OGN is a South Korean pay television channel that specialized in broadcasting video game-related content and esports matches, particularly StarCraft, Starcraft II, League of Legends, and Overwatch. OGN ran high level professional tournaments for 20 years; its premier competition included the Ongamenet Starleague (OSL), Proleague, League of Legends Champions Korea, and Overwatch APEX. It was previously a subsidiary of On-Media, the parent company of several other cable channels. After a corporate merger in 2010, it became a part of CJ ENM E&M Division. Most recently, League of Legends statistics website, OP.GG, which also sponsored LCK since 2022, has acquired OGN from CJ ENM following the shutdown of the linear TV network during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lim Yo-hwan, known online as SlayerS_'BoxeR', is a former professional player of the real-time strategy computer game StarCraft. He is often referred to as The Terran Emperor, or simply The Emperor, and is widely considered to be one of the most successful players of the genre as well as a pop culture icon.
Choi Yeon-sung, also known as iloveoov, is a retired professional Korean StarCraft player, and formerly a coach for the Afreeca Freecs' League of Legends team. As a Terran player he was known for his excellent macromanagement, leading to his nickname "Cheater Terran". However he is better known as "Monster Terran" because of his ability to produce a massive number of units. The 'oov' in his nickname is believed to be the ASCII emotion icon of a face and two fingers forming letter 'V' which stands for victory.
The Starleague, or the Ongamenet Starleague (OSL), was a professional South Korean StarCraft individual league run by Ongamenet. It first ran StarCraft: Brood War competitions but transitioned to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty after that game's release. The Starleague was broadcast on Korean cable television. The league folded after the 2012 season.
Kang Min, also known as Nal_rA, is a South Korean former professional StarCraft player and League of Legends commentator. Since retiring from gaming, he has worked as an instructor at Seoul Institute of the Arts.
Park Jung-suk, also known as Reach or [Oops]Reach is a professional South Korean StarCraft player.
The real time strategy (RTS) computer game StarCraft had an active professional competition circuit, particularly in South Korea. The two major game channels in South Korea, Ongamenet and MBCGame, each ran a Starleague, viewed by millions of fans.
Lee Yun-yeol (이윤열), better known as NaDa, is a South Korean entrepreneur, video game designer and former professional gamer who competitively played StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft II. He is known for being one of the most accomplished Brood War players of all time with a total of six major title victories, including three KPGA tours in a row in 2002 and subsequently winning three OnGameNet StarLeagues over the following years, earning him the nickname, "Genius Terran". He achieved the highest KeSPA score of any player before it was re-scaled, and holds the record for longest stay in KeSPA's top 30 at 87 months, beginning in March 2002 and ending in May 2009. He has played for several top-ranking teams, including Pantech EX, Toona S.G., KT_MagicNs, Ideal Space and WeMade FOX. After his transition to StarCraft II in 2010, he joined the Korean team of Old Generations. In February 2012, he joined the American multi-gaming team, compLexity gaming.
Chun Jung-hee (Korean: 천정희) is a retired South Korean professional player of the real-time strategy game Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. He used to play for the Chinese professional gaming team Beijing eSport Team. He goes by the gamertag of Sweet and is a member of clan WeRRa.
Ma Jae-yoon, known by the pseudonym sAviOr, and dubbed "The Maestro", is a former professional South Korean e-sports gamer of the real-time strategy game StarCraft. He played the Zerg race and was one of the most successful and popular players of all time. Savior was one of several players implicated in the 2010 match fixing scandal, and as a result he was banned from KeSPA-run competition for life. After retiring as a pro-gamer, sAviOr began streaming on AfreecaTV, but AfreecaTV made the decision to ban several players implicated in match-fixing offenses from the platform, including sAviOr. Ma Jae-yoon was a member of CJ Entus, a professional StarCraft: Brood War e-sports team sponsored by CJ CGV, an entertainment subsidiary of the CJ Corporation.
