Lim Yo-hwan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids BoxeR |
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Lim Yo-hwan in 2021
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| Personal information | |
| Name | 임요환 (Lim Yo-hwan) |
| Nickname(s) | The Terran Emperor |
| Born | September 4, 1980 |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Career information | |
| Games | StarCraft StarCraft II |
| Playing career | 1999–2013 |
| Role | Terran |
| Coaching career | 2012–2013 |
| Team history | |
| As player: | |
| 2000–2002 | IS |
| 2002–2003 | Orion |
| 2003–2004 | 4U |
| 2004–2006 | SK Telecom T1 |
| 2006–2008 | Air Force ACE |
| 2008–2010 | SK Telecom T1 |
| 2010–2012 | SlayerS |
| As coach: | |
| 2012–2013 | SK Telecom T1 |
Lim Yo-hwan (Hangul: 임요환; Hanja: 林遙煥, born September 4, 1980), known online as SlayerS_'BoxeR' (or just BoxeR), is a famous former professional player of the computer game StarCraft. People often call him "The Terran Emperor" because he was so good. Many think he is one of the most successful players in this type of game. He also became a pop culture icon, meaning he was very well-known and admired.
Lim won his first StarCraft: Brood War tournament in 1999. From 2001 to 2002, he won many big championships. These included two OnGameNet Starleague titles and two World Cyber Games gold medals. In 2002, he started his own team called Team Orion. This team later became SK Telecom T1 (SKT T1) in 2004, which is a very famous esports team.
In 2006, Lim started his required military service in South Korea. During this time, he played on the country's new Air Force esports team. In late 2010, he stopped playing StarCraft: Brood War. He then started a new team for StarCraft II called SlayerS. He later returned to SKT T1 as a coach in 2012. He retired completely in 2013 because of health problems. Lim ended his playing career with 603 wins and 430 losses. That's a win rate of 58.4%!
After retiring from esports, Lim started playing professional poker. He won his first Asian Poker Tour (APT) title in September 2018. He won his second APT title in January 2019.
Contents
BoxeR's Gaming Journey
Early Days in StarCraft (1998–2000)
In 1998, when Lim was in high school in Seoul, South Korea, he fell in love with the video game StarCraft. At first, he played as the Protoss race. But after a game update, he switched to the Terran race.
After the StarCraft expansion, StarCraft: Brood War, came out, Lim tried to create a gaming group called Slayer. It was hard to get it started, so he used the name SlayerS_'BoxeR' on Battle.net. As he got better and ranked high, his name became very famous. In August 1999, a company president saw Lim playing at a PC Bang (a gaming cafe). He offered Lim the chance to become a professional gamer.
Lim accepted the offer, but he needed his parents' permission. Becoming a pro gamer was unusual back then. After a lot of effort, Lim convinced his parents. He signed with the company. In December 1999, Lim won his first tournament, the SBS Multi-Game Championship. Almost a year later, in October 2000, he joined team IS. This team later became known as Hwaseung OZ.
Becoming the First "Bonjwa" (2001–2003)
The term "Royal Road" means a player wins an OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) title in their first season. Even though the Terran race was thought to be weak, Lim surprised everyone. He took the Royal Road in the 2001 Hanbitsoft OSL. He reached the semifinals and beat Park "Kingdom" Yong-wook. In the finals, he beat Jang "JinNam" Jin-nam 3-0. He was only the third player to achieve the Royal Road. Lim won 11 games and lost only one in that tournament. His success showed that Terran was a strong choice in StarCraft. This earned him the nickname "The Hope of Terran."
Lim kept winning. He won the next OSL, the 2001 Coca-Cola OSL. In the finals, he beat Hong "Storm" Jin-Ho 3-2. Lim also won a gold medal at the World Cyber Games 2001. He beat Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier there. He also finished second in the 2001 SKY OSL.
