Life (gamer)

Lee Seung-Hyun (Korean: 이승현, born January 11, 1997), better known as Life, is a South Korean former professional StarCraft II player. He began his professional career in 2011 with Team Zenex, which later merged with StarTale. He subsequently represented teams such as KT Rolster and briefly, Afreeca Freecs. Throughout his career, Life distinguished himself as one of the most accomplished StarCraft II players in the history of the game. He secured numerous premier tournament victories, including a World Championship Series title in 2014, two Global StarCraft II League (GSL) titles, a GSL Blizzard Cup title, two Major League Gaming events, two DreamHack tournaments, and one Intel Extreme Masters competition.

Life's career ended with controversy in 2016 when he was embroiled in a match fixing scandal that resulted in his arrest. Subsequently, he was convicted and handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence, along with a fine of ₩70,000,000 (approximately US$58,000). Additionally, Life received a lifetime ban from participating in Korean esports events.

At the age of 14, Life began his professional StarCraft career by joining Team Zenex in March 2011. He primarily participated in the iCCup Korean Weekly, later renamed the ESV TV Korean Weekly. Within one month of competitive play, he achieved his first tournament victory by defeating Jung "jjakji" Ji-hoon in the finals of ESV TV Korean Weekly Season 1 #6. Over his initial seven months as a competitor, Life secured top-eight finishes or higher nine times. Among these, he reached the finals on four occasions, claiming victory in two. During this period, Life engaged in a rivalry with fellow player Yun "TaeJa" Young-seo. Throughout their encounters in the Korean Weekly tournaments, TaeJa defeated Life on five occasions, while Life had yet to secure a win against him.

Subsequently, Life participated in the Global StarCraft II Team League (GSTL). During one of the GSTL events, he achieved an "All-Kill" when he defeated all five players from Team Liquid. In July 2012, Team Zenex merged with StarTale. Life then participated in the Team Liquid StarLeague, where his performance over a span of five months led him to a second-place finish. The only match he lost throughout the tournament was to Jang "Creator" Hyun Woo in the finals.

Following his participation in the Team Liquid StarLeague, Life made his debut in the Global StarCraft II League (GSL) Code S, the highest division of GSL, during GSL Season 4 in 2012. This season, Life achieved a feat known as "walking the Royal Road," a term used when a player secures a premier Korean title during their first qualification for competition. Throughout the season, Life displayed defeated players such as Lim "NesTea" Jae Duk, Ahn "Seed" Sang-wong, Lee "MarineKing" Jung-hoon, and TaeJa. In the grand finals of GSL Season 4, he faced off against Jung "Mvp" Jong-hun, a player who had won the third most premier StarCraft II tournaments at that time. Life won the series, four games to three, ultimately becoming the GSL champion. At 15 years old, he became the youngest player ever to secure a GSL championship and the first player to achieve the "Royal Roader" status in GSL history.

In the subsequent week following his GSL victory, Life won 2012 MLG Fall Championship in Dallas, Texas. He defeated Lee "Leenock" Dong-nyoung in the finals, despite initially trailing the match 1–3. This achievement made him the youngest player ever to secure an MLG championship. After returning to Korea to compete in the next GSL, Life faced a swift elimination within two weeks. One of the next tournaments he competed in was season five of the IGN Pro League (IPL5), held in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November 2012. He ultimately lost against Leenock and Jens "Snute" Aasgaard in the upper and lower brackets, respectively. While the IPL5 event was ongoing, the GSL World Championship exhibition series, a showmatch pitting Team Korea against Team World, took place, with Life competing as a member of Team Korea. In the first round, he won in his first match against Johan "Naniwa" Lucches, as Team Korea went on to win the round. In the second round, the winner was determined by the first team to secure five victories, with each match winner proceeding to face another player from the opposing team. Life, as the first representative of Team Korea, secured four consecutive victories. Although he lost his fifth match against Ilyes "Stephano" Satouri, Team Korea won the event.

Life's participation in the 2012 tournament circuit concluded with the GSL Blizzard Cup, an event featuring the top Korean players of that year. After advancing through the group stage, he defeated Park "DongRaeGu" Soo-ho and Leenock in the bracket stage, securing a place in the finals. In the championship match, he faced Won "Parting" Lee-sak. Parting took an early lead in the series by claiming victory in the first two games. However, Life won the following four matches to claim the tournament title.

Early in 2013, Life secured a tournament victory at Iron Squid 2, after rallying back from a 0–3 deficit against Park "DRG" Soo-ho in the finals. During this period, the competitive landscape of StarCraft II was undergoing a transition from StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty to the new expansion, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Life's final tournament in the Wings of Liberty era was 2013 GSL Season 1, where he was eliminated during the group stage. He won his first Heart of the Swarm tournament at the 2013 MLG Winter after defeating Lee "Flash" Young-ho. This victory made him the first StarCraft player to win consecutive MLG Championship events. In April 2013, Life participated in the preliminary qualifiers for the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, securing a spot at the event by defeating Flash in the qualifiers. However, due to a scheduling conflict with an upcoming MLG event, he was unable to attend the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.