TY
From Liquipedia StarCraft 2 Wiki
TY
Player Information
Name:
전태양
Romanized Name:
Jeon Tae-yang
Nationality:
Born:
September 18, 1994 (age 30)
Race:
Team:
Alternate IDs:
By.Baby, Siz)Sun, BaBy, TYTY
Approx. Total Winnings:
$693,111
Military Service:
Fulfilled 2023-01-14
Years Active:
2012 - 2024
Years Active (caster):
2019 - 2021
Links
Achievements
All-Kills:
× 1History
| 2006-??-?? — 2011-09-?? | WeMade FOX |
| 2011-11-04 — 2013-07-10 | 8th Team |
| 2013-07-10 — 2013-08-31 | JAGW |
| 2013-09-16 — 2016-10-18 | KT Rolster |
| 2017-05-11 — 2019-11-28 | Splyce |
| 2019-12-22 — 2020-04-06 | TSGaming |
| 2020-06-06 — 2021-07-15 | Afreeca Freecs |
| 2021-07-15 — 2023-01-14 | Military |
| 2023-01-14 — Present | Freecs |
Jeon "TY" Tae-yang (born September 18, 1994) is a Korean Terran player who is currently playing for Freecs.
He was also known as "BaBy".
He played his first StarCraft II official match during the hybrid 2011-2012 Proleague Season 2.
Biography[edit]
TY was one of the youngest, if not the youngest progamer ever, having been drafted by team WeMade FOX at age 12.[1] Roughly two years later, TY made his first appearance in a televised match, during the GOMTV TG Sambo-Intel Classic Season 1 where he managed to win in the two first rounds.[2] He then started to appear in Proleague on a regular basis, showing average performances. The young player eventually made a name for himself in 2009, when he reached the round of 16 of the 2009 GOMTV Averatec Intel Classic Season 3, defeating JangBi in the process. TY finally made a strong result in the OSL as well in early 2010, as he made it to the round of 16 of the 2010 Korean Air OSL.
Wings of Liberty[edit]
 | This article lists events whose chronological order is ambiguous, backward, or otherwise incorrect. You can help Liquipedia by fixing it. |
TY played his first StarCraft II official match during the hybrid 2011-2012 Proleague Season 2.
OnGameNet Star II League[edit]
2012 OSL KeSPA Preliminaries[edit]
On July 19, 2012, TY participated in the 2012 OSL KeSPA Preliminaries. TY received a BYE in round one and then took down Sacsri, Motive, and faced firebathero in the finals. After taking down firebathero by a score of 2:0, TY advanced in to the 2012 OSL KeSPA Dual Tournament.
2012 OSL KeSPA Dual Tournament[edit]
On August 7, 2012, TY participated in the 2012 OSL KeSPA Dual Tournament. TY took down BeSt in game one, and then advanced in to the winners bracket to face Classic. TY failed to take down Classic and fell in to the final bracket. TY faced ZerO in the final bracket and advanced in to the 2012 SC2 OSL Season 1 with a total score of 2-1.
Global StarCraft II League[edit]
TY made his GSL debut in GSL Season 4, where he made it into Code A through the preliminaries, beating YongHwa in the final round. There, he would face Bomber in the first round and get knocked out with a score of 1-2 to drop him back into Code B. However, TY was seeded into Code S in the following GSL.[3]
In GSL Season 5 TY would drop out of his Code S group 0-2, in last place. In the Code A round of 48 he would defeat Brain 2-0 and move on to face Flash in the Round of 32. He beat him 2-1 and moved on to face Symbol, whom he defeated 2-0 and therefore TY advanced into Code S once again.
Heart of the Swarm[edit]
2013[edit]
Despite being a Code S regular at the end of Wings of Liberty, TY had trouble adapting to the new expansion. Thus, he did not qualify for any premier HotS event in 2013. He was, however, the most successful player in his team for Proleague with 26 map wins.
After TY's contract with Jin Air Green Wings expired at the end of August, he did not re-sign with them and became a free agent. After negotiations, KeSPA announced on September 16 that he had signed with KT Rolster.[4]
2014[edit]
After signing with KT Rolster, TY showed strong initial performances in Proleague, becoming a regular starter for KT during the 2014 Proleague. Most notably, TY posted a perfect 7-0 record in 2014 Proleague: Round 1. As a reward for this, TY was sent to his first foreign tournament, the 2014 DreamHack Open Bucharest. There, he was widely regarded as a favourite to win the entire tournament. However, in just one of several upsets of the weekend, he fell 1-2 to MC in the round of 16, while fellow KeSPA representative RorO failed to make it to the playoffs.
Around the same time, TY was also able to qualify for the 2014 Global StarCraft II League Season 2 Code A, but he did not advance to Code S instead he fell back to Code B. This meant that TY had to requalify for the next season of GSL which he was able to accomplish. This time he was even able to advance to Code S for the first time in Heart of the Swarm, though he was eliminated in his Ro32 group in last place.
