One of the core narratives of StarCraft 2 has always been the non-Korean versus Korean dynamic. The rapid growth of a mainstream, parallel scene outside of Korea upon release in 2010 allowed for a ready-made “us versus them” narrative.
While this narrative has provided a lot of hype and left a huge mark on the very language of the game (the coveted title of “Best Foreigner,” for example), it also has shown the narrative weakness of the non-Korean scene. While Korean fans can look forward to personal rivalries and team allegiances, any of these elements in the foreign scene have always been overshadowed by the attractiveness of the Korean versus non-Korean storyline. The foreign scene has often viewed itself only in relation to the Korean scene, not as its own entity.
Prior to WCS region-locking in 2015, the only foreigners worth caring about, in most people's opinions, were those that could beat Koreans. Korean dominance was so strong that Sen was the only non-Korean to win a Premier title in two full years in 2013 and 2014, on his home turf in Taiwan. Most StarCraft fans chose their favorites from among the best of the globe-trotting Koreans, legends like MC, Jaedong, Taeja and Bomber. These Korean players took up a lot of “narrative ground” in the foreign scene.
That all changed after WCS became region-locked in 2015. The few remaining Koreans, notably Polt and Hydra, continued to dominate the region, but they were no longer fan favourites. In fact, their role transformed into full-fledged spoilers, even villains. Fans rediscovered or chose new favorites among the non-Korean competitors, though the “best foreigner” idea remained as important as ever, as it will for the foreseeable future. Lilbow’s finalist placement in Season 2 and the ecstasy of his victory in Season 3 were watershed moments for the scene.
The “hard” region-locking of 2016 took it one step further. Not only was WCS region-locked, but it now included the major weekend tournaments (mainly DreamHack and IEM) that had been Koreans’ bread and butter in the past.
It's a matter of debate whether there is a direct connection between this "harder" region-locking and a rise in foreigner's skill. But because of this decrease in the skill gap, the Korean versus foreigner narrative has been fading over the past year of play. Crucially, its clear that Polt, Hydra, viOLet and TRUE are beatable, and so beating them has become less important. Far less thought goes into wondering about the strengths of the Korean contingent, and far more narrative worth is invested into the personal and national rivalries amongst foreigners themselves. It still pays to be skeptical about the skill level of foreigners vis-a-vis KeSPA players, but the scene itself is finally building an identity that is formed less by its opposition to Koreans (ironically perhaps, by banning Koreans) and increasingly by more traditional narratives — personal, team, or nationality-based rivalries.
DreamHack Valencia was the culmination of this process. All the signs are there: the main questions going into Valencia were the strengths of the top players like Nerchio, ShoWTimE, Snute and the HSC XIII champion Harstem. Polt and Hydra were eliminated in the Ro32 and Ro16, respectively (Polt's series against ShoWTimE was one of the best of the tournament). That left a full quarterfinal bracket of only foreigners. There was very little talk of the relative strengths of the WCS Koreans and foreigners.
The narrative hole left by the collapse of the foreigner versus Korean storyline (strictly within the foreign scene) has left the possibility for greater meaning to be given to the various side stories that developed throughout the course of DreamHack Valencia. The hometown hero, VortiX, was defeated by the 14-year old Italian prodigy Reynor, making Reynor into an instant celebrity. Harstem failed to win another title, falling in the open bracket. Neeb once again defeated Hydra in what is becoming a personal rivalry, not one dominated by the Korean/non-Korean theme (as it once was).
MarineLorD made a surprising run to the finals, snatching another chance at a title from arguably WCS' strongest player in 2016, Snute, by upsetting him in the semis. Nerchio avenged his Zerg cousin with a strong 4-0 sweep in the final against the French Terran. It seems appropriate that it would be Nerchio, one of the world’s best foreigners in the last era before KeSPA dominance solidified, who would once more win a title in a now region-locked WCS. Emerging as clearly one of the most skilled non-Koreans upon the release of LotV, he has finally fulfilled his potential.
Finally, it’s telling that the main theme to emerge from DreamHack: Valencia, besides the personal narratives, is the continuing divergence of the foreign meta from Korea. Players like Snute continue to watch Korean VODs religiously, but in an interview after his victory over Bunny, the Norwegian revealed that he thought that Korean Zergs were “doing a lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense.”
Snute is referring to the terrible time almost all Zergs in Korea (except perhaps Dark and Rogue) are having against Terrans. The lopsided win rates and persistent feedback led to both a Spore Crawler and Queen anti-air range buff, which players like Snute and Nerchio benefited from in Valencia.
Outside of Korea, though, Zergs are having a field day, just as they have been since the beginning of the year. A quick look at the WCS Circuit Standings shows four Zergs, three Protoss and a single Terran, Polt in the top eight players. A Zerg has been the winner or runner-up of every single Premier WCS tournament so far this year.
Valencia further emphasized Zerg dominance: six out of eight quarterfinalists were Zergs. MarineLorD went 9-0 against Zergs in the playoffs, and was able to smash Snute's style, but he didn’t make a dent in Nerchio’s armor, as the Polish Zerg easily deflected drop harassment and consistently reached Ultralisks relatively unhindered. MarineLorD took a strategic advantage in Game 3 — the best of the series — with an unorthodox two-Starport Banshee build, but strong tactical play and supreme late-game control and decision making netted Nerchio the win. Nerchio joins Hydra as the second Zerg champion this year.
The development of a foreigner-specific meta is the surest sign that the influence of the Korean versus non-Korean idea is waning within the foreign community. Between communities, however, this development opens up another question: what will happen when the two metas clash? A further irony of the fading foreigner versus Korean narrative inside the foreign community is that it might actually the strengthen the narrative in a wider sense.
If the few instances of competition we’ve had between the two communities are to be believed, foreigners are as close in skill to Koreans as they’ve ever been. Snute famously beat Zest 3-0, Neeb swept ByuN 4-0, and Snute just barely lost 3-2 to both ByuN and Solar in the TING Open on Monday.
Whether that competitiveness holds up as we slowly approach the WCS Global Finals is the $500,000 question. With Lilbow's official transition from SC2 to Overwatch, and his last tournament ending in a 3-0 sweep at the hands of Snute, foreign fans had a chance to once again relive the pain of the Frenchman's 3-0 loss to Life at last year's Global Finals. The real test of this year's non-Korean representation — more numerous and, perhaps, more skilled — is whether they can make the foreign scene move on from that moment.
Christian Paas-Lang is an esports journalist from Toronto who is waiting for the return of Jinro, the foreign Terran savior. You can follow him on Twitter.
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