Sky (gamer)
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Sky | |
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File:Li Xiaofeng 20140802 130324 (cropped).jpg | |
Personal information | |
Name | 李晓峰 (Li Xiaofeng) |
Born | 1984 or 1985 (age 39–40)[1] |
Nationality | Chinese |
Career information | |
Games | Warcraft III series |
Playing career | 2004–2015 |
Team history | |
2005–2015 | World Elite |
Li Xiaofeng (Chinese: 李晓峰; pinyin: Li Xiaofeng), who also goes by the pseudonym "Sky" or "WE.Sky", is a Chinese former professional gamer of the popular Blizzard Entertainment real-time strategy game Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. He played for the China-based World Elite team. He is considered one of the best Human players in the game's history by World Cyber Games[2][3] In the past few years he has been heavily involved with coaching Team WE's League of Legends team.[4] Li Xiaofeng is featured in the documentary film Beyond the Game,[5] and as a cameo in drama series Gank Your Heart as himself.
Game style
He is widely known for his aggressive playing style with the Human race, which many considered to be a “slow” defensive race. He is known for using a fast tech build with a lumber mill, which leads to a push using the Archmage, Beastmaster, militia, towers and numerous summoned creatures to overwhelm the opponent. In numerous Warcraft III forums this strategy has been coined “Sky Rush." He was also known for a "two farm tech" without a lumber mill which leads to the "Sky Push," involving riflemen, a few casters, a breaker, and Archmage/Naga against Night Elf, but as Night Elves learned to defeat this push, it lost popularity in favor of more tower-reliant strategies. The landmark defeat came in World Cyber Games 2007 Grand Final Fourth day: War Craft match: SkY vs 4K-Creoloph_03. SKY was just about to win with his traditional rush and get his third WCG gold in a row (first time in history), but was unexpectedly defeated.[6]
Career
Li Xiaofeng started his career in 2004 and gained recognition in international competitive gaming after taking third place at the first edition of the World e-Sports Games during a three-month stay in Seoul, South-Korea in March, 2005. He would remain one of the most notable players throughout the remainder of the year, dominating his competitive home country and showing strong international results by winning ACON 5 and taking fourth place at the Electronic Sports World Cup 2005. He surprised the world by taking first place at the World Cyber Games 2005 by the end of the season, the tournament was considered the toughest to win of all tournaments and had a player field that included names as Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen and Dae "FoV" Hui Cho. Going into 2006 as one of the most successful players of the previous season, he stood out by showing consistent performance with excellent micromanagement and maturity in strategy and thinking. He finished within the top 3 of many of the major tournaments of the year, but was widely expected to make his strongest appearance at the World Cyber Games again. During the 2006 World Cyber Games he went undefeated through what was considered the toughest road to the grand finals for all attendees including an encounter with Manuel Schenkhuizen. Beating Yoan Merlo in the grand finals, Li Xiaofeng became the first back to back Warcraft III World Cyber Games champion. Earning him a spot in the World Cyber Games "Hall of Fame".[7] In 2007 he lost in the finals of the World Cyber Games, and had to settle for silver. He was recognized as the greatest WarCraft III player of 2006 by competitive gaming media around the world.[8] In 2015, Li officially announced his retirement.[9]
Notable accomplishments
Individual
- 2nd Place WCG China (2004)
- 1st Place ESWC Chinese Qualifiers (2005)
- 1st Place World Cyber Games 2005
- 1st Place ACON 5 (2005)
- 3rd Place World E-Sports Games I (2005)
- 1st Place World Cyber Games 2006
- 2nd Place International Electronic Sports Tournament (2006)
- 2nd Place Starswar 2 (2006)
- 1st Place Starswar 3 (2006)
- 2nd Place Lenovo IEST (2006)
- 1st Place ProGamer League Season 1 (2006)
- 3rd Place Electronic Sports World Cup (2006)
- 3rd Place World e-Sports Games Masters (2006)
- 1st Place International E-Sports Festival (2006)
- 2nd Place World Cyber Games 2007
- 3rd Place CEG Changchun Tour (2007)
- 2nd Place ProGamer League Season 2 (2007)
- 3rd Place Starswar 4 (2007)
- 2nd Place Race War Season III (2007)
- 1st Place Dream Cup #10' (2007)
- 1st Place Neo Star League Season 2 Finals (2008)
- 3rd Place PGL Season 3 (2008)
- 2nd Place Electronic Sports World Cup Masters of Paris 2008
- 1st Place Dream Cup Season III finals (2008)
- 2nd Place Electronic Sports World Cup 2008
- 3rd Place ESL Continental Final Asia
- 1st Place CEG Beijing Tour (2008)
- 2nd Place IEF (2008)
- 2nd Place World GameMaster Tournament (2008)
- 1st Place CEG Chengdu Tour
- 2nd Place PGL Season 4 (2009)
- 1st Place Extreme Masters 3 Continental Finals Asia (2009)
- 1st Place International Electronic Sports Tournament 2009
- 1st Place Zotac Cup #189 (2011)
- 2nd Place World Cyber Games 2011
- 3rd Place 'World Cyber Games 2012
Awards
- 2006 GGL Player of the year
- Member of World Cyber Games Hall of Fame
References
- ↑ "Team Human to feature three Chinese in Race War III". SK Gaming. 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ↑ ""WC3L Finals Preview - World Elite" -". Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
- ↑ ""WCG WarCraft 3 Tournament Grand Final" -". Archived from the original on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
- ↑ "[Translation]WCGWinner,Sky talking about WE in IEM".
- ↑ "Heroes". Archived from the original on 2008-10-26. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
- ↑ "Video of the match" -
- ↑ "World Cyber Games Hall of Fame" - Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Sky, Lucifer, Toxic, av3k, archi, f0rest Players of 2006". www.ggl.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
- ↑ Yu, Evelyn (January 28, 2016). "Stardom, with a flick of the wrist". China Daily. Retrieved May 11, 2021.