First GSL Royal Roader. First MLG Championship post-Heart of the Swarm. And now first back-to-back championship at MLG. All before his first day of high school.

The young  Lee “Life” Seung Hyun just celebrated his sixteenth birthday in January, but walked away from the 2013 MLG Winter Championship with the 1^st place trophy after eliminating such players as  Chad “Minigun” Jones,  Choi “Polt” Seong Hoon,  Kim “Last” Sung Hyun and  Jang “MC” Min Chul. He arrived at the finals with only four losses beneath his twelve wins.  

The other finalist,  Lee “Flash” Young Ho, was a legend before StarCraft II was even released.  With six OGN Starleague championships under his belt, Flash earned the rare title of bonjwa (Korean for “seat of the king”) given to players who dominate the scene for an extended period of time. But that era never really ended for Flash, who maintained the title from 2007 right up until he switched to StarCraft II last year.

Flash’s expertise made for a tough final series that had the audience screaming as loud as the casters. But in the end Life won 4:2 and left with a Plexiglas trophy in his arm and $25,000 (€19,293) in his pocket.

Life’s victory meant he became the first player to win two MLG seasons in a row, having won the 2012 MLG Fall Championship last November. He will also go on the record as the first one to win an MLG tournament during Heart of the Swarm, though his play throughout the tournament made very little use of the new Zerg units, the Viper and the Swarm Host.

For those who missed the tournament, you can watch the games on YouTube via MLG’s official channel, OfficialMLGSC2, or at tv.majorleaguegaming.com. Watching the finals is a must, and fans of TvT should not miss Flash’s games against  Lee “INnoVation” Shin Hyung in the semifinals. And for something much more lighthearted, take a look at Life’s fifth game against Polt. The game was casted late at night, and casters  Sean “Day[9]” Plott and  Mike “Husky” Lamond  were notably slaphappy, making for a very unique cast that had the audience roaring with laughter.

The next MLG Championship has not been announced, but if it is to follow the once-every-season schedule it began last year, we can expect the qualifiers to begin in April for a Championship in early June.