F91's Interstellar Journey.
This article was originally published in "Web Surfing Notes".
In the eyes of most interstellar players, Sun Yifeng, a 36-year-old boy, will always be the endorsement of lotte and joy, the "national wife" in the minds of fans, and the "president of the harmonic association" who commands thousands of "two or five boys". Even if he is often ridiculed without words, he can always brush off all the embarrassment at the end.
There is no obstacle here that he can't get over, and there is no thing that can't be happy.
"It's easy to watch, but the pressure is really not small"
On the day I met Sun Yifeng, Hangzhou had entered a hot summer day, and the taxi was against the heat and humidity, shuttling back and forth around the city, and finally put me downstairs in the business district near Gongshu District. Walking into the hall on the first floor, Sun Yifeng was standing in front of the billboard at the door, holding his mobile phone to confirm the location with me, and looking around from time to time. The crowd around him was bustling, drowning his figure, and if he had never known him before, it would be difficult to find him in the crowd at a glance.
Floral T-shirts, loose shorts, perhaps hurried out of the door, lips still have a clearly visible stubble. The day before the interview, Sun Yifeng sat in front of the computer to explain the game for 9 hours, during which he agreed with me on the time and place of the interview, and specially attached his mobile phone number to the message, "If I haven't gotten up at the point, you will make this call." ”
In April this year, the China Starfighters League officially started. As the organizer who single-handedly set up the competition, Sun Yifeng's SCboy group was responsible for the full interpretation of the event. The first season lasted for two months, interspersed with various other large and small events and offline events, coupled with the monthly live broadcast time and Taobao store-related business, all of which made Sun Yifeng's originally excellent daily life become tense.
"Get up at 11 a.m., have breakfast, coax the kids, and then start delves into the game, and when the live broadcast starts in the afternoon, you have to stay at the computer until one or two o'clock in the evening." Asked about his recent life, Sun Yifeng summed it up with a smile and said in one sentence: "You say it is easy, it looks relaxed, but the pressure is indeed not small." ”
As the head traffic in today's interstellar circle, Sun Yifeng's SCboy group has thousands of fans on the Internet in the name of "two or five boys". Many of them are loyal fans of the game for more than ten years, and the most enjoyable thing on weekdays is to return home after work, order a takeaway to open the computer, and while eating, watch Sun Yifeng and Huang Xudong laugh and scold in the process of explaining the game, playing with the terrier.
In Sun Yifeng's view, the team's ability to gain a foothold in the live broadcast circle in recent years is due to this bond with players. "There is no way, live broadcasting this file, the core meaning is to say that it is companionship." Because of this, he believes that this responsibility cannot be said to be put down.
"Really, it felt like even tears were flowing down"
Before becoming a full-time anchor, "professional player" was the most conspicuous label hanging on Sun Yifeng. He has won the national championship many times in the StarCraft project, and once enjoyed the reputation of "China's worm king".
But Sun Yifeng never felt like a genius. His reasoning was simple, "To be honest, my receptivity to new things has always been poor. ”
In 1998, StarCraft was released worldwide. Under the introduction of playmates, Sun Yifeng, who was still in junior high school at the time, also came into contact with this game for the first time. It's just that at first, there was no so-called blockbuster, nor did it have the legendary talent, and "being abused every day" became Sun Yifeng's daily life.
"Because we were all playing Red Alert and Age of Empires at the beginning, and we thought these two games were very fun, when my friend pulled me to play Interstellar, I actually refused." Sun Yifeng explained. "Later, because everyone ran to play interstellar, suddenly no one around me played with me, there was no way, then I could only try it."
In the early years, LAN battles were the most commonly used gameplay methods for players. Although the atmosphere of the game is excellent, in the face-to-face situation, it is a shame to be hanged all day long. In order to change the embarrassing situation of not being able to raise his head in front of his peers, Sun Yifeng, who usually hangs on to his children in reading, decided to get serious.
After that, every winter and summer vacation, the owner of an Internet café in Hangzhou would see a thin figure appear at 8:30 p.m. on time. Sun Yifeng sat all night until dawn the next day.
"If you can't win the fight, you will definitely not be convinced, so you can only use more time to practice operations and think about tactics." I didn't think that it was because of this breath that two years later, an insect master with the ID name F91 came out of Hangzhou.
