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AMA Ask me anything related to the event or my gameplay during that day in the comments  .
My performance was pretty lame, I didn't prepare as efficiently as others it seems, I just mass gamed before the event and it wasn't very helpful. Before I get into anything too important, I'd like to thank Run (http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/RuN) for letting me and Demuslim play our MLG matches at his house, the venue internet was too slow and it was way too late to be at a venue close to people at 3am. Run also showed us around Sao Paulo and gave me my only good meal .
The Venue & Environment
The Venue was very nice, very large but not packed (until the last 2 days). The chairs weren't very ideal for me, I sadly forgot to huk it up and bring my pillow the days I played T_T. I know Demuslim didn't like the chairs either, I'm not sure how the other players felt about the chairs though. The computers were great, I had no problem with how the computer, monitor etc. was set up, all my gear connected perfectly.
The environment was very hard to adjust to. It was fairly humid and the venue itself made me act up (allergies). I caught a cold the day before my matches so I wasn't feeling great but my allergies also acted up at the venue. I wish I had visited the venue before the day of my matches to get used to the venue environment, and see if I needed to take my medicine for allergies.
The People
All the people I met were great. The IEM Staff was awesome and Carmac is a huge troll but he's a funloving guy <3. I got to meet most of the players and I became pretty good friends with violet . I also spent a fair amount of my time with Demuslim, playing with Snute, hanging out with the biggest noob ever dKiller. Everyone else was awesome as well, shame I didn't get to spend as much time with them. (RotterDam, Feast, Real, Darkforce, Ret, Supernova, Xlord, Slivko, and everyone else ).
Rob Pimpson - coolest Blizzard staff member ever.
Big Thanks to Mr.Bitter for keeping me alive the day before my matches.
My Matches and me
I wasn't too proud of the games I showed, I know I was capable of showing more so I was very disappointed. I would attribute my poor play to inefficient practice, uncomfortable environment, and the food I ate there. Before my matches, my Stomach hurt alot and I had to go to the bathroom maybe 5 times within a time span of an hour, for a few hours. It got pretty bad, I had to take dKiller's hotel key and go to his room because the toilets at the venue were terrible. My stomach problems worsened each day and I'm just recovering now back in my room. I know some of the other players also had stomach problems see:http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/plw6n/something_about_iem_sao_paulo_that_i_think_little/
I hope it isn't as problem in the future. It probably didn't help that the only food near the venue was the fast food in the back, which tasted great but seemed very unhealthy. There was also no choice but to eat the food there as there was nothing else near.
Anyways, the chairs were also very uncomfortable to sit in for extended periods of time, the day of the venue was also very hot and the spotlights were very bright. I think they dimmed the lights after my matches, some of the players were complaining about that. We could also hear all of the crowd and commentators on the stage (although they were in Portuguese). One thing that threw me off COMPLETELY was that I couldn't load any of my grooveshark on the computer I was using. I was practicing with grooveshark music in the practice area but when I made the transition to the stage, it buffered super slow. If you are a competitor, you probably know how little things throw you off, this was mine.
A bit of a rushed blog, not feeling too good but I wanted to let everyone know what went on. I probably missed a few things but overall, the event was great and I have many things to learn, in-game and out.
Things I learned:
Visit the Venue before the day of your matches and explore the environment
Don't trust all the food you eat
Practice without music sometimes
Bring a fucking pillow
Medicine for Allergy, Colds, Stomach problems.
Brazilian fans are awesome
 
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what did you eat that you cant trust?
did you eat something weird??
also pics? =D
good post 5 stars
you also did really well despite having all the stomach and allergy issues
ggs
im sure youl do really well in your next big event
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nice blog! I hope you had fun despite feeling sick/not so great result.