In the Proleague 2014 finals between KT Rolster and SK Telecom T1, TY clinched the win for KT Rolster with a proxy 2-rax build against Classic's Nexus first build.
Near the end of the year, TY participated in the WECG Korean Qualifier. He reached the semifinals after a 3-2 win over Dark, but then failed to take a map in his remaining matches going 0-3 against Stats and Sora. He also was allowed to partake in another foreign tournament, HomeStory Cup X. There, he was undefeated during the Ro32 and Ro16 but in the quarterfinals he lost 0-3 against Losira.
TY also participated in the 2014 Hot6ix Cup, but was eliminated in the group stage by Rain.
2015[edit]
Despite eventually losing his starting spot in 2015 Proleague to the newly acquired Life, TY had a strong start to 2015, qualifying for both the 2015 Global StarCraft II League Season 1 Code S and the newly established 2015 StarCraft II StarLeague Season 1. In SSL, TY dropped out early in the Ro16 group stage not winning a single map, but in GSL, TY managed to get all the way to the quarterfinals with wins over Bomber, Dream, YoDa and Soulkey. There he lost 0-3 to MMA. This was however his best individual result to that point.
Unfortunately, TY was not able to repeat these results in the next season, as he did not qualify for SSL and was already eliminated in the Ro32 of GSL. It was around this time that TY was actually seriously considering retirement. In season three of GSL this year, TY was not even able to qualify for Code S, losing to Losira in Code A. But as a consequence, TY was able to fully concentrate on the 2015 StarCraft II StarLeague Season 3, where he had an amazing run to the semifinals and fell only short of the finals losing to ByuL in a nail biting 3-4 series. This marked TY's best result in premier Korean events.
In addition to his success in Korean leagues, TY participated in the IEM Season X - Shenzhen, where he reached the semifinals as well. Following his improvement in individual tournaments, he once again got more play time in Proleague as well. Notably, he managed to all-kill CJ Entus.
Legacy of the Void[edit]
2015[edit]
TY had a promising start to the new expansion, finding immediate success in the new game. The first major tournament he participated in was the SanDisk SHOUTcraft Invitational II. In the Ro8, he swept Rogue 3-0. The semifinals were a lot closer, but TY still won 4-3 against ByuN. In the finals he met Solar, who was considered to be one of top players in LotV at that point. Solar confirmed his good form and defeated TY 4-1. TY was also invited to the first LotV premier tournament, the DreamHack ROCCAT LotV Championship. In the group stage, TY lost to Lilbow and Nerchio and was almost eliminated there. In the end, TY still advanced as second and defeated Bomber and puCK in the playoffs before losing a close series to PartinG, overall finishing 5-6th.
After these foreign events, TY qualified for both weeks of the 2016 Global StarCraft II League Pre-Season, which was the first official LotV competition in Korea. In the first week, TY lost to herO, the eventual winner, in the opening round. The second week was much more successful for TY as he went on a 7-map winning streak against Soulkey, Hurricane and Bunny. In the finals, he had to play against MyuNgSiK. TY won the first two games and it looked as though he would secure the Code S seed, but with some aggressive two-base Warp Prism play, MyuNgSiK was able to win three maps in a row and take first place for himself. This meant that TY would have to participate in the Code A qualifiers later that month. He easily went through said qualifier and Patience was drawn as his opponent for Code A.
2016[edit]
On 20th January 2016, TY defeated Patience 3-1 and advanced to Code S where he faced DeParture, Trap and Super in his Ro32 group. TY advanced in first place with convincing 2-0 victories over DeParture and Trap.
In the following GSL Group Selection, TY was the last player left unpicked, sending him into Group D together with Dear, Bunny and MyuNgSiK. His first opponent MyuNgSiK initially took the lead, but TY was able to take the next two maps and advance to the Winner's Match against Dear. After an 0-2 loss, he was then sent to the Decider Match, another rematch against the unpredictable MyuNgSiK. This time, TY was able to win 2-0, thus advancing to the Ro8 where SKT's Dream was waiting.
Prior to his quarterfinals matches, TY was on a losing streak in Proleague, losing four games in a row to Bunny, Maru, ByuL and Trap. Contrary to those rather disappointing results, TY easily won his GSL Ro8 match against Dream with a set score of 3-0. His semifinals opponent was Cure. Both of them were fighting for the chance to go to their first GSL finals. While he was expected to win[5], a more contested series than the previous one was anticipated. Regardless, TY won the semifinals with 4-0 in dominant fashion to go to the first individual premier tournament finals in his long career.
The one he had to face there was none other than his Protoss teammate, Zest, who advanced to the Finals dropping only one map on his path from Code A to the finals. TY won the first game on Dusk Towers by heavily leaning on his multitasking ability.[6] However, Zest quickly grabbed the next map on Orbital Shipyard with a Dark Templar build and defended TY's build including a Thor drop on Prion Terraces. Down 2-1, TY decided to double Engineering Bay block Zest's expansion on Sky Shield. Zest stayed in the game despite his disadvantages, bringing it to a base trade, but eventually TY was able to win. Zest won the fith game on Rak'Shir by crushing TY's marine/tank force, bringing the series to match point on Lerilak Crest. After mistakenly constructing a second Factory instead of a Starport, TY tried to salvage the situation by attacking his opponent. However, with a stronger army, Zest was able to defend and counter attack, which forced TY to concede the game, the series and the trophy to his teammate.