Sun Yifeng said that his ID was taken from the Gundam F91, which was known for its high dexterity and hit rate, which coincided with Sun Yifeng's flexible and changeable tactical style in the future
Later, with this tenacity, Sun Yifeng broke out of the sky in the professional circle of StarCraft, saying that he did not accept defeat and created his career, and now it seems that it is not exaggerated. However, there are two sides to everything, and the unwillingness to lose not only makes him famous on the esports field, but also in some ways has indeed brought some side effects to his life.
The most typical case occurred at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. At the China-Korea Masters, Sun Yifeng met his "enemy of a lifetime" - Tossgirl.
"Female Emperor" Tossgirl
Before the game began, Sun Yifeng felt that something was not quite right. The main reason was that he had already transitioned to StarCraft II at the time, and lacked practice with StarCraft I used in the tournament rules. Coupled with the strong strength of the opponent itself, and the only female player among the contestants, "If you lose, won't you have to be ridiculed by those who watch the hilarity for a lifetime?" ”
Sure enough, the worst-case scenario in his opinion eventually happened. After three sets, Sun Yifeng eventually lost 1-2. The moment he typed GG out on the screen, the player, who had once been hailed as the strongest insect race in China, had a blank mind.
"Really, it felt like even tears were flowing down."
It didn't take long for this to circulate in the e-sports circle at that time, and it was also the most representative scene in Sun Yifeng's career. Whenever Tossgirl is mentioned, the audience will fall into a carnival, and over time it will become an enduring passage in the interstellar circle, which is enjoyed by the "two or five boys". Later, even Sun Yifeng himself changed the name of Weibo to "Tossboy".
By the time the StarCraft remake was launched in 2018, the official plan was to let Sun Yifeng and Tossgirl fight another game, but the other party refused for various reasons, and the "re-continuation of the frontier" after nearly a decade failed to become a reality. During the period, Sun Yifeng spent a lot of energy on practicing, and after knowing that this matter had failed, he was relieved and also expressed his regret.
During the interview, I asked him what he thought of being defeated by Tossgirl, and even after years, he still felt that he could not let go.
"Do you feel angry when your friends make fun of her?"
"I'm not angry, I'm just ashamed as a professional." Sun Yifeng answered.
"It seems that you still cared about losing to Tossgirl."
"No, you're wrong." Sun Yifeng smiled bitterly and shook his head, and then corrected my statement: "Not only was it back then, but I also care a lot now." ”
"To be honest I have no regrets"
What he cares about is the time in 2005.
That year, there was an event called the "National E-sports Games" in China, and Sun Yifeng represented the Shandong Guoneng Club to participate, and it was six consecutive defeats.
He also clearly remembers once, after taking a 30-hour green-skinned train from Hangzhou, he arrived in Xi'an and lost the game in only ten minutes. Before he could gather his emotions, he once again boarded the train home. The scenery outside the window turned like a book, and none of them were printed into the eyes of this frustrated person, and when he thought that such a life might continue in the future, Sun Yifeng's body was flooded with weakness and despair.
"When you realize that losing has become a habit in yourself, there is only one thought in your mind, and that is that you really don't want to play anymore."
From the current point of view, that may be a watershed in Sun Yifeng's life. If you choose to follow the wishes of the time, the later Chinese worm king F91 may no longer exist. He may be far away from the e-sports circle and his son will inherit his father's business and become the real "aquatic giant" in the mouths of the two or five boys, and he will not even meet the Sichuan man named Huang Xudong on the field. If all this becomes a reality because of the difference between the original thoughts, then the story that follows naturally cannot be told.
After learning that Sun Yifeng had the intention of retreating, Liu Haobo and Wang Wei, who were the leaders of the national energy team at the time, not only did not regard this "short board" as an abandoned son, they struggled to keep it, hoping that Sun Yifeng could continue to persist. At the same time, Zhuang Chuanhai, an old friend of the Shanghai team, often took the initiative to chat with him, "telling me that with my own strength, I will definitely be able to play."
These heart-warming encouragements eventually saved e-sports player Sun Yifeng, pulling him back with half a foot out of the door of the e-sports circle.
The next plot is like the fate of the arrangement, he won the VS 2005 National E-sports Competition Championship, the CGEL National Finals Champion, and the E-sports Carnival Shanghai Division Champion.
Throughout the second half of 2005, Sun Yifeng won consecutive victories.
With the confidence and honor brought by a series of championships, he successfully ranked among the top interstellar players in China, and in his heyday, he was known as the "Four Heavenly Kings" in the eyes of Chinese interstellar players with Zhang Minglu (Super), Sha Junchun (PJ) and Luo Xian (Legend). For the next five years, these four players alternately dominated the Chinese interstellar arena, winning and losing with each other. Few challengers were able to shake their positions until the yellow sands of history completely buried everything.
