Reach

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Retired.pngThis player has retired from competitive StarCraft.
Picon.png Reach
ReachBio3.jpg
Background Information
Name: 박정석 Park Jung Suk
Team: KT Rolster
Race: P
Birthday: 1983-12-27
IDs: Reach, [Oops]Reach
Height/Weight:
Nicknames: Man Toss, Mudang Protoss, Hero Protoss, Mullyang Protoss, Neon Genesis Protoss
Fansite: http://cafe.daum.net/parkjungsuk
Career
ELO Rank:
Peak ELO: 2249.88
Team History: KT Rolster (current)

Air Force ACE

KTF MagicNs

Hanbit Stars

Draft History:
TLPD: (P)Reach


Park Jung Suk, a.k.a. Reach, was a Korean StarCraft progamer. He played as Protoss and was a member of team KT Rolster. He is perhaps best known as "Man Toss" for his incredible macro and reckless, cavalier micro play-style, as well as for the fact that he continued playing Protoss despite increasing pressure to play other races during that time. Together with Garimto, he helped create the Legend of the Fall.

Contents

[edit] Biography

From Pusan, Park Jung-Suk was initially taken on by Hanbit to be a 2v2 specialist. Partnered with H.O.T-Forever, he gained a fearsome reputation as a powerful team player. After the release of revealing photos depicting an unclothed Reach posing with a similarly naked H.O.T., his fame increased.

However, he showed lackluster performance as a 1v1 player. In 2001, he made somewhat of a splash in SKY2001 OSL--though he was eliminated early on, he was the only Protoss player in the tournament to have a winning record against BoxeR--and the only player in the tournament aside from GARIMTO to have taken a game from him. The win was due to those qualities that made him famous: his incredible macro, uncanny storming abilities, and godlike micro. He was the prototype macro player; before iloveoov, there was Reach. While his micromanagement of all Protoss units shone, his ability to crank out legions of holy Protoss to do his bidding led to the rise of his star.

The following year, he won the 2002 SKY OSL, again beating BoxeR in a convincing set of games in the finals to take the crown. Of note is their game on Neo Forbidden Zone; Reach shows signature shuttle/templar play, giving him the nickname Mudang Toss. From then on, he was hailed as the hope and the Hero of Protoss – throughout the dark times of Protoss, he maintained top 5 KeSPA Ranking for longer than any other. Sometime during early 2004 Reach was offered an 80,000,000 won per year contract by KTF; he took them up on their offer; it was renewed the following year for 230,000,000 won. During the crisis of the Mercury era - Gamevil OCL, G-voice OCL, Gillette OSL, EVER 2004 OSL - Protosses were being annihilated. Mercury holds a sub-30 percent win rate for PvZ; but in that time, Reach lived up to his name, and trampled his way through all opposition.

However, in Gillette, he still fell to a horribly dressed watermelon (July) 1-3 in the finals; and in EVER, he lost 2-3 to the monster known as iloveoov in semifinals. In the third place match of the latter , he beat his friend and teammate YellOw 3-2. In the post-game interview, he announced that the second game on Requiem was his favorite because he won “in true Protoss fashion” with a two-gate rush – he ended by claiming that “a true man’s pride should be his zealots”. Along with such statements as “Protoss is a man’s race – it is both tough and straight”, these publicity affairs gave him an aura of manliness.

The following year, Reach triumphed over his teammate ChoJJa 3-2 to advance to the finals of 2005 UZOO MSL. There, he suffered defeat against the up-and-coming ipxzerg – another loss to another zerg 1-3 in the finals. Shortly thereafter, he entered a long slump – the fabled KTF Captain's slump - and again he reverted to his old role of 2v2 specialist in ProLeague, partnering first with YellOw and subsequently with ZergBong. Yet, in 2007, after over a year in offlines, when all hope seemed lost Reach woke up, and remembered he was the Hero of Protoss. Trampling through offlines with a perfect record, and then losing only one game in Dual Tournament, Reach returned to the arena in Daum OSL. Amidst cries of his fangirls he advanced with a perfect record to quarterfinals. Yet, tragically, he lost to Stork 1-2, and was eliminated from the tournament.

He continued to be a valuable 2v2 resource for KTF, and also played a large part in the upbringing of their newest star, Flash. In 2008 Reach joined Air Force ACE and entered another severe slump, but qualified for the 2010 Korean Air OSL, though was knocked out early by Hiya. He has since returned to KT as captain.[1]

Reach was, together with Nal_rA, the key Protoss on KTF during their prime and one of The Three Kings. Their partnership is the reason why Protoss players from KTF have a bit of mystique around them. The KT Protoss players haven't reached this pinnacle again. Only recently, Stats and Violet have started performing well.

He retired at the end of the 2011-2012 Proleague Season 1. His retirement ceremony took place on May 6th 2012.

[edit] Facts

  • The first player to achieve 100 Proleague wins
  • In the 2004-2005 IOPS OSL, Reach was the only Protoss player to qualify for the Round of 16 proving himself worthy of the nickname Hero Protoss

[edit] Trivia

  • During the Proleague finals between 4u and Hanbit against Zerglee, Reach tried to scout his opponent with 2 zealots. One of his zealots scouting was denied when the zealot was blocked by a neutral critter and subsequently killed by Zerglee's Zerglings and drones. Because Reach lost his scout, he was unable to discover and prepare against Zerglee's double lair drop strategy. The game ended in Zerglee's favor. In the following game on Guillotine, Reach proceeded to eliminate any neutral critter he found.

[edit] Accomplishments

Place Year Event/League
2nd 2005 Blizzcon Invitational
2nd 2005 UZOO MBCGame StarLeague
3rd 2004 EVER OnGameNet StarLeague
2nd 2004 Gillette OnGameNet Starleague
3rd 2003 KBC Power Game Show Big Four Battle
2nd 2003 Toona Big4 Special
3rd 2003 GhemTV FindAll Challenger Open Starleague
3rd 2003 KTF Bigi Four Kings Battle
3rd 2002 2nd PgR21.com Tournament
1st 2002 SKY OnGameNet Starleague
2nd 2002 Pepsi Twist KPGA Tour 3rd League
3rd 2002 1st PgR21.com Tournament
OSL Champion
NATE OSL
Preceeded By:
South Korea Ticon small.png Sync 		SKY2002 OSL
12th October 2002-14th February 2003
South Korea Picon small.png Reach 		Panasonic OSL
Succeeded By:
South Korea Ticon small.png NaDa

[edit] Notable Games

[edit] PvT

[edit] PvZ

[edit] PvP

[edit] 2v2

[edit] Further Readings

[edit] References

  1. ↑ http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=1987354
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