In April 2002, Lim won another championship, the 2002 KPGA 1st Tour. He didn't do as well in the 2002 NATE OSL, getting knocked out early. In the 2002 SKY OSL, he reached the finals but lost to Park "Reach" Jeong-seok. At the end of 2002, Lim won his second gold medal in a row at the World Cyber Games 2002. Because of his amazing wins from 2000 to 2002, Lim became known as StarCraft's first "bonjwa." A bonjwa is a player who is much better than everyone else for a long time. Around this time, he also got the nickname "The Terran Emperor."
In January 2003, Lim won the 2003 KTF Bigi Four Kings Battle. He beat Lee "NaDa" Yoon-yeol in the finals.
After his old team, IS, broke up, Lim didn't have a team during the WCG 2002. He was sponsored by the Orion Group individually. For the new professional StarCraft Proleague starting in 2003, Lim and his manager started the team Orion in November 2002. When they joined the KTF EVER Cup Proleague in March 2003, many didn't expect Orion to do well. People called it "Lim Yo-hwan's one-man team." They had some amateur players at first. But they got two more players during the season and finished second. On September 30, 2003, Orion became the Proleague champions! They beat Hanbit Stars 4-1 in the finals.
After winning the Proleague, the Orion Group offered to sponsor Lim alone. But Lim said no. He believed a team sponsorship was more important. So, he renamed the team to 4U. The 4U team kept winning. They won another Proleague, the LG IBM MBC Team League. In April 2004, a big South Korean company, SK Telecom, bought the team for $2 million. This created the famous team SK Telecom T1.
Later Career and Military Service (2004–2010)
As years passed, Lim's win rate slowly went down. In 2001, he won 73% of his games. This dropped to 61% in 2002, then 55% in 2003, and 54% in 2004. During this time, Lim was still a great player, but newer, younger players started to become very strong.
Even with the changes, he still did well in some big tournaments. In 2004, Lim reached the finals of the EVER OSL. He played against his teammate Choi "iloveoov" Yeon-sung but lost 3-2. In 2005, Lim was the runner-up in the So1 OSL. He lost to Oh "Anytime" Yeong-jong. Lim was the oldest person to reach the finals of an individual league at that time. In 2005, his contract with SK Telecom T1 was worth $200,000. This was the biggest esports contract ever at that time. In 2005 and 2006, his win rates were 58% and 56%.
In October 2006, Lim began his mandatory military service in South Korea. He joined the Republic of Korea Air Force for 27 months. On April 1, 2007, the Air Force started its own esports team, Airforce Challenge E-sports (ACE). Lim joined this team with other former pro gamers. They started playing in the 2007 Proleague season. While on the ACE team, Lim won 24 games and lost 38.
After finishing his military service on December 21, 2008, Lim returned to SK Telecom T1. His contract was still valid until 2010. His first game back was on January 17, 2009. He played against ACE's Oh "Anytime" Yeong-jong. Lim lost that game, but SK Telecom T1 still won the 2008-09 Shinhan Bank Proleague. Lim got his first win after returning on October 25, 2009. He beat Park "Killer" Joon-oh. This win was special because he was the first former Air Force player and the first player in his 30s to win a Proleague match.
Moving to StarCraft II (2010–2012)
Lim's contract with SK Telecom T1 ended on August 31, 2010. On October 9, 2010, he announced he would switch to playing StarCraft II professionally. He planned to start his StarCraft II career in the Global StarCraft II League (GSL) open tournament. Lim reached the quarterfinals of the main event. He faced Lee "NaDa" Yoon-yeol, who was considered one of the best players ever. Lim had never beaten NaDa in a major event before.
Their match was Lim's first televised game in years. Millions of people watched it, and it even caused the internet in Korea to slow down! Lim won this exciting match. He then faced Lim "NesTea" Jae-duk in the semifinals but lost. He finished in the top four. Playing without a team was hard for him. So, on November 9, 2010, Lim announced he would form a new StarCraft II team called SlayerS.
In March 2011, Lim moved down from Code S (the highest division in GSL) to Code A. He then focused on the Global StarCraft II Team League (GSTL). Lim and his SlayerS teammates won both the March and May 2011 GSTL championships.
