Last March 6-8, 2008, six years after Seoul, Korea, The Soul of Warcraft III pro-gaming, welcomed SK Gaming’s Fredrik “MaDFroG” Johansson, Alborz “HeMaN” Haidarian, Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev and Henrik "DominatoR" Stram to its brutally gladiatorial televised pro-spectacle, the MBC and OGN, it was Europe’s turn to play host to a quartet of Korea’s best WC3 gamers, June “Lyn” Park, Jae Wook “Lucifer” Noh, Jung Ko "Susiria" Oh and Hyo Sub "FoCus" Eom, for the second instalment of the Electronic Sports League’s Extreme Masters tournament in Hannover, Germany.

At the end, it was June Park, better known as SK. Lyn, who pillaged the Extreme Masters trophy from defending champion Yoan "ToD" Merlo and with it, a hefty $20,000 cash prize. Lucifer took fourth place behind new teammate, Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen.

This marked the first year that the ESL opened its doors to international players instead of limiting itself to homegrown European and primarily German talent. An open qualifying tournament was held in Los Angeles, where the four Koreans punched their tickets to the main draw.

The LA tourney epitomized the diversity of its Southern California surroundings, where American talents both past and present—Franklin "Nilknarf" Pearsall and Dennis "Shortround" Chan were in attendance—rubbed elbows with Canada’s Jonathan "KiwiKaKi" Garneau and Germans Daniel "Miou" Holthuis and Johannes "hanf" Morlo.

However, the highlight of the tournament was undoubtedly the participation of the South Koreans, who flew over 6,000 miles for the chance to compete in perhaps the West’s most prestigious, individual-based Warcraft III tournament today (aside from the EM, the ESL is also the driving force behind the WC3L, the longest running and most successful team-based league in the world). The Koreans, as expected, did not disappoint. All four swept their respective brackets on the way to cinching a stranglehold on the top four slots, with Lyn emerging as the number one overall seed.

The EM was originally devised as a showcase for established European players as well as a platform for launching the next generation of European stars: the next MaDFroG, the next Grubby, the next ToD. The Los Angeles leg probably served more as a dry-run to test unfamiliar waters rather than a foregone conclusion for future Extreme Masters tourneys. In any event, the ESL understood that for the EM to succeed on the global e-sport stage, it needed the built-in, fanboy-fueled marketing machine that only the best gamers command.

Enter the Koreans. Truth is, outside of Grubby, ToD, and the Chinese one-man army Xiaofeng “Sky” Li, few players have ever generated the seismic buzz of the Koreans. It’s the equivalent of getting an A-list movie star to open a movie. Not only can Lyn, Lucifer and company carry a tournament on the strength of their name alone, they also increase the level of competition, making it more appealing for spectators.