You had the hardest group in the event as well imo and only narrowly lost two series 1-2, 1-2...T_T;
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<3 you did well anyway, Chris. Sorry to hear about the stomach issues, that's always unfortunate. Looking forward to having you back in DC so you can regal us with tales of your journey ^^
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On February 13 2012 05:30 SacredSystem wrote:
what did you eat that you cant trust?
did you eat something weird??
also pics? =D
good post 5 stars
I'll take pics next time so I can make more of an epic blog but most of the food I ate were subs and hamburgers with fries and a drink. That's pretty much all they were serving at the venue sadly :/ (unless you wanted to pay for a super overpriced small pizza). Everything I ate looked normal... just had bad aftereffects.
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That's too bad about the stomach issues (lol at the Supernova story on reddit). I think that MAY have had an impact on the level of play we saw at this tourney...hopefully you'll do better at your next one.
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On February 13 2012 05:40 TylerThaCreator wrote:
That's too bad about the stomach issues (lol at the Supernova story on reddit). I think that MAY have had an impact on the level of play we saw at this tourney...hopefully you'll do better at your next one.
Yeah;; I'm actually still having stomach problems after taking medicine. Hopefully he's ok now.
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Gratz on winning the FFA
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How much were you practicing before Sao Paulo?
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Great games at IEM Illusion!
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what are you going to do differently to prepare for the next tournament?
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On February 13 2012 05:46 LiLSighKoh wrote:
How much were you practicing before Sao Paulo?
Got home from school, played till 2am, wake up at 6am go to school, etc. I also stopped coaching to save some time as well as stopped streaming so I can focus more.
On February 13 2012 05:48 Gator wrote:
what are you going to do differently to prepare for the next tournament?
Prepare for the worst. No music, bring a pillow, get there a day early and look around. It will be mostly getting used to the environment, rather than training differently.
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Who betrayed the other one first in the FFA, you or Violet? 
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On February 13 2012 05:51 HaXXspetten wrote:Who betrayed the other one first in the FFA, you or Violet?
In the 2nd FFA, I think I killed him after I saw a nuke on my army xD
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Australia8532 Posts
Foreign foods can always have a bad effect on your stomach; i travelled South America and certainly encountered this issue (didn't stop it from being one of the coolest places to travel.) I couldn't even imagine trying to compete in a SC2 tournament at the same time! So props for your commitment
Looking forward to seeing more of your games!
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<3 Illusion fighting! at least you learned some things and made a few friends.
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Hey Illusion! I was wondering...
Who were you practicing with before? Was it certain other pro's, or were you just laddering a bunch? Also, How do you practice, were you doing certain builds for certain people after watching their previous play? or just doing standard builds?
Thanks!
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Thanks for sharing! Foreign tournaments will always be risky in a way. I think many people overlook some of the things that can affect players. Like food, sleeping conditions, general venue conditions, practice conditions etc.
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On February 13 2012 06:07 Overlord17 wrote:
Hey Illusion! I was wondering...
Who were you practicing with before? Was it certain other pro's, or were you just laddering a bunch? Also, How do you practice, were you doing certain builds for certain people after watching their previous play? or just doing standard builds?
Thanks!
Just anyone off my friends list that was high masters or GM. Of Course I'd like to thank my team as well as much of EG for their practice sessions. I would focus on my builds and my execution. I would take little things I learned from each game and make sure the same mistakes don't happen again, such as building a wall at my natural to make sure zergling run-by's would never happen again.
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I love illusion, your stream made me a big fan! Sounds like a fun experience!
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Smix
United States4549 Posts
aigoo, glad you're recovering, hope your future events are better dongseng~
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Dear Illusion,
How much do you think that nerves affected you at this tourney. As you said, there were lots and lots of physical things that were going on (pillow, food, MUSIC, etc), but how much of that affected your mental state going into the games.
On a more general note, do you feel you are fairly confident, or more of a nervous player?
Thanks,
Alabaster
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Korea (South)11601 Posts
why didn't u tell people to come to dinner? What kind of DC nerd are you?
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On February 13 2012 06:44 DYEAlabaster wrote:
Dear Illusion,
How much do you think that nerves affected you at this tourney. As you said, there were lots and lots of physical things that were going on (pillow, food, MUSIC, etc), but how much of that affected your mental state going into the games.
On a more general note, do you feel you are fairly confident, or more of a nervous player?
