For the NA Summer Starleague, we're here to give a platform to the lesser known players of the NA scene. Meet Faust, a honey-loving, creative, and hilarious guy. Check out the honey link to listen to a Faust favorite. Watch Faust and others play this weekend, August 9th @7:45 PM EDT and August 10th @6:45 PM EDT, in groups A and B on https://twitch.tv/DocHoliday_TV
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Age?
I am 28 years young.
Where are you from?
I am from Reading, Pennsylvania. It is a small city situated about an hour west of Philadelphia.
When did you start playing?
I think I started around 2004 but discovered the pro scene and competitive play in 2006. I stopped shortly before the match-fixing scandal came to light and only semi-recently came back in late 2016.
How did you come up with the ID Faust?
I used to go by the ID "Mephistopheles" on internet forums and games. When I joined SCC I found out that I couldn't fit all the characters into the name with the tag, so thus I had to choose the other character of the play, which was Faust. It worked out in the end because me and Faust have quite a few things in common.
Do you have a favorite pro/ex-pro? Why them?
As far as Koreans go I've always been fond of Julyzerg and hero. Both were incredibly entertaining to watch, and I was a huge STX SouL fan. I'm not really sure if foreigners count as pros, but the Polish players Blackman and ParanOid are probably a bigger inspiration for me than any Korean player. SataNiK would be close in 3rd place. All are really unique Zerg players who were dominant with their own flair that made the race all the more exciting to me.
Favorite matchup? Why?
I'd have to go with Zerg vs Terran. I feel like there is more freedom and open-to interpretation on how to play the match-up at a foreigner level. Even in the Korean scene you have certain players who just bring their own style to the table, like ZeLoT and force[name]. So my main enjoyment really comes from trying new things and getting crazy.
Who are your practice partners?If you want, give a shoutout to players you know who aren't well known or underrated.
I honestly don't have any practice partners. I mostly just get phases of incredible lust for grinding ladder and will hit it up to 8-10 hours a day for a few days in a row and then stop for weeks at a time. My ladder experiences usually end up being vs yaj, crossy, and MrPlow though. So indirectly they seem to be my practice partners. Ironically my ZvZ still blows so maybe they are bad partners.
who do you think is the best player in the starleague? in NA?
Super difficult to say who is the best player. I think a lot of people are close. Nyoken, Ty2, Dragon, and Hawk are all top contendors for the #1 spot. To be honest, I personally think an in-form Hawk is the best player in NA.
how in practice would you say you were for the NYC lan? were you surprised with your result?
I didn't practice at all. The autochess games Dota Underlords and League of Legend's Teamfight Tactics were released a few weeks prior to the NYC lan so I played almost no Starcraft leading up to it. I think my lack of practice showed, but I also think my result was expected. I'm very confident Sugo and Models were going to take me down if I met either of them, and against Tim I feel we are evenly matched so that is honestly a coin flip.
You recently got S rank. What did it take you to get to S rank and what motivated you?
I think it took me in total 4 days of laddering where I was trying to take it seriously and put all my effort into it. I was playing around 10 hours a day during that grind. I haven't really ever taken laddering seriously since SC:R came out so I just wanted to prove to myself that I could hit it.
Any bw goals for 2019? and beyond?
I'm hitting up all the LANs possible, so hopefully I start practicing more. The experience I had at NYC lan kind of awakened me and made me realize how much I enjoy playing StarCraft competitively. Also I really enjoy so many people in the StarCraft community and would love to hang out with a lot of the people I've become friends with over the years. Unfortunately I have an intense mental block towards practicing or putting effort into anything so maybe I'll find the discipline before it is too late. I hope by 2020 I will have risen up a bit and people will consider me a contendor for tournaments.
What do you do when you aren't playing SC?
Mostly just taking walks to be honest. When I'm not playing other video games, I like to take night drives or walk in the local state park near my house. Reading, Pennsylvania is sort of situated right in the middle of farmland and forests/mountains on either side so it is a pretty scenic area. That along with audiobooks is how I unwind. I also have an on/off relationship with computer programming and psychology (which I went to college for) but most of my time is occupied by video games I would say.
Interviewer: Seriosity