Lim was invited to play at the 2011 Major League Gaming (MLG) event in Ohio. However, he had tendonitis in his shoulder, an injury usually seen in much older people. Because of his injury, Lim gave his invitation to his teammate Moon "MMA" Sung-won. MMA went on to win the event. In July 2011, Lim played in the MLG Pro Circuit in Anaheim. He did very well in the group stage, winning all his games. He moved to the double-elimination tournament stage. In the semifinals, he beat Park "Rain" Seo-yong. This put him in the upper bracket final against Jeong "Mvp" Jong-hyeon, a two-time GSL champion. Lim lost to Mvp and then faced his teammate MMA in the lower bracket final. Lim lost to MMA and finished the event in third place.
Becoming a Coach (2012–2013)
In April 2012, it was reported that Lim would take a break from playing. He needed physical therapy for shoulder pain that had lasted over a year. This pain limited him to playing only five games a day. He also had other injuries, including spinal pain, inflammation, and pain in his wrists, waist, and neck. From May 1, 2012, Lim's shoulder injury stopped him from playing matches. He had to give up his GSL matches and leave competitions.
On August 16, 2012, SK Telecom T1 announced that Lim had joined the team as a coach. He signed a one-year contract. After coaching for eight months, Lim was promoted to head coach on April 3, 2013. However, Lim decided to retire from professional esports completely on September 26, 2013, due to his health problems.
BoxeR's Play Style
Early in his career, Lim was very creative. He invented many new strategies that other players later used. He was especially good at using the Terran Dropship unit, making it much more effective than before. He was also known for turning games around even when things looked bad. He had amazing micromanagement skills, meaning he was great at controlling his individual units. He would often keep playing even when he was far behind and still manage to win.
Some people thought his weakness was macromanagement. This means managing his economy and producing units. But BoxeR was most famous for his creativity. He often built "proxy barracks" (barracks built close to the enemy). In many games, he would go for quick attacks or use special units like "ghosts." This made his games very exciting to watch. He is highly respected in StarCraft both in Korea and around the world.
BoxeR's Impact on Esports
Lim was very important in making StarCraft and esports popular globally in the 2000s. He became a pop culture icon. In 2003, the South Korean government called Lim a "cultural celebrity."
A writer named Seiji from PGR21.com compared Lim to Michael Jordan in basketball. He wrote that Lim helped esports grow from a small hobby into a mainstream culture. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation also said Lim was "the most prominent gamer on the planet for any computer game that's ever existed."
Throughout his playing career, Lim won 603 games and lost 430. This means he won 58.4% of his 1033 matches.
Awards and Achievements
- Individual Titles
- 1999 SBS Multi-Game Championship
- 2000 Samsung Digital Cup KIGL King of Kings
- 2000 M.police Game League
- 2000 Korea.cnet Game Tournament
- 2001 World Cyber Games
- 2001 Coca-Cola Ongamenet Starleague
- 2001 Hanbitsoft Ongamenet Starleague
- 2001 3rd Game-Q Starleague
- 2001 Zzgame.com Progamer 32 Invitational
- 2002 World Cyber Games
- 2002 KPGA 1st Tour
- 2003 KTF Bigi 4 Kings
- 2003 Toona BIG 4 SPECIAL
- 2004 KT Megapass Nespot Premierleauge
- Team Titles
- 2003 KTF EVER Cup (Orion)
- 2003–04 LG IBM MBC Team League (Orion)
- 2004 Tucsan MBCGame Team League (SK Telecom T1)
- 2005 SKY Proleague Season One (SK Telecom T1)
- 2005 SKY Proleague Season Two (SK Telecom T1)
- 2005 SKY Proleague Grand Final (SK Telecom T1)
- 2006 SKY Proleague Season One (SK Telecom T1)
- 2008–09 Shinhan Bank Proleague (SK Telecom T1)
- 2011 GSTL March (SlayerS)
- 2011 GSTL May (SlayerS)
- Records
- Most wins on televised matches (500)
- First player to win more than one OSL (Hanbitsoft 2001, Coca-Cola 2001), and the first to win two in a row
- First player to reach the OSL finals three times in a row
- First player to get 100 wins in Ongamenet Starleagues (OSL)
- Longest time holding first place in KeSPA rankings – 17 months
- Halls of Fame
- Korea Esports Hall of Fame – Class of 2018
- Esports Hall of Fame StarCraft: Brood War – Class of 2012
- ESL Hall of Fame – Class of 2019
- Media Recognition
- Named ESReality's "Greatest Gamer of All Time"
- Named one of MTV's "Top 10 Most Influential Gamers of All Time"
- Esports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award – 2020
Life After Gaming
Becoming a Poker Player
In December 2013, Lim started a new career as a professional poker player. He signed with Me2on. His first big poker tournament was the Macau Poker Cup in January 2014. Even though he was new to poker, he made it to the final table and finished eighth out of 235 players. Lim kept playing in different poker tournaments. In 2016, he won his first tournament title at the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Kickoff Manila. Later that year, he won another title at the APT Macau.
