Royal Road

Definition

The Royal Road refers to a rookie winning an OSL upon their first qualification to that tournament. As of 2012, only eight players have managed to do this.

A player who has walked the Royal Road is called a Royal Roader.

OSL Royal Roaders

OSL Royal Roaders
Event	Player	Road Taken	Overall Score
2000 Hanaro OSL	Grrrr...	Click Here to see the Road Taken by Grrrr... Round of 16   Grrrr... vs.   TheBOy on Dark Stone   Grrrr... vs.   TheMarine on Deep Purple   Grrrr... vs.   Sense on Blaze Round of 8   Grrrr... vs.   Freemura on Dark Stone   Grrrr... vs.   ChRh on Dark Stone   Grrrr... vs.   SsamJang on Dark Stone Round of 4   Grrrr... vs.   Byun on Dark Stone   Grrrr... vs.   Byun on Space Odyssey   Grrrr... vs.   Byun on Glacial Epoch   Grrrr... vs.   Byun on Blaze   Grrrr... vs.   Byun on TBD Final   Grrrr... vs.   H.O.T-Forever on Space Odyssey   Grrrr... vs.   H.O.T-Forever on Deep Purple   Grrrr... vs.   H.O.T-Forever on Glacial Epoch   Grrrr... vs.   H.O.T-Forever on Dark Stone   Grrrr... vs.   H.O.T-Forever on Blaze	11-4
2000 Freechal OSL	GARIMTO	Click Here to see the Road Taken by GARIMTO Round of 16   GARIMTO vs.   Han.G)FlyinG on Blaze   GARIMTO vs.   ShinSsC on Dark Stone   GARIMTO vs.   BaNulDoDuk on Dark Stone Round of 8   GARIMTO vs.   Rookie on Avant Garde   GARIMTO vs.   Byun on Space Odyssey   GARIMTO vs.   SKELTON on Blaze Tie Breakers   GARIMTO vs.   Byun on Blaze   GARIMTO vs.   Rookie on Avant Garde Round of 4   GARIMTO vs.   S.E.S on Blaze   GARIMTO vs.   S.E.S on Space Odyssey   GARIMTO vs.   S.E.S on TBD Final   GARIMTO vs.   SKELTON on Avant Garde   GARIMTO vs.   SKELTON on Blaze   GARIMTO vs.   SKELTON on Dark Stone   GARIMTO vs.   SKELTON on Dark Stone   GARIMTO vs.   SKELTON on Blaze	10-3
2001 Hanbitsoft OSL	BoxeR	Click Here to see the Road Taken by BoxeR Round of 16   BoxeR vs.   Diviner)KS on Neo Jungle Story   BoxeR vs.   Kingdom on Hall of Valhalla   BoxeR vs.   Star)_Boy on Neo Blaze Round of 8   BoxeR vs.   IntoTheRain on Neo Blaze   BoxeR vs.   JinNam on Legacy of Char   BoxeR vs.   TheBOy on Legacy of Char Round of 4   BoxeR vs.   Kingdom on Hall of Valhalla   BoxeR vs.   Kingdom on Neo Blaze   BoxeR vs.   Kingdom on Neo Jungle Story Final   BoxeR vs.   JinNam on Neo Blaze   BoxeR vs.   JinNam on Neo Jungle Story   BoxeR vs.   JinNam on Hall of Valhalla   BoxeR vs.   JinNam on TBD   BoxeR vs.   JinNam on TBD	11-1