Thanks,
Alabaster
I was fairly nervous, nothing too bad. I got much more nervous when I started getting uncomfortable, stomach ache was probably the worst, then music #2, pillow #3. My mental state was shit because of that, during the match I would be thinking, I really gotta go to the bathroom, my music isn't working (alt +tab, see buffer), my ass hurts (these chairs suck), these casters are loud, fuck, the crowd is cheering for my opponent. etc etc.
I was nervous that day but I am usually more confident, just seemed that everything was off that day.
On February 13 2012 06:45 CaucasianAsian wrote:
why didn't u tell people to come to dinner? What kind of DC nerd are you?
soz
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On February 13 2012 06:51 vileIllusion wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2012 06:44 DYEAlabaster wrote:
Dear Illusion,
How much do you think that nerves affected you at this tourney. As you said, there were lots and lots of physical things that were going on (pillow, food, MUSIC, etc), but how much of that affected your mental state going into the games.
On a more general note, do you feel you are fairly confident, or more of a nervous player?
Thanks,
Alabaster I was fairly nervous, nothing too bad. I got much more nervous when I started getting uncomfortable, stomach ache was probably the worst, then music #2, pillow #3. My mental state was shit because of that, during the match I would be thinking, I really gotta go to the bathroom, my music isn't working (alt +tab, see buffer), my ass hurts (these chairs suck), these casters are loud, fuck, the crowd is cheering for my opponent. etc etc. I was nervous that day but I am usually more confident, just seemed that everything was off that day. Show nested quote +On February 13 2012 06:45 CaucasianAsian wrote:
why didn't u tell people to come to dinner? What kind of DC nerd are you? soz
Thank you very much for your response. I look foreword to seeing more of you in the future!
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Great post. I'm glad you went there to play and gained a LOT of experience.
My question is what made your decide to play what could be considered an unorthodox TvZ skipping out on tanks for so long? I know many of us have witnessed your very practiced and well executed marine splits but it seemed game after game the inadequate amount of tanks hurt too much. Did you feel as though you needed a unique style to surprise your opponent? It felt as if you weren't sticking to your guns.
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On February 13 2012 07:49 Imajjiinary wrote:
Great post. I'm glad you went there to play and gained a LOT of experience.
My question is what made your decide to play what could be considered an unorthodox TvZ skipping out on tanks for so long? I know many of us have witnessed your very practiced and well executed marine splits but it seemed game after game the inadequate amount of tanks hurt too much. Did you feel as though you needed a unique style to surprise your opponent? It felt as if you weren't sticking to your guns.
I wasn't sticking to what I practiced, mostly because my mind wasn't where it should've been. Most of the time, I was just thinking *I really gotta go to the bathroom.........................* My Marine splits weren't very optimal, I noticed I wasn't splitting correctly pre-game either (marine split challenge) which had a pretty big mental effect on me.
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Thanks for the blog. Hope future events go better for you!
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Nice blog man, I'm glad you learned a ton.
Some more things to consider before going to foreign tournaments:
- Visit a traveller's health clinic and ask them how to prepare for the area you are going to.
- PEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOL
- Buy snacks before you go to the venue! Having a backpack full of snacks is always a good idea, it's much easier to think/play on a full stomach.
- Eat local food/drink bottled drinks
- Feel free to come ask me for an autograph at MLG, I'll even sign 2 things for you.
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There was also a bit of delay from the event - which made stutter stepping very weird
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was rooting for you. being your first event things like this will probably happen.
I think its pretty shameful that events think that giveing players the same chairs that they give to the audience is okay. at the least give them a 250$ chair that looks good or is remotely near what you pay for the booth.
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whenever i go to a different country, i always drink a lot of alcohol, beer and spirits are usually the safest things because the way its made. Also it usually kills anything in your stomach so i usually don't have any problems. Then again i m not there to compete, just vacation I thought you played well gg :D
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On February 13 2012 08:03 chadissilent wrote:
Nice blog man, I'm glad you learned a ton.