Three weeks later, during the first Cross Finals, TY and Zest as the top 2 players of GSL teamed up as an Archon to take on Stats and Dark, the finalists of SSL. Team GSL emerged victorious with a 3-1 score. However, in the individual tournament of the Cross Finals, both players were defeated in the first round. TY took a narrow loss at the hands of Dark, who went on to lose the finals against Stats.
Soon after, the qualifiers for SSL season 2 took place. TY advanced to the Challenge stage without much trouble, defeating his opponents Forte and RagnaroK with no map losses. For Challenge, TY was put into a group with Trap, soO, Cure, Bomber and Hush. He was the only player to emerge from the round robin format completely undefeated and was put into a group with Reality, Patience and Cure. Following a win against Reality, a narrow loss against Patience and a second win against Reality, he advanced to the Ro8, where he was once again defeated by Dark in a series of drawn-out macro games, this time by a score of 3-1.
Around the same time, TY had advanced to the Ro16 of the second GSL season of the year with two victories over Impact and a loss against sOs. As the runner-up of the first season, TY was a seeded player in the Ro16 group selection and had the liberty to pick his first opponent. He originally picked TaeJa, whom Zest as the highest seeded player exchanged for Rogue. Regardless, TY advanced from his group in first place with wins over Rogue and GuMiho. In the Round of 8, TY faced Dear, a very good friend of his. After a chaotic series with many mistakes from both sides, TY was once again narrowly eliminated.
Over the course of 2016, TY was a key player in KT Rolster's endeavors in the final season of Proleague. He played in nearly every match, and although his record ended up at only 14 wins and 13 losses, his importance for the team was obvious. The most impactful win TY took that season was the ace match against his team's long-time rivals SK Telecom in the playoffs, allowing his team to face off against Jin Air Green Wings in the finals. There, TY lost to Maru after a failed proxy banshee rush. KT Rolster lost 0-4 in disappointing fashion. A bit over a month later, it was announced that Proleague was officially discontinued. Following the news, most Korean teams opted to disband, including KT. After 3 years on the team, TY was left teamless.
However, he, Stats and Zest still had KT's support for a few events. KeSPA Cup, HomeStory Cup XIV, WESG 2016 Asia-Pacific Qualifier and the 2016 WCS Global Playoffs. He qualified for KeSPA Cup after defeating aLive and two lesser known players. In the group stage, he faced TRUE, Pet and (then-CJ) herO. His mech builds proved extremely effective against the two Zergs, allowing him to advance in first place with no map losses. He would then go on to face Zest, who came off of back-to-back wins against reigning GSL champion ByuN in his group. Despite this, TY completely overwhelmed Zest and won 3-0. His run came to an end at the hands of Trap instead, who secured himself a 3-2 victory after a scrappy game on Dasan Station, but would eventually lose the tournament finals to Neeb.
At the Global Playoffs, TY found himself in a group with 3 Zergs in his countryman Solar, and the two best Polish Zergs, Nerchio and Elazer. A relatively easy first win against Nerchio, who was caught off guard by a hellion/banshee opening, was followed by a loss on New Gettysburg. TY had a sizable advantage, but Nerchio turned the game around with a single successful counterattack, picking TY's mech style apart in the late game. TY managed to close out the series on Galactic Process after a 35 minute late game clinic. Surprisingly, his opponent in the winners' match was not reigning SSL champion Solar, but instead Elazer. The young Polish player went for two quick cheeses, hoping to surprise his opponent. TY easily defended both rushes, winning the series in under 10 minutes and advancing to the Ro8. There, he crossed paths with ByuN, but he was unable to stop the eventual champion.
As one of the two players coming out of the Korean Qualifier, TY was considered a heavy favorite in the WESG APAC Qualifier. In the Korean qualifier, he had taken out Rogue, soO, GuMiho and INnoVation losing only a map to GuMiho. At the APAC Qualifier itself, TY was even more dominant, as he took first place with not a single map lost even against fellow Korean Maru.
HomeStory Cup XIV marked the final time TY competed representing KT Rolster. Coincidentally, it was also one of his weakest tournament performances all year. Having lost his baggage after flying to Germany[7], TY struggled to find his footing in the tournament. Though he advanced to the Round of 16, a win over uThermal was not enough to make up for losses against Patience and Zest.
TY failed to qualify for the first WCS tournament of 2017, IEM Gyeonggi, losing in all 3 qualifiers. However, he ended the year on a positive note, as he managed to advance into the first season of the 2017 GSL after defeating Hush.
