Lee Seung Hyun

Lee Seung-Hyun (, 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 (approximately ). Additionally, Life received a lifetime ban from participating in Korean esports events.

Career Early success (2011–2012) 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.

Life walked the Royal Road after winning the 2012 Season 4 GSL.

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 continued to encounter difficulties throughout the rest of the year. In between WCS seasons, he participated in DreamHack Summer 2013, where he faced Jeffrey "Sjow" Brusi in a match where he was heavily favored to win but ultimately lost. Following the loss, Life's motivation appeared to wane, leading to a reduction in his practice regimen.

By the end of 2014, Life had accrued sufficient World Championship Points to secure a spot in the 2014 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) at BlizzCon 2014, held in November. During the WCS tournament, he won his initial two matches, advancing him to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Life defeated TaeJa, who widely regarded as the strongest player remaining in the tournament. The championship match saw Life face Mun "MMA" Seong-won. In a 4–1 victory, he defeated MMA and clinched the 2014 championship title. Reflecting on his journey to the WCS title, Life said in a press conference, "[Last year] I had a lot of confidence in my skills, but since things didn't work out well this year, I have gotten more humble. Personally, being without that higher confidence level has been good for me. Because I can strive forward, work harder." At his final event in 2014, Life participated in DreamHack Winter 2014. He defeated TaeJa once again in the semifinals and finished the tournament in second place after losing to Park "ForGG" Ji-soo in the finals.

In January 2016, Life signed with Afreeca Freecs. His professional StarCraft II career came to an end in 2016 when he received a lifetime ban from all Korean esports events due to his involvement in match-fixing activities. At the end of his career, Life had secured the second-highest number of premier StarCraft II tournament victories among all players and had accumulated the second largest prize money earnings in the competitive scene, amounting to around . Three months later, on April 21, the Changwon Regional Prosecution Service special investigations division released a report confirming that Life, along with Jung "Bbyong" Woo-yong and 11 financial backers and brokers, had been convicted of match-fixing in two matches during the KeSPA Cup. As a result of this conviction, Life was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment with a suspended sentence for three years. Additionally, he was fined (approximately $58,000) as part of the legal consequences of his involvement. Furthermore, Life received a lifetime ban from participating in Korean esports events. The match-fixing scandal involving Life was regarded as the most disappointing event in esports in 2016 by ESPN.

Accomplishments World Championship Series One-time WCS Global Finals champion – 2014

Global StarCraft II League Two-time GSL champion – 2012 Season Four, 2015 Season One One-time GSL Blizzard Cup champion – 2012

Other Two-time DreamHack champion – Bucharest 2014, Taipei 2015 Two-time MLG champion – Fall 2012, Winter 2013 One-time Iron Squid champion – 2013 One-time IEM champion – New York 2013 One-time IGN Pro Team League champion – 2012