In the 2010 WCG World Finals, Sun Yifeng met Jaedong, who was then recognized as the world's first insect race "tyrant". Since it was a qualifying battle, it was necessary to win the game to ensure the promotion, and Sun Yifeng made sufficient preparations before the game to try to let go.
Considering the gap in strength, he gave up a steady operation in the game, hoping to rely on unexpected tactical design to kill opponents in the early game. In fact, the plan did work, and under Sun Yifeng's complete abandonment of the expansion of the fighting style, Jaedong was caught off guard, and the game began only a few minutes into a bitter battle, life and death hanging on the line.
However, this line eventually became a chasm that Sun Yifeng could not cross.
With his experience and operational advantages in the field after hundreds of battles, Jaedong used the inferior troops to pull back and forth in the map, resulting in Sun Yifeng,despite his great advantage, he was unable to end the game. Coupled with the flaws of its own "three-plate axe" opening itself, as the game time slowly elongated, the balance of victory gradually began to tilt towards Jeadong.
At 11 minutes and 49 seconds, Sun Yifeng's last unit was wiped out.
This is the last time StarCraft I will appear on the WCG stage as an official project, and it will also be Sun Yifeng's final battle in the WCG World Finals. In the eyes of ordinary people, "professional player Sun Yifeng" seems to have gained an imperfect ending, but in his own heart, there is another idea.
"I was almost 30 years old at the time, and I had the mentality of seeking an ending, Jaedong was only 20 years old, and was recognized as one of the world's first zerg racers and one of the greatest zerg players at that time, making him the last opponent of his interstellar I career, to be honest I have no regrets."
"Although Huang Xudong is a bit stupid, he is sincere enough."
In 2006, Sun Yifeng met Huang Xudong.
It was the Guangzhou branch of the National E-sports Games, With Sun Yifeng as a contestant and Huang Xudong as the official commentator. The two did not see each other at once, the two sides just nodded their heads and said hello, even if they were acquaintances.
Whether it was Sun Yifeng or Huang Xudong, at that time, how could they not have imagined that the other party would become their future partner. More than a decade later, the two would become almost bound symbols on the Internet, trying to hold up the last piece of paradise for China's StarCraft.
Huang Xudong and Sun Yifeng
"It's just an ordinary netizen meeting, and after watching the face, I feel that this kid doesn't seem to be special." Huang Xudong described to me this about his first meeting with Sun Yifeng.
In Huang Xudong's eyes, the two have truly become friends in the sense of each other, and they have to go back to the "retreat storm" in 2010.
That year, Huang Xudong announced his retirement from the commentary seat of "StarCraft I" and transformed the upcoming "StarCraft II". Because of his personality in his early years, he had to stand up and express an opinion no matter what, and as soon as his sleeves were rolled up, he directly opened his mouth, and over time, he offended many people in the circle, and directly led to his encounters in the initial stage.
"At that time, doing the broadcast of the Korean OSL League, the company explained that I had an interstellar explanation, and I needed to find a long-term cooperation partner. During this period, I went to find a lot of players in the circle to explain, and as a result, except for Sun Yifeng, no one was willing to come over. ”
For Huang Xudong, it was probably the most depressed time in his life, and in this context, the appearance of Sun Yifeng made him deeply appreciate the warmth and coldness of human feelings.
"Because the competition cycle is very long, we need guests to come to Shanghai to stay permanently. At that time, the company's funds were very limited, and there was no way to reimburse him for travel arrangements as now. During that time, 91 lived in my house, and the game was broadcast for more than two months, and he followed the bunk for more than two months. Huang Xudong can still recall the bits and pieces of it.
"I was able to come over and help in that situation, and I'm honestly grateful to him."
On Sun Yifeng's side, when I was interviewed, I asked him why the whole circle could not tolerate Huang Xudong, but he chose to share huang Xudong's hardships. Sun Yifeng did not express the tortuous and complicated mental journey in this regard, but just grinned: "Although this person is a little silly, a little stupid, but there is an advantage, he is sincere enough." ”
Later, the story is very familiar to everyone, the two together with Zhou Ning, MSJOY in the interstellar circle step by step towards aging days, formed the SCboy group. Originally, I just wanted to simply make a video, broadcast a game, and play some residual heat for this circle, but I didn't think about it, but I became a "comedian group" that was popular all over the stars and even the entire e-sports circle.