2017[edit]
In mid-January, TY played the WESG 2016 Main Event. He finished first in his group with a score of 4-1 in matches, only losing to Kelazhur after his first place was already secured. He won both his following matches, the quarterfinal against Stephano and the semifinal against Neeb, convincingly with 3-0 scorelines. In the finals, he faced the only other Korean at the tournament, Maru, who had not dropped a single map up until that point, going 16-0 in maps coming into this final. The entire tournament would end up being decided in game 7 on Habitation Station. After killing Maru's first reaper and one of his cyclones, TY opted for an immediate reaper, cyclone and viking counter push, rallying marines and tanks across the map. As Maru's natural command center was destroyed, the Jin Air Terran was left with no choice but to tap out giving TY his first premier tournament win in nearly eleven years of progaming.
The following week, TY advanced from his GSL group in first place defeating Armani and Solar. TY entered the group selection for the Ro16 as the highest seeded player, giving him the right to make the first pick as well as getting the opportunity to swap two players after all groups are made. Showing no hesitation whatsoever, TY chose aLive, who had just recently shown TvT powerful enough to qualify for the IEM Season XI World Championship, to be the first player in his group. The group was then completed by ByuL and Stats. Using his right as the highest seed, TY exchanged Ryung and INnoVation. He reasoned that Dark and INnoVation, two of the players he considered the most dangerous, were now in the same group and could eliminate each other, making the tournament easier to win in the long term. While this plan was partially successful with TY advancing in first place from his group and the elimination of Dark, TY was unable to close out his Ro8 match against soO despite taking a quick 2-0 lead.
Two weeks following his defeat at the hands of soO, the IEM Season XI World Championship began in Katowice. TY had qualified through the American qualifier following wins against Dear, Zest and Losira. For the main tournament, TY's round of 24 group included himself, Stats, jjakji, aLive, Neeb and Harstem. Losing his first match against Stats after a very close final game on Proxima Station put TY on the back foot early, and he ended up only narrowly advancing, defeating jjakji, Harstem and Neeb, but also losing to aLive. In the next round, TY once again was matched against Zest. He took the series with a 3-1 score and went on to face GuMiho in a series that went all the way to game 5 on Abyssal Reef. GuMiho sought to take the initiative with a reaper proxy, and although TY scouted it and denied most of the damage, GuMiho still took a lead. He relentlessly tried to push this advantage, but a lack of efficiency caught up with him as TY evened out the game, and the series culminated with a disastrous doom drop attempt easily shut down by TY.
In the semifinals, TY had to play aLive, who was on a hot streak in the tournament. aLive went into the match as the player who eliminated INnoVation, the tournament favorite[8], and the only player who came out of the group stage with no matches lost. The series was very back and forth and once again went to a game 5 on Abyssal Reef. Following an extremely scrappy game where either player held the advantage at times, aLive was ultimately forced to tap out and TY advanced to the finals where he would face Stats. As was the case in the previous rounds, TY found himself in another highly contested series. The players traded maps back and forth, with TY winning the standout game of the series on Abyssal Reef, until they reached game 7. On Cactus Valley in vertical spawning positions, TY opted for a novel tank push which included a raven. Stats was not ready for this, and as both his natural and third expansions fell, he was forced to submit game, series and tournament to TY.
After nearly 11 years without a Premier championship, in the first 3 months of 2017, TY won two tournaments, over 300,000$, more than 4000 WCS points and became the first player to secure his position in the 2017 WCS Global Playoffs. However, TY struggled to keep this momentum going. TY didn't manage to get into the returning SSL Premier, only qualifying for Challenge. He also didn't manage to qualify for the new VSL, although in both instances the qualifiers took place just days after his victory at IEM. In late March and early April respectively, TY qualified for both the 2nd season of GSL and the first Super Tournament of 2017. However, a 2-0 loss to Creator in the qualifiers for the former left his fans questioning his form, and a one-sided 3-0 defeat at the hands of herO in the latter reinforced those concerns.
In SSL Challenge, TY ultimately ended up eliminated in 5th place, seemingly prioritizing the GSL. However, this was to little avail as his Round of 8 berth ended up being a loss. Taking the first two maps very quickly and convincingly, GuMiho managed to turn the series around and win 3-2 and netting TY his third high profile reverse-sweep of the year. The next was soon to follow, as IEM Shanghai was approaching. As an invitee, TY was seeded into the group stage without playing in the qualifiers. He reached the semifinals without dropping a game and even took a 2-0 advantage against herO. However, once again, TY was reverse swept.
While TY had struggled to advance from his Round of 32 group in Code S, his good form from IEM Shanghai carried over into the Ro16 as he took two convincing 2-0 victories against Stats and Patience. Additionally, while he was the only Korean who lost in the team competition of the newly established GSL vs The World, TY reached the finals of the individual competition. A convincing win over Scarlett was followed by a close call against Neeb which saw TY on the edge of yet another reverse sweep. After claiming revenge against soO for GSL season 1, TY was set to face INnoVation in the finals. While the first game was an evenly matched back and forth contest that could have gone TY's way, ultimately the former SKT Terran won 4-0.
