling victory which came down to the wire. The crowd roared at every brilliant move, every step each player took on the tightrope. In the fifth and final game, iloveoov claimed the championship and defeated his teammate, mentor and friend.

Boxer was reduced to tears on stage. iloveovv described bitterness of the victory, saying he hoped he’d never face Boxer in a situation like this again. Watching these finals even today can send chills down one’s spine. The bursts of emotions that cross each player’s face as victories and defeats come and go, the gorgeous sound of the crowd, the excitement of the announcers: it was incredible. It proved that The Emperor still stood for greatness, defeat or not.

In 2005, in the So1 OSL, The Emperor would again shed tears on stage, this time they were of joy, after advancing to the semifinals to face his Pusan, the best series of the tournament played out over five games. Finding himself in a 1-2 disadvantage, Boxer completed a phenomenal comeback to advance to the finals once more. As the crowd chanted his name, he began to cry and smile.

With talk of his retirement rampant either by choice or draft into the Korean military, Boxer had what seemed like his final shot to earn the first Golden Mouse, the prestigious trophy earned by winning three OSL championships.

The Protoss Anytime, a rookie who had defeated giants such as iloveoov, Xellos and Yellow to earn his place in the finals, stood in Boxer’s way. In a series that again took Boxer to the maximum five games, Anytime earned a championship while Boxer gained another silver medal in a tournament that was not to be forgotten.

Drafted

In 2006, Boxer announced that he was entering the Korean Air Force. Even though it came as no surprise to the StarCraft world, looks of shock were plastered on the faces of fans nonetheless.

The Air Force team, ACE, allowed Boxer to continue to play professionally but with far less practice time and dedication than before. He was a presence on the circuit but he never threatened to win another major championship.

In December 2008, he was officially discharged from the military. Even after two years, the excitement was palpable. The StarCraft world was electric with the return of The Emperor. Even though few truly expected him to contend for championships, his mere presence and the occasional flash of singular brilliance was all they asked. That much he could deliver.

The Emperor today

Today, Boxer competes at the highest levels of StarCraft 2. The game is not nearly as refined as Brood War - perhaps it’s not as exhausting for the Emperor or maybe he is simply reinvigorated. At 31 years old, his spirit of innovation and his stylish flairs seem to have returned. He still leaves viewers in awe, GSL commentators can’t help but marvel at his play when he is truly living up to his name. Whether or not he is able to claim the title of champion once more is an exciting question, one everyone ought to be on the edge of their seat for. But it is not the end of the story: it is his mere presence that lends success to this game, the occasional brilliance, the entrepreneurial spirit, the dedication to his craft and the spirit of perseverance in and out of the game is something beyond enviable, it is inspirational.

Seiji of PGR21.com described Boxer’s standing in this way:



There it is. As you watch his games, you ought to know that without this man, professional gaming would be a different animal entirely. Smaller, meeker and more easily dismissed. Instead, it is growing every day, stronger, louder and more confident than ever before. It has the Emperor to thank for much of that.

Credit to “Crazy Like Me”, Team Liquid, Sense of Star, FOMOS