Kim Taek-yong, known by his screen name Bisu[Shield] or simply Bisu, is a professional South Korean StarCraft player, playing the Protoss race. Famed primarily for sublime performance in the StarCraft: Brood War professional competitions against Protoss and, especially, Zerg, Bisu scored three successful Starleague performances, the most of any Protoss player. Bisu was nicknamed the Revolutionist for innovating the metagame of Protoss versus Zerg matchup.
Lee Jae-dong, who plays simply under the name Jaedong, is a South Korean professional StarCraft: Brood War player and former StarCraft II player, playing most recently for team Evil Geniuses prior to his StarCraft II retirement. After retiring from StarCraft II, Jaedong returned to playing SC:BW. Announced as a full-time streamer on 12 November 2016, he made his return to the tournament scene a week later during the 2016 KT GiGA Legends Match lll. Using the Zerg race in both games, Lee is considered one of the most successful StarCraft players of all time, having won five OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) and MBCGame StarCraft League (MSL) tournaments, and earning over $600,000 in tournament prize money. His other nicknames include The Tyrant and The Legend Killer.
Eunjong "JJu" Byeon is a retired StarCraft pro gamer and poker player from South Korea.
Lee Young-ho is a South Korean StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft II player who played Terran for the Korean pro-gaming team KT Rolster under the alias By.FlaSh or simply Flash. He made his debut as a StarCraft: Brood War player in 2007 and retired on December 19, 2015. Lee began playing StarCraft II competitively in 2011, until his retirement in December 2015. He subsequently returned to playing Starcraft: Brood War, and started his personal broadcast in February 2016 on the AfreecaTV personal broadcasting platform. Since returning to Brood War, Lee has won first place in Seasons 2, 3, 4, and 8 of the Afreeca Starleague. As of 2020, he is still broadcasting personal broadcasts. He is, along with BoxeR, NaDa, Iloveoov, and SAviOr, regarded as the fifth, final, and greatest of the Bonjwas, a title for players who dominated the Korean Brood War scene over long periods of time. He is considered to be the greatest StarCraft: Brood War player of all-time.
Hong Jin-ho is a South Korean television personality, poker player, and former professional StarCraft player who plays under the alias [NC]...YellOw or simply YellOw. In 2012, he became the coach of the Xenics Storm League of Legends pro gaming team. As a television personality, he is most known for his appearances in the reality survival show The Genius and the variety show Crime Scene.
Kim Dong-soo, or Garimto, is a South Korean former professional StarCraft player. He now commentates and is in charge of marketing in South Korea for the clothing brand Undefeated.
Song Byung-gu is a South Korean professional StarCraft Protoss player from Pohang who plays under the alias Stork[gm] or simply Stork.
Seo Ji-hun also known as his tag XellOs[yG] or simplified XellOs, is a professional South Korean StarCraft player of the Terran race. Ji-hun won the 2003 Ongamenet Starleague and the World Cyber Games 2004 grand final.
StarCraft II Proleague, also known as StarCraft Proleague or Proleague for short, was the longest running StarCraft league in the world and the most prestigious team league. Hosted by the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA), the league was played offline in South Korea. Proleague began in 2003 with the game StarCraft: Brood War before switching over to StarCraft II in 2011 and then discontinued in 2016. It was broadcast by SPOTVGames prior to being discontinued.
Professional StarCraft II competition features professional gamers competing in Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game StarCraft II. Professional play began following the game's initial release in 2010, as the game was the sequel to StarCraft, considered one of the first esports and the foundation of South Korea's interest and success in competitive gaming. Between 2016 and 2019, competition was centered around the Global StarCraft II League in Korea and the World Championship Series Circuit everywhere else, with all Blizzard-sanctioned events being under the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) banner. Since 2020, Blizzard changed the format of WCS by entering into a three-year partnership with esports organizers ESL and DreamHack.