2004 Gillette OSL	July	Click Here to see the Road Taken by July Round of 16   July vs.   Zeus on Nostalgia   July vs.   DoGGi on Namja Iyagi   July vs.   Casy on Requiem Round of 8   July vs.   XellOs on Nostalgia   July vs.   XellOs on Namja Iyagi   July vs.   XellOs on Mercury Round of 4   July vs.   iloveoov on Nostalgia   July vs.   iloveoov on Namja Iyagi   July vs.   iloveoov on Requiem   July vs.   iloveoov on Mercury   July vs.   iloveoov on Nostalgia Final   July vs.   Reach on Nostalgia   July vs.   Reach on Requiem   July vs.   Reach on Namja Iyagi   July vs.   Reach on Mercury   July vs.   Reach on TBD	11-4
2005 So1 OSL	Anytime	Click Here to see the Road Taken by Anytime Round of 16   Anytime vs.  TBD on TBD   Anytime vs.  TBD on TBD   Anytime vs.  TBD on TBD Round of 8   Anytime vs.  TBD on TBD   Anytime vs.  TBD on TBD   Anytime vs.  TBD on TBD Round of 4   Anytime vs.   iloveoov on TBD   Anytime vs.   iloveoov on TBD   Anytime vs.   iloveoov on TBD   Anytime vs.   iloveoov on TBD   Anytime vs.   iloveoov on TBD Final   Anytime vs.   BoxeR on Ride of Valkyries   Anytime vs.   BoxeR on 815   Anytime vs.   BoxeR on R-Point   Anytime vs.   BoxeR on Neo Forte   Anytime vs.   BoxeR on Ride of Valkyries	6+-3+
2006 Shinhan Bank OSL Season 3	sAviOr	Click Here to see the Road Taken by sAviOr Round of 16   sAviOr vs.   Midas on Reverse Temple   sAviOr vs.   Midas on Neo Arkanoid   sAviOr vs.   Midas on Hitchhiker Round of 8   sAviOr vs.   Much on Neo Arkanoid   sAviOr vs.   Much on TBD   sAviOr vs.   Much on TBD Round of 4   sAviOr vs.   Iris on Neo Arkanoid   sAviOr vs.   Iris on Reverse Temple   sAviOr vs.   Iris on Longinus 2   sAviOr vs.   Iris on Hitchiker   sAviOr vs.   Iris on Neo Arkanoid Final   sAviOr vs.   NaDa on Longinus   sAviOr vs.   NaDa on Neo Arkanoid   sAviOr vs.   NaDa on Reverse Temple   sAviOr vs.   NaDa on Hitchhiker   sAviOr vs.   NaDa on TBD	8+-4+
2007 EVER OSL	Jaedong	Click Here to see the Road Taken by Jaedong Round of 16   Jaedong vs.   DarkElf on Blue Storm   Jaedong vs.   NaDa on Fantasy II   Jaedong vs.   Stork on Persona Round of 8   Jaedong vs.   Light on Katrina   Jaedong vs.   Light on Fantasy II   Jaedong vs.   Light on Persona Round of 4   Jaedong vs.   UpMaGiC on Persona   Jaedong vs.   UpMaGiC on Blue Storm   Jaedong vs.   UpMaGiC on Fantasy II   Jaedong vs.   UpMaGiC on Katrina   Jaedong vs.   UpMaGiC on Persona Final   Jaedong vs.   Stork on Persona   Jaedong vs.   Stork on Katrina   Jaedong vs.   Stork on Fantasy II   Jaedong vs.   Stork on Blue Storm   Jaedong vs.   Stork on Persona	10-3

