HuK

Overview

Results

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HuK [help] [edit]
Player Information
Name:	Chris Loranger
Birth:	May 10, 1989 (1989-05-10)
Country:	Canada United States
Race:	Protoss
Team:	Evil Geniuses
Alternate IDs:	GosuHuk, Liquid`HuK, EG.HuK, Sad, Depression, Aiur
WCS Rank (Points):	#53 (250 points)
Links
Achievements
History
2010 – 2010-06-17 VT Gaming 2010-06-17 – 2010-09-25 Millenium 2010-09-25 – 2011-08-17 Team Liquid 2011-08-17 – Present Evil Geniuses

Chris "HuK" Loranger is a professional Protoss player who is currently playing for Evil Geniuses. HuK holds dual citizenship with both the United States and Canada.

Biography

HuK grew up in St Petersburg, Florida. He grew up in a troubled home, their family had troubles with alcohol, substance and even domestic abuse. HuK was often involved with the police and this climaxed with him having a stint in juvenile prison before he was 16 years old. This had been his father's last straw and he moved with his two sons to Ontario, Canada. Later HuK praised his father's decision to move saying: "Had I not moved to Canada my family and I both agree that I'd most likely be in the military, jail, or dead". HuK has one of the strongest fan bases among North American players, earning many nicknames such as "HuK Norris", "The Incredible HuK", "HuKeules" and "DreamHuK". Showing much love to his fans and supporters, they in return are known to make cute images and pictures to display their appreciation of HuK's play.

After playing for Millenium a while after release, HuK was announced as the newest member of Team Liquid on September 25th 2010.

During the weekend of August 13th, 2011, a mystery announcement by Evil Geniuses created an elaborate countdown with audio clues revealed as the timer approached 0. This caused huge volumes of interest and speculation from the SC2 community. The reveal would come on August 16th, 2011, at 12:00 PM EDT when it was revealed that HuK would transfer from TL to EG as his contract was going to expire soon.

On October 21st, 2011, HuK moved from the oGs-Liquid house to the SlayerS house as the result of a training partnership between Evil Geniuses and SlayerS.

Playstyle

HuK's playstyle has gone through so many different phases that it's hard to pinpoint, and that's actually become part of his play. While very familiar with safe fast expand builds, HuK loves to keep his opponents on their toes using a variety of other builds such as a 1 Gate FE (vs. Terran) or a Mothership Rush, along with the familiar standard openings of Protoss. In addition to his unpredictability, he is also known for his early aggression and excellent micro-management.

In Beta

A relatively unknown player at the time, HuK performed well in the beta, becoming one of the most successful North American players to date with two US.CraftCup victories, ESL, INFLOW, and decent progression through the ITL. Around May, he was ranked 1st in Platinum League Division 3 with a 106-25 (81.56%~) record. HuK has also been invited to the TeamLiquid SC2 Invitational 2. He came second in GosuCoaching Weekly #3 after losing 3-2 to IdrA in the final match, once again demonstrating his strength in weekly events. HuK has also won an ESL event going undefeated throughout, including a 3-0 final, also mimicking the same performance in a CraftCup and Inflow tournament. He also all-killed a triple strike (quarters/semi/finals with a perfect record of 10-0) during this time. HuK's success in the beta led to an invite to Day[9]'s King of the Beta tournament as well as an invitation to join team Millenium.

Wings of Liberty

HuK was among the 10 invitees to the IEM Season V - Global Challenge Cologne, the first major live StarCraft event in Europe. HuK managed to take a series off of Tarson 2-1, but was knocked out of his group after losing to MorroW and Artosis.

Only a week after his disappointing performance in Cologne, HuK stormed through the brackets at MLG Raleigh 2010 to win the $2500 prize. He went all the way through the Winners Bracket without dropping a series, defeating top players like SUGGY, qxc, CauthonLuck, and ultimately KiWiKaKi 4-2 in the grand finals.

His first big competition as part of Team Liquid was at IEM Season V - American Championships where Chris won his group but lost to qxc in the semifinals 3-1. However, he managed to take the third place final against drewbie 3-2.

At MLG D.C., he got to the winners bracket finals but lost to IdrA and then placed third after a very infamous game against SeleCT on Scrap Station, where he Mothership rushed because HuK mistakenly thought the crowds had been calling for it (after which they did cheer for it when HuK typed out his thoughts in-game). He was also invited to BlizzCon 2010 StarCraft II Invitational. He lost to Loner in the third round and was later knocked out by Maka in the consolation bracket.

HuK, together with all of the other Team Liquid members, competed at MLG Dallas 2010, where he got knocked down to the loser's bracket by Ret and then knocked out by TLO, finishing in ninth place. This was still a high enough placement for HuK to maintain his number one seed rank in the MLG tournament series.