In the Round of 8 of Code S meanwhile, he faced his nemesis Dark. After a 2-0 win at IEM Shanghai, this time TY stood no chance against the Zerg player. He ended up losing 0-3 in what would end up being his last GSL performance of 2017, as he missed qualification for the second Super Tournament.
Going into 2017 Blizzcon, TY was heavily favored to advance from his group alongside his Splyce teammate Stats. However, both lost to TY's protegé SpeCial, forcing them into an elimination match after Stats defeated Snute. TY managed to get the better of the Protoss eventually, closing the series out in a scrappy game on Interloper. TY then went on to face INnoVation in a rematch from GSL vs The World and just barely managed to secure his revenge in a 3-2 victory to send himself to the semifinals against his friend Rogue. For a 5th time in the same year, TY took a quick and convincing 2-0 advantage in a high profile match only to get reverse-swept, ending his run in Anaheim.
As the year was coming to an end, TY did not manage to qualify for WESG to have a chance of defending his title, losing a best of 1 to Dark in the qualifiers. He did, however, qualify for the 2018 Code S season 1.
2018[edit]
The first Code S of the new year did not go the way TY wanted it to. While he managed to advance to the Round of 16 in clean fashion, for the first time of the expansion that was where his run ended. A closely contested match against his nemesis Dark, centered around TY's new ghost mech style, ultimately sent TY to the loser match against aLive who subsequently eliminated him. This performance was not enough to earn a seed for the Super Tournament and TY also failed to advance through the qualifiers for the second time in a row.
The next major event of the year for him was IEM Katowice. While TY fell short in the server qualifiers, he easily qualified for the group stage from the open bracket. Placed in a group with Dear, Maru, GuMiho, SpeCial and ShoWTimE, TY went undefeated in series recording a 10-2 map score. The Round of 8 saw him eliminated in a rematch of the 2017 Blizzcon semifinals, as eventual IEM World Champion Rogue once again got the better of him, ending TY's attempt to defend his title early.
Entering season 2 of Code S, TY's form seemed to be solid as he had won the Memes & Dreams Invitational. He won his Round of 32 group against Impact and Cure convincingly, then advanced in second from his Round of 16 group featuring Classic, Trap and Dark. Two 2-0 victories over Trap were enough to make up for a loss to Classic in the Winner's Match. In the Ro8, TY faced GuMiho, one of the players who had reverse swept him the previous year. The series once again went all the way to game 5 but TY took the better end of it this time, surprising his opponent with a crisp mech timing. Two time Code S champion Zest was awaiting him in the semifinals and ultimately managed to win the series in game 7 after TY was crucially out of position to defend his 3rd base.
Seeded into season 3 and not to be deterred, TY made another berth into the GSL semifinals. Along the way, he took victories against RagnaroK, Bunny, long-time nemesis sOs, his teammate Stats and the resurgent Leenock. Waiting for him in the semifinals was the dark horse player and surprise of the season - potential Royal Roader Neeb, the first non-Korean in the Code S Round of 4 since Jinro. A relatively close series that saw one of the very few draws in GSL history, TY emerged victorious and went into the finals against Maru, back-to-back GSL champion. While the Jin Air Terran had been adamant all year about not wanting to face TY, the series went back and forth to game 7, with Maru opting for proxy openings on 5 maps. While TY held the advantage in the majority of games after the opening stages, including the deciding game 7, ultimately Maru was crowned GSL champion for a 3rd season in a row.
Seeded into Super Tournament 2 as the GSL runner-up, TY had a final opportunity to show his skills in the FreecUp studio before the Global Finals. However, the apparently resurgent Creator defeated him in the first round. The match was most noteworthy for featuring mass battlecruisers in the late game on Lost and Found, TY's only map win. The Splyce Terran then went to Anaheim to compete in the Global Finals. He narrowly survived his group featuring Maru, Neeb and Lambo. After an initial loss against Neeb, he defeated the American Protoss in the rematch after defeating Lambo 2-1. His tournament run was once again ended by Rogue in the Round of 8. While TY had the chance to earn himself a massive advantage in game 5 with his proxy barracks opener, he neglected to check Rogue's 3rd locations. The Jin Air Zerg got away with the 3rd hatch and managed to recover from losing his natural base.
Rogue also eliminated TY from the WESG qualifiers, preventing a return to the stage of his first premier tournament championship. The year still ended on a positive note for TY, as he showed good form in the Master's Coliseum 4. He also lead his team to victory in BJ Destruction Match Season 2 with a transcendent 14-1 map score.
2019[edit]
The year started promising for TY, netting himself a win in NeXT 2018 Winter in China over Solar. The Zerg would have the upper hand in March, however, as he eliminated TY from IEM Katowice. While TY was the only Terran to advance to the playoffs, elimination in the Round of 12 was not the result he was hoping for. In terms of GSL, TY reached the Round of 8 without any map losses. He convincingly 2-0'd FanTaSy, Impact, GuMiho and Rogue. Ultimately, he was eliminated by Trap in the Round of 8.
