Two-time player of the year Lee "Flash" Young Ho announces his StarCraft II team KT Rolster will be sponsored by Razer and will stream events on Twitch.
Considered to be the best StarCraft: Brood War player of all time, South Korea's Lee "Flash" Young Ho has announced his StarCraft II team KT Rolster will be sponsored by Razer and that he will begin streaming on Twitch.tv.
Known by his nicknames "The Ultimate Weapon" and even "God," Flash has an extensive list of accolades including ten major individual titles and two team titles. He was also voted "Player of the Year" twice. He and his StarCraft II teammates will now gain the support from Razer, which sponsored the team's League of Legends squad earlier this year.
"It's no secret how seriously I take my gaming hardware and it's truly an honor for me to use gaming equipment produced by Razer," said Flash. "Of all equipment manufacturers in global gaming, Razer products mean I am fully prepared to win. The way I can find subtle advantage and a feeling of stability in Razer product is very special and allows me to concentrate on the game and winning as I must."
"KT Rolster are one of the most enduring and prestigious names in eSports and StarCraft as a whole, so bringing them on board alongside our other Korean teams such as FXO and MVP made sense," Razer Associate eSports Manager Drew Holt-Kentwell told GameSpot on why the company decided to sponsor KT Rolster over other teams.
"We've worked closely with KT Rolster and their League of Legends teams for a while now too, so extending our support to include the StarCraft roster was a natural step for us both. Overall, we've been super impressed with the commitment they have to the game and eSports as a whole so working alongside them has always been a pleasure. Oh, and then there's Flash. Heés pretty good at StarCraft."
This will mark the first time that a player from the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA) will live-stream their games on Twitch. Known for intense all-day practice regimens and various team restrictions, professional players in South Korea under KeSPA have not been able to live stream their games as players in the West have done, or even fellow South Korean players not under KeSPA's rule. Former KeSPA player Lee "Jaedong" Jae Dong was the first player of that group to start streaming, only after leaving the umbrella to sign with the Western organization Evil Geniuses.
"We're nothing short of ecstatic to see Flash start streaming practice games live on Twitch for the masses of StarCraft II fans to enjoy," Twitch's Senior Manager of Partnerships Ben Goldhaber told GameSpot. "I know I'll be tuning in to study Flash's innovative build orders and crisp timings. Can't wait to see you all in chat as Flash takes Twitch by storm!"
"It's great to see more and more players of Flash's caliber streaming for the first time and we're strong believers in the players we work with being able to connect with and reach out to their fans," added Holt-Kentwell. "While some degree of mystery is always great to keep people excited, we wanted to encourage this so the community feels like they're getting something back. It's also important to us that the teams we work with in Korea can become experienced and self-sufficient in reaching an international audience themselves, too."
As part of the new agreement with Razer, Flash and other KT Rolster players will participate in more western events.
Flash is currently conducting an extensive live interview on eSports talk show Live On Three with GameSpot's own Rod "Slasher" Breslau, Twitch's Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham, and StarCraft II Commentator Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski.