After Dallas, HuK flew to Korea to stay at the oGs-Liquid house to practice and qualify for the GSL. On his first attempt, HuK was eliminated from the GSL 3 qualifiers, losing to Aya in the bracket final.

Global StarCraft II League

Code A

In late January of 2011, HuK would be selected as one of the four foreigner invites to participate in the Code A tournaments for 2011 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ GSL March. He would be accompanied by teammates HayprO and Ret as well as Australian mOOnGLaDe. He would be the only one of the invitees to advance past the first round. HuK made it to the Round of 8 before falling to LosirA. Placing top 8 qualified HuK to participate in the up/down matches to attempt for a Code S spot. HuK would be held off by teammate InCa 2-0, but managed to take down Choya 2-1 to earn a place in Code S for the following season, making him the third foreigner to do so.

With the score of 1-2 in his Code S group, HuK would fall from the Round of 16 in Code S to the Round of 24 in Code A. There he would face off against KeeN, who 2-0'd him, forcing him into the Up & Down matches.

Code S

After qualifying for Code S for the GSL May 2011 Tournament, HuK ended up in Group H with players July, Rain and InCa. He lost both of his matches to July and InCa, leaving him only one chance to remain in Code S in the Up/Down matches. In his Up & Down match he decisively defeated MMA 2-0 to retain his Code S position.

HuK's return to Korea saw him in the Round of 32 in Group G of GSL July 2011 where he advanced out of group play, decisively defeating TSL players aLive and Killer. He played against MC once more in the Round of 16, but lost 0-2 to his teammate.

The following season, in GSL August 2011, HuK would open with a lengthy defeat against Killer but drop a close match to Bomber. The deciding set would be a rematch against Killer where HuK would make an unexpected comeback to take the match and advance to the Round of 16. This would be his final game and victory as a member of Team Liquid. Huk proceeded to the Round of 8 after defeating NaDa 2-1, where he lost 0-3 to Mvp. HuK also played in GSL October 2011 where he placed third in his group with a score of 1-2, losing both games to Virus, therefore staying in Code S, but ending his current run.

During the 2011 GSL November Round of 32, HuK had a strong finish, coming out of his group 2-0. When he played his Round of 16 games, he did not perform as well as people expected. He lost his first match to Leenock, defeated NesTea afterwards, then lost the final set to Leenock again. Placing third in his group, he would fall down to Code A.

Huk enters 2013 GSL Season 1 after receiving a seed into the up and down matches; he places 2nd in his group after defeating Flying, FanTaSy and Center. His record of 3-2 earns him 2nd place after a head to head tie breaker with Center, sending Center to Wild Card Groups.

Global StarCraft II Team League

In the GSTL Season 1 Jupiter Group Week 5 featuring teams oGsTL and Prime, HuK made his first appearance. He defeated both Check and MarineKing, bringing his team to victory after a 2-3 lead by Prime. This meant that oGsTL would qualify for the playoffs.

Outside Korea

After first moving to Korea, HuK had limited success in the foreign scene. During DreamHack Winter 2010, he flew to Sweden together with teammates InCa and TOP, where he went undefeated (3-0) in the group stage, but then lost to Socke during the first round of the playoffs.

In 2011, HuK continued to have difficulty in the foreign scene. HuK would be one of the 3 South Korean Protoss invites to the TeamLiquid StarLeague 3. He was subsequently eliminated in the first round by HasuObs, 1-2. He would also be selected for the StarsWar Killer 6 tournament where he also was defeated immediately by MorroW. His performances in notable LANs such as SteelSeries StarCraft II Challenge and MLG Dallas 2011 saw modest finishes of 8th and 10th place, respectively.

HuK's breakthrough tournament came during the June DreamHack Summer 2011 tournament. Huk managed to place first in his group with an impressive set score of 5-0, including a win over eventual tournament runner-up Moon. He then defeated PredY, Socke and July in brackets before facing Moon in the finals. In the finals, HuK managed to defeat Moon once again, with a score of 3-2. His victory would be the first time that a foreigner took first place in a tournament scene that was consistently dominated by South Koreans.

Less than a week after his triumphant victory in Sweden, HuK took first place in HomeStory Cup III, where he faced off against notable players such as MC, IdrA, and NaNiwa, the last of whom he defeated in the finals with a 4-2 victory.

Huk participated in MLG Anaheim where he was seeded into pool play. There, he placed second, falling only to DongRaeGu. In the Championship Bracket, he beat SjoW 2 - 0, but ended up falling to GanZi in the second round 0 - 2. Although he failed to reach the podium, he finished in 7th and was the only non-Korean in the top 8.