As for the reason for their fire, Huang Xudong's repeated attempts at the poisonous milk miracle in recent years are of course one thing, in addition, some netizens believe that in essence, two people with complementary personalities have created an almost comedic live broadcast effect through language.
In the eyes of many two or five boys, SCboy is to the Chinese interstellar, just as the Deyun Society is to the Chinese crosstalk, while conquering the audience with the simplest happiness, while saving a business that has been gradually forgotten by the times. In this process, Sun Yifeng's personality traits have also played a big role.
At the beginning of this year, Station A held a "national wife" selection activity, which was originally just a daily activity for A-house friends, and as a result, someone nominated a women's photo of Sun Yifeng and Huang Xudong, resulting in the activity not long after, it became a carnival of two or five boys.
A large number of SCboy fans poured into Station A during this period to vote for the two, which eventually led to Sun Yifeng winning the championship with 60,985 votes and suppressing the goddesses such as Niigaki Yui (28,956 votes) without suspense. Since then, Sun Yifeng has had the title of "National Wife".
There are many titles around Sun Yifeng, many of which are inexplicable. Although I have stated many times in live broadcasts and interviews, I hope that everyone will be more serious and not always study these pranks on him. But after all, it happened, and he didn't want to be angry about it.
"It doesn't really matter, they're happy." For being ridiculed by netizens, Sun Yifeng has long been accustomed to it.
"Last time I went crazy with you, Sun Yi went crazy"
Whether on the Internet or in real life, Sun Yifeng is a casual person. This seemed to have formed a public opinion among his friends around him, and he himself accepted it frankly, and he did not shy away from talking about various troubles.
For example, he lost the key, forgot where to put the small items, bought the train ticket in the direction of the opposite, went to the wrong train station on a business trip, fell asleep at the airport and caused the plane to miss the plane...
"It's really not a deliberately created persona, I am really in this state when I usually live." As a result, as soon as this file happened, Huang Xudong took it to Weibo and posted it, didn't I get hit hard? ”
As one of the main communicators of this series of events, Huang Xudong joked about it, but he still expressed understanding in his heart, thinking that he was informal, "his mind was not on it."
And what can make Sun Yifeng spend his mind is not only his family, but also the interstellar.
Over the years, through live broadcasting, the old boys have made some money, some of which is used to maintain family and business costs, and many of the rest are used to feed the game. In the days when the stars are gradually declining, this group of e-sports people who have passed the age, in addition to sticking to their old business, have also assumed many responsibilities other than that of content creators: to be a team, to run competitions, to fund players, but everything that can bring a glimmer of life to this game, they have more or less tried.
But at a time when RTS games have faded out of the mainstream, it is obviously not an easy task to revitalize the interstellar, during which the two have suffered different degrees of frustration, and more than once have moved the idea of giving up.
The most serious one occurred in 2018, when the StarCraft WCS Valencia station was defeated.
Including scboy-funded players, a total of three national players participated, two fell in the audition, and the remaining one only lasted until the first day of the live broadcast of the event, and was eliminated early.
Sun Yifeng and Huang Xudong were in China at the time, just in charge of the broadcast commentary of the event, and after witnessing the tragic situation of the total annihilation of the Chinese players, the two were disheartened and extremely depressed. "At that time, I thought about not doing it, and when I went back to the team, the team was disbanded, and I wouldn't sponsor it in the future, which was not interesting." Huang Xudong recalled.
But even so, Sun Yifeng could not be ruthless in the end, he was silent for half a moment, and finally decided to stick to it: "Or let's have a youth training camp, fight for another year, and if we can't spell it out, it will be counted." ”
Fortunately, he gritted his teeth and did not choose to give up. A year later, NetEase Blizzard increased its investment in the e-sports ecosystem, marked by the start of the team league, and a large number of clubs began to form StarCraft branches one after another. As one of the few new blood training institutions at that time, scabies also caught up with this wave, and several players have signed contracts with professional clubs, most of which have become the backbone of the team.
For the emergence of this group of young players, Sun Yifeng is very pleased and also has high hopes: "After all, Chinese players have been suppressed by foreign countries for too long in the StarCraft project, so we are very eager for a player to appear and break this situation." ”
If he could, he hoped that this group of newcomers could continue to practice hard, and one day if he could achieve his unfinished achievements, and even extend the life of StarCraft.
But he also understood that all this was not forced, and what he could guarantee was to do a good job in the things within his share.
"We set up the stage, but the singing thing, the next thing is up to them."