MVHS gamers prepare for Han Kook Club’s first StarCraft tournament

These days, it’s not uncommon to see traces of “Han Kook” (the Korean word for South Korea) on the MVHS campus, whether it’s a group of students discussing the latest Korean drama or learning how to play the “jangoo,” a traditional Korean drum.

And now, there’s yet another event celebrating the culture of this small but influential Asian peninsula—Han Kook Club’s first StarCraft Tournament.

StarCraft, a real-time strategy game developed in 1998 in the United States, has a cult-like following in South Korea, where people of all ages sit at home or in “PC bangs” (Internet cafes), competing against online gamers all over the world to take control of a part of the Milky Way. StarCraft has become such an inherent aspect of Korean culture that the country reveres professional StarCraft players as celebrities and has two television channels dedicated to the game.

“A lot of [MVHS] kids were playing StarCraft too, so we [thought] we should make some kind of tournament,” Han Kook Club public relations officer senior Han Kim said. “Since Korea is very well-known for its StarCraft [culture], [we thought] maybe we should host it.”

The players kicked off the tournament by completing the initial rounds at home, as a part of the one-versus-one division or the two-versus-two (with a partner). On Jan. 22, they sent in the saved replays to Kim and Han Kook Club president Chan Park, who will determine who will proceed to the semi-finals.

Senior Andrew Sabour, an avid StarCraft player since his sophomore year, received StarCraft II for Christmas and plans to participate in Han Kook Club’s tournament with his partner senior Lei Huang, a former MVHS student, now attending Los Gatos High School.

“I like StarCraft because a lot of people at [MVHS] play it, and it’s also more of a strategy [game] as well as skill, so you have to both move fast and think fast,” Sabour said. “It’s just a really good game, [and] competition’s going on worldwide constantly.”

Apart from being a mesmerizing computer game, StarCraft serves as an open door to other aspects of Korean culture for enthusiasts such as Sabour, who has learned some Korean game terminology and has listened to Korean music.

In the long run, this is Han Kook Club’s goal—to spread awareness of Korea and its customs.

“[Han Kook Club] is not doing this for profits,” Park said. “We’re doing this to give [MVHS] a chance to [play] games with each other and [learn about] a Korean e-sport.”

But of course, our Starcraft players are also up for a little friendly competition.

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