Once again failing to qualify for a Super Tournament, TY set his sights on Code S season 2. Earning his NesTea award, TY was surprisingly eliminated in the Round of 32 with losses to RagnaroK and sOs. His results in the first half of the year had already put TY's Blizzcon hopes in jeopardy.
However, there was still time to make up for this in the second half of the year, which started off promising with TY actually reaching the finals of HomeStory Cup 19, going 3-3 the very powerful Serral. While ultimately a loss because of the winner bracket advantage used in the tournament, the draw was a positive sign of things to come. Getting voted into GSL vs the World after missing the previous edition, TY once again faced the Finnish Zerg. He put on an impressive performance, but was eliminated regardless. In the team competition, he defeated Neeb.
At this point, TY still had two tournaments remaining to make up enough ground in the race for Blizzcon - Code S season 3 and Super Tournament 2. While TY looked strong in Code S, taking wins over Impact, Maru, herO and Cure, the Round of 8 was once again his limit. Season 2 champion Dark was barring his way, and while TY took the series to 5 games, he was still eliminated. His only hope in the race for Blizzcon then was the stars aligning perfectly in Super Tournament 2 with all results going in his favor. Deciding to leave nothing up to chance, TY charged through the bracket with convincing wins over RagnaroK, PartinG and herO, noticeably taking wins with mech compositions against Protoss. Once again, however, Dark was barring his way in the finals and would not budge. After TY was 4-0'd by the Zerg, his final hope of making Blizzcon would have been if Classic had been banned from travelling to Anaheim because of his impending military service, though this did not manifest.
Towards the end of the year, Splyce, TY's home for nearly 3 years, closed down its SC2 division. In December, TY joined Triumphant Song Gaming. He also seemingly adjusted well to the balance changes after Blizzcon, as he finally advanced through WESG's Korean qualifier again.
2020[edit]
The year started with a relatively mixed set of online results for TY. Regardless, he ended up qualifying for IEM Katowice where he was in a group with Serral, Cure, Hurricane, Lambo and sOs. While he defeated Cure, Hurricane and Lambo, his losses to Serral and sOs saw him become the only player with a positive match record eliminated from the tournament. His GSL year started in similarly poor fashion, as he was eliminated from Super Tournament 1 0-3 by Zest. Furthermore, his performances in the GTC and NeXT 2020 were poor enough that he and TSG ended up parting ways partway through the regular season.
In Code S things were looking to be better for TY, however. After defeating Bomber and Dear, notably with 3 mech games against the Protoss, in the Ro24, TY received a seeded position for the Ro16. He selected Solar, the group was later completed by Cure and Stats. A very swift victory against his former Splyce and TSG compatriot was followed by a rather one-sided loss against Cure. The Decider's Match against his old friend and former teammate Stats ended up going TY's way, though he did lose a drawn-out mech game on Obsidian in the map's competitive debut.
Waiting for TY in the Ro8 was, once again, his nemesis Dark. As the highest seeded player in the Ro16, Dark had been able to create a group to his own liking. However, he had struggled greatly to advance, attributing this at least in part to wrist issues. Having extensively prepared for the series, TY proclaimed himself to be an avatar of Rogue, someone intricately familiar with Dark's strengths and weaknesses. Subsequently, TY earned himself massive advantages early on with his build orders in every game of the series, taking Dark down 3-0.
Looking to repeat the feat of taking down one of his main nemeses in the semifinals, TY turned to SpeCial for advice on how to take down PartinG. TY again won the first 3 maps, with PartinG committing several key errors in his defenses. While it initially seemed as if PartinG was in a poor mental state after the losses, he rallied and managed to take games 4 and 5. He also took a sizeable advantage in game 6 on Nightshade, but failed to capitalize it as his two-pronged attack was extremely disjointed. As the game went on, TY's position became stronger by the minute. The game deciding moment occured when PartinG mistakenly rallied his main army through TY's siege line, losing over 60 supply of expensive tech units. The deficit ended up being too much to recover from, and TY returned to the GSL finals.
Somewhat unexpectedly, his opponent in his 3rd Code S final was none other than the player who had defeated him soundly in the Round of 16, Cure. While Cure had defeated INnoVation in the Round of 4, TY was still considered the favorite[9]. According to TY, he and Cure and played rock-paper-scissors to determine practice partners and as he lost, his main partner ended up being INnoVation[10]. The first surprise of the day actually came when it was revealed TY had joined the Afreeca Freecs, as this had been kept a secret prior to the finals.