MSL

Although the terms "Royal Road" and "Royal Roader" are OSL exclusive, the same feat (win the tournament the first time he qualifies) was achieved by these players in the MSL:

MSL Royal Roaders
Event	Player	Road Taken	Overall Score
2003 Stout MSL	Nal_rA	Click Here to see the Road Taken by Nal_rA Round 1   Nal_rA vs.   NaDa on Charity Round 2   Nal_rA vs.   Sync on Dark Sauron Round 4   Nal_rA vs.   BoxeR on Jim Raynor's Memory J   Nal_rA vs.   BoxeR on Charity   Nal_rA vs.   BoxeR on Gauntlet 2003 Round 6   Nal_rA vs.   Zeus on Dark Sauron   Nal_rA vs.   Zeus on Charity   Nal_rA vs.   Zeus on TBD Final   Nal_rA vs.   NaDa on TBD Nal_rA receives a BYE   Nal_rA vs.   NaDa on Charity   Nal_rA vs.   NaDa on Jim Raynor's Memory J	8-1
2003 TriGem MSL	iloveoov	Click Here to see the Road Taken by iloveoov Round 1   iloveoov vs.   NaDa on Gauntlet TG   iloveoov vs.   ElkY on TBD iloveoov receives a BYE Round 2   iloveoov vs.   Control on Enter the Dragon Round 3   iloveoov vs.   Silver on U-Boat   iloveoov vs.   Silver on Enter the Dragon   iloveoov vs.   Silver on TBD Round 4   iloveoov vs.   Yooi on Enter the Dragon   iloveoov vs.   Yooi on U-Boat   iloveoov vs.   Yooi on TBD Round 5   iloveoov vs.   Goodfriend on Gauntlet TG   iloveoov vs.   Goodfriend on Jim Raynor's Memory J v1.5   iloveoov vs.   Goodfriend on TBD Final   iloveoov vs.   NaDa on Jim Raynor's Memory J v1.5   iloveoov vs.   NaDa on Enter the Dragon   iloveoov vs.   NaDa on U-Boat   iloveoov vs.   NaDa on Gauntlet TG   iloveoov vs.   NaDa on TBD	10-2
2006 GOMTV MSL Season 1	Bisu	Click Here to see the Road Taken by Bisu Round of 16   Bisu vs.   Nal_rA on Blitz X   Bisu vs.   Iris on Reverse Temple   Bisu vs.   Canata on Longinus 2 Round of 8   Bisu vs.   HwaSin on Reverse Temple   Bisu vs.   Light on Desert Fox   Bisu vs.   Light on Reverse Temple   Bisu vs.   Light on Longinus 2 Round of 4   Bisu vs.   Nal_rA on Blitz X   Bisu vs.   Nal_rA on Reverse Temple   Bisu vs.   Nal_rA on Desert Fox   Bisu vs.   Nal_rA on TBD   Bisu vs.   Nal_rA on TBD Final   Bisu vs.   sAviOr on Longinus 2   Bisu vs.   sAviOr on Reverse Temple   Bisu vs.   sAviOr on Blitz X   Bisu vs.   sAviOr on TBD   Bisu vs.   sAviOr on TBD	11-2
2007 GOMTV MSL Season 3	Mind	Click Here to see the Road Taken by Mind Round of 32   Mind vs.   Shine on Blue Storm   Mind vs.   HwaSin on Loki II   Mind vs.   Shine on Python Round of 16   Mind vs.   iloveoov on Loki II   Mind vs.   iloveoov on Blue Storm   Mind vs.   iloveoov on Zodiac Round of 8   Mind vs.   TheManiaMST on Python   Mind vs.   TheManiaMST on Zodiac   Mind vs.   TheManiaMST on Blue Storm   Mind vs.   TheManiaMST on Loki II   Mind vs.   TheManiaMST on Python Round of 4   Mind vs.   sAviOr on Blue Storm   Mind vs.   sAviOr on Zodiac   Mind vs.   sAviOr on Loki II   Mind vs.   sAviOr on Python   Mind vs.   sAviOr on Blue Storm Final   Mind vs.   Bisu on Zodiac   Mind vs.   Bisu on Blue Storm   Mind vs.   Bisu on Python   Mind vs.   Bisu on Loki II   Mind vs.   Bisu on Zodiac	12-7

Trivia

• Only two players have won more than one StarCraft league without Royal Roading: Flash and JangBi.
• Grrrr... can be considered a Royal Roader because he won the first official OSL, although its predecessor the Tooniverse Progamer Korea Open is sometimes labelled as the first OSL.
• BoxeR would be the only double Royal Roader as he won the KPGA 1st Tour, which was the first MSL title.
• Flash is the only Bonjwa that has not Royal Roaded.
• Mind arguably had the toughest road. He came all the way from the offline preliminaries and beat two bonjwas, sAviOr and iloveoov. In the final he won against Bisu, who was the player to beat at that time.