He was also one of the invites to the 2011 North American Battle.net Invitational alongside IdrA, SeleCT, KiwiKaki, teammate Sheth, TT1, dde, and ostojiy. HuK's first opponent was ostojiy, whom he defeated 2-0, but he then fell to SeleCT and was knocked into the loser's bracket. HuK then defeated fellow Canadian KiWiKaKi 2-1 and cleanly defeated IdrA 2-0 before falling to Sheth. HuK would end up placing third with a prize of $3,000, but not qualifying for a BlizzCon invite.

HuK competed in MLG Raleigh 2011, finishing in his group with a 3 - 2 record. In the championship bracket, he beat TriMaster and Noblesse before losing 2 - 0 to NaDa to finish once again as the highest placed non-Korean in 7th place overall.

HuK was invited to the Dreamhack Valencia Invitational along with his team mate IdrA, as announced on September 1st. He lost 1 - 2 to ThorZaIN in the first round.

HuK competed in MLG Orlando 2011 as one of the seeded players in Group D. He placed first in his group, losing only to HerO, and then swiftly took out MarineKing in the first round of winners in the Championship Bracket. Following that, he defeated TheStC 2-1 to meet MC in an extended series finals, where he won 4-1, therefore being the first player to win two MLG events as well as being the first non-Korean player to win an MLG since the GSL-MLG Exchange Program began.

On November 2011, HuK went to Finland in order to compete in ASUS ROG Stars Invite, where he was eliminated in the first round by elfi. Two days later, he wasn't more successful during the showmatches, being defeated 2-0 by IdrA and DIMAGA.

Soon after, HuK went to MLG Providence 2011 to defend his title. Due to his success during the Circuit events, HuK was seeded second. He faced off against HerO first, winning 2-0. His first match on Championship Sunday was against NaNiwa, he lost 1-2, falling to the Losers' Bracket. There he faced Leenock and lost 0-2 to the eventual champion. He finished 5th place overall, the second best non-Korean.

HuK competed in NASL Season 2. There, he finished second in his division with a record of 5-2 and qualified for the Grand Finals. He would lose in his first match to HasuObs 2-3 in a close series.

Qualified through his performance at MLG Providence, HuK played at the MLG Winter Arena 2012. There he would defeat Minigun 2-1, Socke 2-0, Ret 2-1 and Oz 2-0 to make it into the finals bracket. There however he would be crushed by both MarineKing and DongRaeGu 2-0, ending his stellar run and taking third place with a $3,600 prize.

HuK continued his excellent performance in the MLG 2012 Winter Championship, where he was placed into Pool C with viOLet, Ret and Socke, with the last two slots being filled by Heart and KawaiiRice, both of whom had qualified through the open bracket. HuK would place second in his group with a score of 4-1, losing only to Heart 1-2. In the Championship Bracket, HuK would defeat Naniwa 2-0 in an incredibly close set, making him the last foreigner standing in yet another MLG tournament. He would then defeat fellow Protoss PartinG 2-1, only to fall to Heart 2-4 once more with the extended series rule. HuK would ultimately take fourth place and $5,500.

Chris would attempt various times to qualify for the TSL 4, via the online qualifiers but without making a big splash on any, failing to get enough points to get in the tournament.

In the NASL Season 3, HuK was placed into Division 3 and displayed excellent performance, topping the group with a decisive 7-1 score, advancing directly to the Ro16. There he defeated GanZi 3-2, but when he advanced to the quarterfinals against another SlayerS player, Alicia, he would be eliminated from the tournament 3-0 in swift succession.

Trivia

• HuK is famous for his "hero probe" (fans call it the BuK probe, referring to modern gangster slang) style openings where he abuses his opponents relentlessly with his initial scouting probe.
• HuK is (or was) one of the top players in "Company of Heroes", achieving "Expert" status on the main fan-site for Company of Heroes, GameReplays.org, under the nickname "GosuStarcraft".
• HuK made a somewhat controversial statement of having "Top 3 Unit Control" in the world during Assembly. "Top 3 Control" has since become a sarcastic remark in Live Report threads / chats whenever HuK makes micro mistakes in a streamed game.
• HuK's father is Canadian but his mother is American. He was born in Florida and lived in the USA until he was 16, then moved to Canada. He currently possess dual-citizenship for both countries.
• HuK is the first player to win two MLG titles, the first person to win an MLG title (Orlando 2011) without it being his first event and the first (and - as of 20th August 2012 - only) foreigner to win an MLG since the GSL-MLG exchange program.
• Wants to study Psychology after finishing his gaming career.
• Has a brother named Scott Loranger.