The finals started off on Obsidian, where Cure went for early banshees which would then go into Hyperflight Rotors and transition fully into mech. TY meanwhile opted for an early battlecruiser. While he took a lot of worker damage to the banshees and didn't deal equivalent damage in retaliation with his capital ship. However, a very committed marine, tank and battlecruiser push caught the DPG Terran off-guard. He pulled SCVs from multiple bases into the fight out of desperation, but the damage was too much and TY's own mech play closed the game out soon after. In game 2 on Ever Dream, both players sent out early SCVs for proxy barracks plays, but decided to abandon the plan when they met mid-map. While Cure opted to go for a defensive 2-rax reaper play, TY instead went for a reaper expand which lead to a tank push. Cure was ill-prepared and a crucial lapse in control sent TY ahead to a 2-0 advantage. On Simulacrum, Cure surprised TY with a 2-starport raven strategy. The auto turret harassment killed the researching stimpack upgrade and over a dozen SCVs. Seeing the attack, TY decided to retaliate with a move out against Cure's 3rd base, dealing equivalent damage and forcing a relocation. Throughout the game, Cure would continue to garner significant economic damage while TY would consistently retain an army advantage. Eventually, TY managed to take the victory on the back of a doom drop in Cure's main base.
With the series at 3-0 going into Golden Wall, again both players wanted to go for proxy barracks plays. Again the SCVs met in the middle of the map and both players abandoned the idea to go into standard play. As TY went for a moveout to put pressure on Cure's newly established 3rd base, the armies met in the middle of the map. TY took a sizeable advantage from that point on. Instead of pushing the advantage to end things quickly, he opted to go for the safer approach and keep expanding his lead. Even a single marine killing nearly 20 SCVs by himself for Cure could not turn the game around, and TY took the 4-0 victory, the guaranteed seed into the World Championship and his long-awaited first GSL trophy.
Trivia[edit]
- His Korean name, 태양 (TaeYang), means "sun".
- Although TY plays with the standard mouse/keyboard setup optimized for right-handed people, he is actually left-handed. He started playing that way in his childhood, and because his body got used to it over time, there are no negative effects on his play.[11]
- He lost his first official StarCraft II match against Flash.
- TY was placed first in TeamLiquid's first LotV Community Power Rank.[12]
- In early 2016, the Korean fandom started a long-running joke of creating alter egos for players who were showing inexplicably bad performances. It first started when TY suffered several ridiculous defeats in the Gold Series International 2016: All Star Challenge. Trying to explain the cause of TY's sudden loss of form, fans theorized the existence of a doppelganger called John Sun (존썬), who had hijacked TY's body and was sabotaging his games.
- In 2016 GSL Code S Season 1, he made his first finals appearance in over 3060 days.
- He is the second Terran player to reach the GSL finals since Mvp in 2012, the first being INnoVation.
- His GSL final against Zest was the first GSL final not featuring a Zerg player since Seed vs MC in 2012.
- TY won the WESG 2016 Asia-Pacific Qualifier tournament without dropping a single map, going 15-0.
- Won his first premier tournament 11 years after starting to play Starcraft professionally.
- He is a big fan of soO. According to himself, before his Ro8 match against Dear in the second season of the 2016 GSL, soO appeared to him in a dream and told him not to lose.[13]
- Following his WESG and IEM Championships, TY became the 5th highest earning StarCraft II player of all time.[14]
- TY is one of the Four Horsemen of Terran, alongside INnoVation, Maru, and ByuN.[15]
- From mid 2019 until April 2021, he was a commentator for the GSL [16], replacing JYP who was fulfilling his military service.
- TY served his military service as a police officer.[17]
- In 2020, TY started working on getting a bus drivers license, although his initial attempts were unsuccessful.[18]
Achievements[edit]
| Date | Tier | Tournament | Award | Team | Prize | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-05-11 | S-Tier | | Global StarCraft II League | NesTea Award |  | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extended list of results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | Tier | Tournament | Position | Partner List | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-05-06 | S-Tier | | 2021 GSL S1: Code S | Korean Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021-03-09 | B-Tier |  | 2021 BJ Destruction Match Season 1 | Korean Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020-12-12 | S-Tier | | 2020 GSL ST 2 | Korean Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020-11-01 | S-Tier | | 2020 GSL Season 3 | Korean Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020-08-15 | S-Tier | | 2020 GSL Season 2 | Korean Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020-06-06 | S-Tier | | 2020 GSL S1: Code S | Korean Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020-03-28 | S-Tier | | 2020 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 1 | Korean Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019-11-01 | S-Tier |  | 2019 WCS Global Finals | Korean Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019-09-28 | S-Tier | | 2019 GSL Season 3: Code S | Guest Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About achievementsBroadcasts from any Tournament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matches & VODs[edit]
Greatest Matches[edit]
Wings of Liberty[edit]
TvT[edit]
- vs TurN on Antiga Shipyard (2011-2012 Proleague Season 2, Round 3 - 8th Team vs Samsung KHAN) - An amazing comeback from TY.
TvZ[edit]
- vs EffOrt on Ohana (2011-2012 Proleague Season 2, Round 2 - Week 3 8th Team vs CJ Entus) - An epic TvZ, one of the best games in the 2011-2012 Proleague Season 2.
Legacy of the Void[edit]
TvP[edit]
- vs Parting (2015 Dreamhack Winter Losers Bracket Round 3)
First Person View Match VODS[edit]
Interviews[edit]
- [e] 2017-10-20 | WCS 2017 Signature Series: TY by Blizzard Entertainment
- [e] 2017-01-19 |
World Electronic Sports Games 2016 Winner by Olli (trans. 