In September 2018, Lim reached a big goal in his poker career. He won the APT Philippines Championships II event. In the final one-on-one battle, he beat Si Yang Phua to win the championship. This was his first APT championship win. He won about $28,199. The next year, he won his second APT Championship title at the 2019 APT Vietnam Kickoff series in January. He beat Slaven Popov, even though Popov had more chips at the start. Lim won with a "nut flush" (the best possible hand) on the last card. This win earned him $87,946, his biggest prize yet. It also put him in 10th place on South Korea's all-time poker money list.
At the 2020 APT Kick-Off Vietnam, Lim won his first APT Super High Rollers title. He won about $32,200. By January 2023, Lim had earned over $714,265 from live poker tournaments.
Fun Show Matches
On November 6, 2015, Lim played in a two-versus-two StarCraft show match at BlizzCon 2015. On February 20, 2016, Lim played in the KT GiGA Legends Match. This show match included three other famous StarCraft players. Lim finished third in that event. Another show match with Lim happened on February 22, 2022, called "Again Lim Jin-rok." It was a best-of-five series against YellOw. Lim won 3-2. Over 210,000 people watched this event!
About Lim Yo-hwan
Lim was born on September 4, 1980. When he was young, he loved soccer and spent a lot of time playing it. He went to Wonkwang University in 2002 and got a bachelor's degree in game science in 2006. After that, he studied for a graduate degree at Sangmyung University's Graduate School of Digital Media.
During the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Lim met South Korean actress Kim Ga-yeon. They started dating, and their relationship became public in April 2010. In 2011, Lim and Kim got married without a ceremony. Their first child, a daughter, was born on August 1, 2015. Even though they had married five years earlier, they held a wedding ceremony on May 6, 2016.
BoxeR in Media
Endorsements and Ads
Lim has had sponsorship deals with many companies during his career, like LG and Intel. In 2011, he became an Intel spokesman. He appeared in their "Visual Life" commercials with the K-pop group Girls' Generation (SNSD). One commercial showed him playing a StarCraft match against Girls' Generation member Im Yoona. The commercial was meant to show how good Intel computers were for gaming. During the filming, Lim and Im exchanged autographs. However, the commercial was later removed from Korean TV. Intel executives found out that the gameplay footage was actually a replay of one of Lim's old televised matches.
TV and Movies
Lim has appeared in many TV shows and movies. In 2001, he was on an episode of KBS's Morning Yard. In 2006, he was on a KBS Power Interview. He also appeared in entertainment shows like Let's Go! Dream Team Season 2. He has presented awards at shows like the Seoul Music Awards in 2004 and the Melon Music Awards in 2009. Lim also acted in the 2002 film Can't Live Without Robbery and the KBS soap opera This is Love. He was a special guest on Saturday Night Live Korea in November 2013. In 2014, Lim was a cast member on The Genius: Rule Breaker. In 2022, he was a contestant on the web show Accomplices.
Books by BoxeR
Lim has written several books about his life and StarCraft.
- Lim Yo-hwan's Dropship (Minu Communications, 2001).
- (Try and Be) As Crazy As Me (2004).
Images for kids
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BoxeR's signature
See also
In Spanish: BoxeR para niños
- StarCraft professional competition