Achievements

In Premier Tournaments
Date		Place	Event	Result		Winnings
2012-03-25		A44th	2012 MLG Winter Championship	2 : 4	Heart	$5,500
2012-02-26		A33rd	2012 MLG Winter Arena	0 : 2	DongRaeGu	$3,600
2011-10-16		A11st	2011 MLG Orlando	4 : 1	MC	$5,000
2011-06-21		A11st	DreamHack Summer 2011	3 : 2	Moon	100,000 SEK
2010-10-17		A33rd	2010 MLG D.C.	0 : 2	SeleCT	$1,000
2010-08-29		A11st	2010 MLG Raleigh	2 : 1	KiWiKaKi	$2,500

In Major Tournaments
Date	Place	Event	Result		Winnings
2011-08-13	A33rd	2011 North American Battle.net Invitational	0 : 2	Sheth	$3,000
2011-06-26	A11st	HomeStory Cup III	4 : 2	NaNiwa	€2,000

Complete Results in any Tournament

Championships

MLG Pro Circuit Champion
Preceeded By: None	MLG 2010 Raleigh 29 August 2010 – 17 October 2010   HuK	MLG 2010 D.C. Succeeded By:   IdrA

MLG 2011 Raleigh Preceeded By:   Bomber

MLG 2011 Orlando 16 October 2011 – 20 November 2011   HuK

MLG 2011 Providence Succeeded By:   Leenock

DreamHack Champion
DH Winter 2010 Preceeded By:   Naama	DreamHack Summer 2011 21 June 2011 – 24 November 2011   HuK	DH Winter 2011 Succeeded By:   HerO

HomeStory Cup
HomeStory Cup II Preceeded By:   White-Ra	HomeStory Cup III 26 June 2011 – 8 January 2012   HuK	HomeStory Cup IV Succeeded By:   MC

Gallery

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Interviews

2013

• 2013-01-10 | 2013 GSL Season 1 Up/Downs Group E Winners by This Is Game

2012

• 2012-12-10 | HuK 'Grilled' by Thorin of Team Acer
• 2012-04-21 | Interview with Stephano & HuK by Cyber Sports Network at IPL4
• 2012-03-24 | Interview with HuK by HotBid of TeamLiquid.net at MLG Winter Championship 2012: Columbus

2011

• 2011-12-05 | After his loss against HasuObs at NASL 2 Grand Finals by ESFI World
• 2011-11-18 | EG HuK Pre-Event Interview by Complexity Gaming at MLG Providence 2011
• 2011-08-25 | HuK discusses his growth in pro-gaming, MC, Jinro, and leaving of Team Liquid by Carmac
• 2011-08-01 | HuK discusses his performance, Korea, and his popularity at MLG Anaheim 2011 by Rakaka.se
• 2011-04-06 | HuK discusses his MLG Dallas 2011 experience and performance by AskJoshy at MLG Dallas 2011
• 2011-04-03 | Interview with HuK after the Open Bracket by HotBid of TeamLiquid.net at MLG Dallas 2011
• 2011-04-03 | Interview with HuK by EdwardStarcraft at MLG Dallas 2011

2010

• 2010-10-25 | Liquid.HuK interview at BlizzCon 2010 by Artosis at BlizzCon 2010
• 2010-09-25 | Inteview following HuK's joining of Team Liquid by riptide of TeamLiquid.net
• 2010-09-05 | Interview following NVIDIA GosuCup championship win vs. Adelscott by GosuGamers
• 2010-09-04 | Audio Interview discussing IEM Cologne & MLG Raleigh 2010 by AmiPolizeiFunk of gamereplays.org
• 2010-08-25 | Video interview from IEM Cologne 2010 by Artosis at IEM Cologne 2010
• 2010-08-09 | Interview for RTS-Sanctuary by Zutazuta
• 2010-07-19 | HuK: "I want to be the next Lim Yo Hwan for SC2." by Fnatic
• 2010-07-03 | Interview on The Elitist by The Elitists
• 2010-07-03 | Video Interview in-game Footage with HuK Cocasting by GLHF.it
• 2010-06-16 | Exclusive Interview with the top NA Protoss by Renaissance

WoL Matches

• In the finals of GosuCoaching Weekly #8, HuK Mothership rushes Drewbie, before mass recalling, building proxy pylons and cannoning his opponent
• HuK uses a Mothership rush on Pinder on Desert Oasis
• HuK vs. Morrow in GosuGamers KOTH showmatch series
• HuK vs. DIMAGA in GosuGamers KOTH showmatch series

Beta Matches

• HuK in Day9 Daily #150
• HuK in Day9 Daily #151

Replays

• HuK vs. Adelscott in NVIDIA GosuCup
• HuK vs. Morrow in GosuGamers King of the Hill showmatch series
• All of HuK's Replays on Star2.org