The Bonjwa Line: Brood War's Kings, From BoxeR to Flash

In 2001, a 21-year-old Terran player walked into the Hanbitsoft OnGameNet Starleague and lost just one game in twelve on his way to the title. His name was Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan, and he was about to become the first face of professional gaming in Korea. Within a few years there were fan clubs, corporate teams and prime-time cable finals, and a strange new word for the man at the top: bonjwa.

This is the story of that word, and of the five or six players who earned it. Brood War's pro scene ran from 1999 to the early 2010s, and in that time it produced a line of champions that fans still argue about today, with the debate now running on SOOP streams instead of cable TV.

What "bonjwa" means

Bonjwa (본좌) began life as an old-fashioned Korean first-person pronoun, a grand way of saying "I" that fits a martial-arts novel better than a gaming forum. StarCraft fans first used it as a nickname for a player called July, and by the time Ma "sAviOr" Jae-yoon was winning everything in 2006 it had become a title: the one player who so clearly dominated his era that nobody could argue.

There was never an official list. A bonjwa needed a run of titles, a frightening win rate and, above all, a consensus. That is what makes the lineage fun. Every fan has a slightly different version, and every version starts with the same man.

The Emperor: BoxeR

BoxeR (born 4 September 1980) played Terran, the human faction, and he played it like nobody else. His drop attacks and micro-management made a supposedly slow race look thrilling, and fans named him the Terran Emperor. He won two OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) titles in 2001, the Hanbitsoft and Coca-Cola events, plus World Cyber Games gold in 2001 and 2002.

His rivalry with Zerg player Hong "YellOw" Jin-ho, which began at the 2001 Coca-Cola OSL, gave Korean esports its first great storyline. BoxeR also founded a team called Orion in 2002. SK Telecom took it over in April 2004 and renamed it SK Telecom T1, the club that would later sign a teenager called Faker.

BoxeR enlisted in the Air Force in October 2006 and played for its pro team, Air Force ACE, during his 27 months of service. He later moved to StarCraft II, coached at SK Telecom T1 and retired in September 2013, then reinvented himself as a professional poker player.

The Genius and the Maestro: NaDa and sAviOr

If BoxeR made StarCraft popular, Lee "NaDa" Yun-yeol (born 20 November 1984) made it look like a science. He won three KPGA Tours in a row in 2002 and three OSL titles, and his 2006 OSL win made him the first player to receive the OSL's Golden Mouse, the trophy for three Starleague wins. It was designed with BoxeR in mind; NaDa got there first.

NaDa's longevity is the stat that still impresses: he stayed in KeSPA's top-30 rankings for 87 months, from March 2002 to May 2009. Today he runs his own studio, NaDa Digital.

Then came sAviOr, the Zerg nicknamed the Maestro. He topped the KeSPA rankings nine times and won three MBCGame StarLeagues (MSL) and one OSL, and 2006 belonged to him so completely that the word bonjwa hardened into a title around him. His story ended badly. In 2010 he was found to be a ringleader in the match-fixing scandal, banned for life, and his records were expunged. We tell that story in full in our match-fixing feature.

The revolution: Bisu, iloveoov and the Golden Badge

sAviOr's reign was broken on 3 March 2007, when a young Protoss called Kim "Bisu" Taek-yong beat him 3-0 in the GOMTV MSL Season 1 final. Bisu had found answers to Zerg that nobody else had, and the moment earned him the nickname the Revolutionist. Fans still call it one of the great turning points of the game.

MBCGame had its own badge of greatness. Players who won three MSLs received the Golden Badge, and only five ever did: NaDa, Choi "iloveoov" Yeon-sung, sAviOr, Bisu and Flash. iloveoov, a Terran famous for out-producing everyone, is on many bonjwa lists even though his peak was shorter than NaDa's.

The Tyrant and the God: Jaedong and Flash

The last great era of Brood War was a two-man war. Lee "Jaedong" Jae-dong (born 9 January 1990) was a Zerg so aggressive that OGN commentator Um Jae-kyung named him the Tyrant. He won five major leagues, including the Bacchus OSL 2009 that earned him a Golden Mouse, plus WCG 2009.

His nemesis was Lee "Flash" Young-ho (born 5 July 1992). Flash joined KT Rolster in 2007 at 14, and in March 2008 he won the Bacchus OSL at 15, the youngest OSL champion ever. Korean fans eventually gave him the simplest nickname of all: God.

In 2010 the two met in five finals, and Flash won three. Flash reached eight major finals that year and won five. By September 2012 he had 17 major titles, he had broken StarCraft's Elo rating record six times, and he retired from Brood War with a win rate close to 80%. Most fans and historians now rank him as the best Brood War player of all time.

Why these rivalries still matter

The bonjwa era built the template every esport now uses. Corporate team owners such as SK Telecom and KT, televised finals, superstar players with fan clubs, and rivalries that sold tickets all started here. The telecom derby between T1 and KT Rolster, which fills arenas in League of Legends today, began as a StarCraft rivalry.

It also showed the costs. Flash needed surgery on his arm in 2011 after years of repetitive strain, and the scene's money and fame attracted illegal gambling that nearly destroyed it in 2010. When KeSPA ended StarCraft's Proleague in 2016, the old guard had already scattered into coaching, streaming, poker, television and game development.

But the names stick. When a politician praised the wrong StarCraft legend at G-STAR in November 2025, the backlash from fans was so fast that he apologised the next day. Twenty-five years on, people still care deeply about who belongs on the list.

By the numbers

• 1 in 12: games BoxeR dropped on his way to the 2001 Hanbitsoft OSL title
• 2: World Cyber Games golds for BoxeR (2001, 2002)
• 87 months: NaDa's unbroken stay in KeSPA's top 30
• 5: finals Flash and Jaedong played against each other in 2010
• 15: Flash's age when he became the youngest OSL champion, in 2008
• 17: major titles Flash had won by September 2012

What to watch next

The easiest way into Brood War today is the Afreeca Starleague (ASL) on SOOP, where many of the old names still play, alongside new champions such as Soma. StarCraft: Remastered (2017) runs on Battle.net if you want to try the game itself. For the TV channels that made these players famous, read our history of OnGameNet and MBCGame; for the international stage they conquered, see our World Cyber Games story.

WGC's take: Faker is the greatest esports player of all time by most measures, but he stands on a pyramid the Brood War kings built. If you have never watched a Flash versus Jaedong final, set aside an evening. It still holds up.