With BlizzCon fast approaching, the StarCraft elite has set its sights on the final prize for the season. Sixteen of the best pro gamers, across three regions, will be gathered to crown the champion for the past 12 months. Since its inception, the WCS has had many problems and has went through supposed tough times, but the grand conclusion of the tournament is awaited by many. What's more, the return of the convention after the rather quiet 2012 makes this clash even more interesting.



One of the sixteen StarCraft II pros attending is our own Min Chul 'MC' Jang. Despite the lack of first place finishes, one word which would perfectly describe MC thoroughly would be consistency. Ever since he quickly found his way into the Premier League of the European WCS, he has been a major contender and a thorn in his opponents' eyes for the whole duration of the three seasons. Double runner-up, Min Chul sealed his place among the very best and is eagerly awaiting to once again demolish his competition at Blizzcon.



WCS Season 1: Humble beginnings

ObamaToss' journey started in the WCS Season 1 GSL Code S. There he was placed in a group together with Wings of Liberty terror DongRaeGu and hotshots YoDa and Flying. Not a group of death by any means, but definitely a one to watch out for. A swift slap on the face was his first loss in a mirror match against Flying as the rookie sent his more experienced opponent at the back of the pack with a quick 2-0.



The do-or-die match was against non-other than DongRaeGu who also lost his opening match 2-0. Despite a valiant effort, our protoss would earn a total of 100 WCS points and would fall in Challenger League as he finished last in his group.

Given his affiliation with SK Gaming, it was only natural that our protoss maestro move to Europe and seek to establish himself as a top contender on the old Continent.



Europe awaits!

Unfortunately, ObamaToss could not simply cruise through to the Premier League as first up were the tough Challengers. Placed conveniently in Bracket Stage #7, he faced rising star SortOf who was easily dispatched with a sound 2-0. The next opponent was the tricky Grubby. The Dutchman has always been a hit-or-miss opponent ever since his transition and as much as people were giving MC a free win, the former Orc Chieftain was not to be underestimated. The "Grubby line" was not meant to be crossed this time as once again a mirror was the downfall of our Korean player.

Just a temporary setback. The President Toss was placed in a group with Finnish protoss Welmu, Team Acer's Nerchio and German terran DarkHydra. MC would continue to win two straight sets and secure himself another 50 WCS points (every little counts!) and a seed into the European Challenger League for the WCS Season 2.

The following edition of the tournament would mark not only MC's rise to stardom on the European scene, but also mark Stephano's last competitive appearance. The Frenchman shared a group with our protoss as both managed to deal with the competition of sLivko and Shuttle to comfortably advance to Group Stage #2.



There, Min Chul had to face two more Protoss opponents and face his fears once more. This time he was more than prepared and despite falling short to VortiX, who displayed excellent control of his zerg legions, MC beat TitaN twice to reach the playoffs for the first time. Meanwhile, in Group B, a legend retired as Ilyes "Stephano" Satouri concluded his participation by succumbing twice to his opponents and made good on his promise to hang the mouse after WCS Europe Season 2.

So far so good, but our superstar was not to admit defeat yet. First up in the best-of-five series against him was an old rival - Welmu. Despite being behind in 2 games, strategy and execution mistakes gave MC much more breathing space and he consequently punished his opponent by scoring a clean 3-0 sweep and moving on to the semi-finals. There awaited another Korean monster, "The Prince" MMA. The series started strong for the Terran as he mercilessly punished our player for overextending and took a quick 1-0 lead on Whirlwind. However, MC was having none of it and with the help of oracles, colossi and exceptional blink micro, demolished his countryman in the next three games to reach the grand final.

There awaited an opponent like non other. Duckdeok was the rising star and represented the wave of up-and-coming protoss players. Convincingly outplaying his previous opponents, it was more than obvious that this was not going to be another "Grubby" match.