)
- [e] 2014-07-17 | 2014 GSL Season 3 Code A Winners by inven eSports (trans. )
- [e] 2014-07-04 | 2014 GSL Season 3 Code A Qualifiers Winners by inven eSports (trans. )
- [e] 2013-12-31 | 2014 SPL Round 1 Week 1 KT Rolster vs CJ Entus Winner by This Is Game
- [e] 2012-12-24 | SPL Season 1 Round 1 8th Team vs Samsung KHAN Winner by Daily eSports
- [e] 2012-12-23 | SPL Season 1 Round 1 STX SouL vs 8th Team Winner by Daily eSports
- [e] 2012-12-13 | 2012 GSL Season 5 Code A Round of 24 Winners by This Is Game
- [e] 2012-12-10 | 2012 GSL Season 5 Code A Ro32 Day 1 Winners by This Is Game
- [e] 2012-11-21 | 2012 GSL Season 5 Code A Ro48 Day 3 Winners by This Is Game
- [e] 2012-09-13 | 2012 GSL Season 4 Code A Preliminaries Day 1 Winners by This Is Game
- [e] 2012-09-11 | Auction OSL Ro16 Day 5 Winners by This Is Game
- [e] 2012-07-19 | Interview after OSL KeSPA Preliminaries by Moletrap (trans. )
- [e] 2012-07-14 | OSL KeSPA Preliminaries by This Is Game
Gallery[edit]
External links[edit]
- "Lamb to Lion: By.Baby". Team Liquid Final Edit by Xxio.
Statistics[edit]
Matchup Statistics
vs  | vs  | vs  | vs  | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Win% | Record | Win% | Record | Win% | Record | Win% | Record | Win% | |
| as | 663 - 508 | 56.6 % | 525 - 258 | 67 % | 610 - 427 | 58.8 % | 6 - 0 | 100 % | 1804 - 1193 | 60.2 % |
| as | 0 - 0 | - | 0 - 0 | - | 0 - 0 | - | 5 - 7 | 41.7 % | 5 - 7 | 41.7 % |
| Σ | 663 - 508 | 56.6 % | 525 - 258 | 67 % | 610 - 427 | 58.8 % | 11 - 7 | 61.1 % | 1809 - 1200 | 60.1 % |
Earnings Statistics
{"xAxis":{"type":"category","name":"Year","axisLabel":{"rotate":0},"axisTick":{"alignWithLabel":true},"data":["2012","2013","2014","2015","2016","2017","2018","2019","2020","2021","2022","2023","2024"]},"yAxis":{"type":"value","name":"Earnings ($USD)"},"series":[{"emphasis":{"focus":"series"},"stack":"total","type":"bar","name":"1v1 Earnings","data":["2687","2783","3907","17554","64947","374446","60376","44649","82037","23133","0","3119","723"]},{"emphasis":{"focus":"series"},"stack":"total","type":"bar","name":"Team Event Earnings","data":["0","0","0","0","0","444","1140","826","4848","617","0","304","2276"]},{"emphasis":{"focus":"series"},"stack":"total","type":"bar","name":"Other Earnings","data":["0","0","0","0","2145","0","0","0","0","150","0","0","0"]}],"size":{"width":1400,"height":400},"grid":{"top":"15%","left":"15%","right":"12%","bottom":"10%"},"tooltip":{"trigger":"axis"},"legend":{"1":"1v1 Earnings","2":"Team Event Earnings","3":"Other Earnings"},"div":"chart-area-0"}1v1 Medal Statistics
| Tier |  |  |  |  |  | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S-Tier | 4 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 18 |
| A-Tier | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| B-Tier | 21 | 21 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 61 |
| C-Tier | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Total | 31 | 34 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 97 |
References[edit]
- ↑ "Lamb to Lion: By.Baby". Final Edit by Xxio. TL.net, 27 June 2010.
- ↑ "TG-Intel Classic 2008 Season 1 (Apr 08 - Aug 08)". TL.net, 29 April 2008.
- ↑ TY and Soulkey seeded into Code S
- ↑ TY signs with KT Rolster
- ↑ https://tl.net/forum/starcraft-2/507862-code-s-ro4-preview-ty-vs-cure-s1-2016#one
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVmvB3qFve8
- ↑ Solar (November 16, 2016). "TY lost his baggage". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
- ↑ Team Liquid Power Rank
- ↑ https://tl.net/forum/starcraft-2/560154-gsl-code-s-finals-preview-ty-vs-cure
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/gydpzr/gsl_finals_ty_vs_cure_tys_review_translation_in/
- ↑ DankShrine Interview - TY is left-handed
- ↑ The_Red_Viper (5 February 2016). "Community Power Rank v3: Let it be LOTV!". TL.net.
- ↑ Pre-match Interview
- ↑ Highest Earning Players of All Time
- ↑ Karin Krisher (2017-07-26). "IEM Shanghai Group D Preview". ESL.
- ↑ TY casting GSL
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
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