The World Cyber Games has given the community scores of great championship matches, perhaps the most memorable of which was the 2004 grand final between Manuel 'Grubby' Schenkhuizen and Tae min 'Zacard' Hwang.
WCG 2007 Seattle, WashingtonWCG 2007 saw the return of community favourite Olav 'Creolophus' Undheim, who returned to active competition after having retired to focus on his schooling. Although it could be said he had the easier side of the playoff bracket he still faced Xiaofeng "Sky" Li in the Grand Final who had won both WCG2005 and 2006.
Creolophus' victory cemented his place as one of the most inspiring success stories amongst European Warcraft players.
WCG 2006 Monza, ItalyWCG 2006 saw three humans in the top four accompanied by three Europeans. The Grand Final between Yoan 'ToD' Merlo and Xiaofeng 'Sky' Li was, however, an anticlimax and not a true indication of the drama that came before it.
Said drama surfaced in the quarter-final match between Dong Moon 'GoStop' Kim and Sky, where Sky allegedly watched the replay of GoStop versus another human player from a previous stage in the event. The replays of WCG are withheld so the watching of a replay is a breach of the rules, however Sky received only a yellow card which warranted no penalty or punishment and defeated GoStop in the quarter-finals, going on to win the event.
WCG 2005 Suntec City, SingaporeWCG 2005 saw Dennis 'Shortround' Chan storm through the tournament much to the surprise of fans and players alike. Despite an easy group consisting of only three other players and an easy first two rounds of the playoff tree, Shortround went on to beat Manuel 'Grubby' Schenkhuizen and Yoan 'ToD' Merlo in the next two rounds to earn his place in the Grand Final.
The grand final, however, was one sided and the class divide between Shortround and Xiaofeng 'Sky' Li shone through. China had no representatives at the previous WCG, so Sky's gold medal was a major achievement for his homeland, China. WCG 2005 was therefore marked by the rise of Sky and the untimely fall of Shortround.
1. Xiaofeng 'Sky' Li
2. Dennis 'Shortround' Chan
3. Manuel 'Grubby' Schenkhuizen
4. Yoan 'ToD' Merlo
2. Dennis 'Shortround' Chan
3. Manuel 'Grubby' Schenkhuizen
4. Yoan 'ToD' Merlo
WCG 2004 San Francisco, CaliforniaWCG 2004 was the one that sticks in one's mind, due to the nail biting grand final between Manuel 'Grubby' Schenkhuizen and Tae min 'Zacard' Hwang. At the time Grubby was not the world famous star he is today and this would mark the beginning of great things for the Dutchman. Zacard had defeated Jae Ho 'Moon' Jang in the round of 16, Daniel 'miou' Holthuis in the round of 8 and Yoan 'ToD' Merlo in the semis to earn his spot in the grand final.
The final was intense to say the least, the Farseer and Firelord were the heroes of choice as this was before Zacard pioneered the use of a Blademaster first in the WEG series in the following year. Zacard was eventually defeated two one by Grubby, but the series will be remembered for its excitement, and not for its end result.
1. Manuel 'Grubby' Schenkhuizen
2. Tae min 'Zacard' Hwang
3. Yoan 'ToD' Merlo
4. Dennis 'Shortround' Chan
2. Tae min 'Zacard' Hwang
3. Yoan 'ToD' Merlo
4. Dennis 'Shortround' Chan
Steeped in history and tradition, the World Cyber Games has significant meaning to Warcrafters around the world. For some it’s an opportunity to gain notoriety, for others it’s a chance to pad their earnings, but for most it’s an opportunity to represent their country with reverent pride on the world’s stage.
Mykhaylo “HoT” Novopashyn
“I think the WCG is more than just an ordinary tournament, it gives players from all over the world an opportunity to compete. The spirit of the cyber games while you’re there means more than any other tournament I have attended. WCG doesn’t just invite the very best to compete, it unites everyone around the world.”
Peter “DNA” Agardi
“…WCG is the only international LAN that we Hungarians have. The dream of the Hungarian WC3 player is to win it. It's a great opportunity for lesser known players to show themselves, also its a great honour to represent their countries. I believe it is the Olympics of E-sports. It has a quite big role in my opinion. The whole event is organised in the like of patriotism. You travel there with your national team, you win medals for your country and not yourself, and most of all you represent your homeland there and not your team. Also when it comes down to that, you don't support your favourite player but your fellow countryman.”
Dmitriy "Happy" Kostin
“The WCG is an old event which has been improved upon year by year, there’s also a lot of prestige that comes with winning an event with so much history. The competition there is very hard, the games are always great so the community will always follow it. In my opinion, if I come to a tournament then the only thing on my mind is doing well to win the event and the prize of course, for me, patriotism doesn’t enter into it. This is just me though, a lot of players are very patriotic about the whole thing.”
Matthias “Losemann” Beyer
“World Cyber Games is the Olympic games in E-sports, a battle of the nations where players represent their countries. It has good prize money and it has a long history, so many fans come to watch the games, journalists too. Also the fact that the real press (not only E-sports pages) are involved in the event is quite something, that’s the goal we’re aiming for really. The fact that these games get accepted and are understood by the people outside of E-sports is partly because of the WCG. This WCG is a huge organization of people who are great at what they do. The players are motivated, the organizations are motivated, it’s the perfect storm of emotions that make the WCG a great show for the fans to watch. If all of these things come together then it will be a great tournament.
The World Cyber games has a long history of exciting events. With the demise of the CPL the World Cyber Games now stands as one of the longest running events still active today, making it one of the most revered.
Year on year the event continues to grow and improve, much to the delight of those in attendance and those watching from home. From humble beginnings at a theme park in Yongin, South Korea back in 2000, the WCG has grown to become one of the biggest, most highly publicized and most prestigious events in electronic sports.
Eight years on and the World Cyber Games continues making history.
The second part of this preview is available here.
This article was written by Sam "shagrath" McCafferty & Lawrence "Malystryx" Phillips.
He played vs Grubby in the semis iirc, Tod vs Sky.
Janby, Fear, Suho, Grubby.
:( want to see a memory of Inso :'(
Really like it
P.S. Don't forget about Insomnia's 2003 Victory
P.S.S. Do you happen to know if there are any VODs from Grubby's final in 2004. I still remember Zacard's firelord dying from lightning shield after tp :P