Both players were at each others' throats from the very first minute. Every single overextending, build order fluke, minor micro mistake, greedy play or lack of scouting was punished and meant not only the game, but the trophy for them. Despite, MC winning the first match, they traded games when the score reached 2-2 and next up was Red City. There, Duckdeok managed to be the first player to make it two wins in a row as he punished the Boss Toss. Head high, our ace did not give up and equalized to take the series all the way to the 7th and deciding game. On Neo Planet S, however, MC's mental fortitude was exhausted and he succumbed to the newcomer who became champion of the WCS Europe Season 2.

Adding 1750 points and banking 12,000$, our player retreated to his humble abode to plot his revenge for the upcoming final Season 3 of the European WCS.



WCS Europe Season 3: A bad deja-vu

Coming into the final season for 2013, our ace was determined to correct the mistakes he made last time. A dominant run in Group Stage 1 ensured a swift pass as he disposed of Kas and FireCake, both with a clean 2-0. Group Stage 2 would seem a bit like a deja-vu as an old rival once again stood in his way. VortiX with his armada of roach/hydra secured his top spot, but MC was following closely as both claimed their spots in the playoffs.

Returning from the land of the Aussies, the newest acquisition of Team Dignitas, TargA, was the first challenge along the road. The Nordic player had no answers to the non-stop aggression of the protoss and despite taking a game off, MC quickly closed the series 3-1 and moved on to face another countryman in the face of Genius.

An "old" face dating back from the early days of StarCraft II, Genius did not live up to the expectations. Right before the match with ObamaToss, he had dropped only one map in the entire tournament and was a favourite to reach the final. In his way, however, stood a cold-blooded and determined Min Chul whose relentless aggression knew no bounds. Outplaying a seemingly lost Genius was made to look like a simple piece of cake to our ace as he demolished his opponent with a clean 3-0.



The finals were another deja-vu as MMA was back on track and was eliminating anyone who dared stand in his way. One contender sought revenge for a missed trophy while the other sough to reclaim what was lost so many moons ago.

An absolute blitzkrieg of a beginning saw MMA take a commanding three game lead over SK's protoss. Using a wide variety of tactics, tricks and timings, "The Prince" had an answer to everything ObamaToss threw at him. Every bit of aggression was swiftly absorbed and channeled back at the protoss to throw him of his game and minutes later, deal the finishing blow. Despite the dire situation, MC did compose himself and returned two games on Yeonsu and Bel'Shir Vestige only to fall for the last time on Derelict Watcher. Another second place.

The last season of the year saw MC become the highest grossing StarCraft II pro player up to date, but that somehow was not enough. Luckily, 2,000 WCS Points and 10,000$ did make sure that BlizzCon was not taking place without the one true champion of Protoss.



Endeavors outside of WCS

MC had two tournament showings which did contribute to his WCS Points stats. The first one was HomeStory Cup VII in June 2013. There, the President toss finished in the top 8 after cruising through both group stages defeating the likes of Fuzer, Socke, NightEnD and Bunny before reaching the playoffs. There, he met Quantic Gaming's HyuN who was on fire. Unfortunately for MC, his compatriot defeated him in a straight 3-1 series, thus ending his tournament run.

The other competition was IEM Shanghai where MC survived the group of death after beating qxc and edging out Brood War bonjwa JaeDong in a spectacular 2-1 win. This saw the tournament end for the EG zerg who had to taste defeat once again.

In the playoffs, the protoss defeated another EG player aLive with 3-1 right before falling short to the eventual IEM Shanghai winner - Revival.

These two sidetracking stops gave our ace an additional 375 WCS points and a hefty sum to add to his bank account.



Conclusion

Consistency. The Boss Toss showcased that he is a top contender throughout 2013 and his 4275 WCS points give him a rightful place among the StarCraft II pro elite. At BlizzCon, he would face the youngest royal roader in Korean history - Maru who is hungrier than ever to claim more and more silverware for the Prime trophy room.

The tournament starts 8th November and will be fully broadcasted by Blizzard. En Taro Adun, brave MC!!

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