To some, it’s a retirement that would be as significant as any other in the sporting arena this year.
God aka Flash, aka Lee’ Young Ho, a South Korean competitive StarCraft II player, has decided to hang up his mouse and keyboard, retiring from the eSports arena.
The life of a top eSport athlete is an exhausting one, with Lee Young Ho, who had earned the nickname Flash, the Terran God of StarCraft, retiring from the scene at the ripe old age of 23. Ho has had a fairly long career by sporting standards having clicked and scrolled his way through the competitive gaming landscape since he was 14.
He made his name on the scene playing for one of South Korea’s most prominent teams KT Rolster, a team he hopes to coach and turn into the “mightiest team in the world.” His playing career was unmatched in Starcraft terms.
A giant of the first Starcraft game Brood War, Flash was not only known as God, but as, The Ultimate Weapon (for obvious reasons), The Final Boss (because he was always in the final of tournaments, and was the team’s final or ‘ace’ player in team competition).
He broke every record in the final few years of the life of the game Brood War, and spawned an iconic rivalry with Lee ‘Jaedong’ Jae Dong. A documentary was even released last year detailing their tumultuous relationship.
Despite earning the nickname God for his commanding performances, Flash was never fully loved until his transition from indomitable beast to great, but not the greatest, Starcraft 2 player. He embodied a transition of the top Korean pros to the new game of Starcraft in 2012, but couldn’t quite live up to the impossible hype placed on him.
He won one Intel Extreme Masters in Starcraft 2, but could never capture anything close the heights he attained in 2010. After such controversy and nine years of sweaty eSport competition Ho felt the time was right for retirement. With the South Korean currently AFK he mentioned plans of joining the military in three years time, a mandatory activity for South Korean 18-35 year olds.
Coaching seems to be next on the horizon though, and the fact he’s staying in eSports will appease a lot of fans of the game.
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