These Are The StarCraft Games South Korean Prosecutors Allege Were Rigged

South Korea is being rocked by another betting scandal, although thankfully it’s not as long-running and as severe as the one that rocked the StarCraft: Brood War scene several years ago.

12 people have been charged in connection with the scheme, and the prosecutors report has outlined which games they believe were rigged.

Out of the 12 people arrested, Team Liquid’s Waxangel, who has translated the report into English, three of those were actively involved in StarCraft 2. Out of the three, Choi “YoDa” Byung Hyun and Choi “BBoongBBoong” Jong Hyuk were active SC2 professionals, while the third was the head coach of PRIME, Park “Gerrard” Wae-Sik.

Prosecutors have alleged that Wae-Sik functioned as a middleman between the players and brokers of an illegal betting ring, with the players and the coach receiving money for manipulating the results of matches they played in. Brokers also supposedly extorted Byung Hyun into fixing other matches “free of compensation” by threatening to reveal his earlier corruption.

As for the two players, these are the games they allegedly threw. Note that the prosecutors don’t always indicate which specific match of a best-of-three was compromised, although most incidents allegedly occurred during best-of-ones.

It’s interesting going back and re-analysing the mistakes players made, missed macro, supply blocks and just sloppy decisions. Which ones were deliberate? Precisely where was the outcome affected?

Those are the questions South Korea’s eSports scene is dealing with right now. And given some of the other allegations outlined in the prosecutor’s report — particularly the part where a former journalist, turned broker, claimed that one of the Proleague teams had already hired a broker directly — it’s not just the StarCraft scene that should be worried.


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