Some more things to consider before going to foreign tournaments:
- Visit a traveller's health clinic and ask them how to prepare for the area you are going to.
- PEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOL
- Buy snacks before you go to the venue! Having a backpack full of snacks is always a good idea, it's much easier to think/play on a full stomach.
- Eat local food/drink bottled drinks
- Feel free to come ask me for an autograph at MLG, I'll even sign 2 things for you.
Shouldn't you be asking him for an autograph?
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Sorry to hear about the health issues. But hopefully you had awesome time in Brazil aside from the food. Go Illusion!
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On February 13 2012 09:25 Overlord17 wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2012 08:03 chadissilent wrote:
Nice blog man, I'm glad you learned a ton.
Some more things to consider before going to foreign tournaments:
- Visit a traveller's health clinic and ask them how to prepare for the area you are going to.
- PEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOLPEPTOBISMOL
- Buy snacks before you go to the venue! Having a backpack full of snacks is always a good idea, it's much easier to think/play on a full stomach.
- Eat local food/drink bottled drinks
- Feel free to come ask me for an autograph at MLG, I'll even sign 2 things for you. Shouldn't you be asking him for an autograph?
He's kidding he's my friend xD
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On the Grooveshark Issue: In Germany and some other countries Grooveshark recently got shut down, because of lets say copyright issues (Pandora and other similar pages wont work neither). So be sure to check if online music services are even available in the tournament country or just bring your own. (Are players allowed to listen to an MP3 player device during games?)
You still played great though, I enjoyed watching your games, and gratz on the FFA win, those tanks man =)
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On February 13 2012 07:51 vileIllusion wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2012 07:49 Imajjiinary wrote:
Great post. I'm glad you went there to play and gained a LOT of experience.
My question is what made your decide to play what could be considered an unorthodox TvZ skipping out on tanks for so long? I know many of us have witnessed your very practiced and well executed marine splits but it seemed game after game the inadequate amount of tanks hurt too much. Did you feel as though you needed a unique style to surprise your opponent? It felt as if you weren't sticking to your guns. I wasn't sticking to what I practiced, mostly because my mind wasn't where it should've been. Most of the time, I was just thinking *I really gotta go to the bathroom.........................* My Marine splits weren't very optimal, I noticed I wasn't splitting correctly pre-game either (marine split challenge) which had a pretty big mental effect on me.
You have a lot of fans, man. People gets fans because their talent is very noticeable when they are being watched. You probably have the most fans of any player in a "Online Content Available to Number of Fans" ratio. I think this speaks volumes of what everyone believes you are capable of achieving. Play your style and have no fear, you've already gone so far and it is just a matter of days til you reach your goals. Keep up the hard work!
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On February 13 2012 12:54 Imajjiinary wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2012 07:51 vileIllusion wrote:On February 13 2012 07:49 Imajjiinary wrote:
Great post. I'm glad you went there to play and gained a LOT of experience.
My question is what made your decide to play what could be considered an unorthodox TvZ skipping out on tanks for so long? I know many of us have witnessed your very practiced and well executed marine splits but it seemed game after game the inadequate amount of tanks hurt too much. Did you feel as though you needed a unique style to surprise your opponent? It felt as if you weren't sticking to your guns. I wasn't sticking to what I practiced, mostly because my mind wasn't where it should've been. Most of the time, I was just thinking *I really gotta go to the bathroom.........................* My Marine splits weren't very optimal, I noticed I wasn't splitting correctly pre-game either (marine split challenge) which had a pretty big mental effect on me. You have a lot of fans, man. People gets fans because their talent is very noticeable when they are being watched. You probably have the most fans of any player in a "Online Content Available to Number of Fans" ratio. I think this speaks volumes of what everyone believes you are capable of achieving. Play your style and have no fear, you've already gone so far and it is just a matter of days til you reach your goals. Keep up the hard work!
Haha thanks
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Nice job Chris. Keep getting experience dude. Good luck!
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On February 13 2012 08:52 vileIllusion wrote:
There was also a bit of delay from the event - which made stutter stepping very weird
Welcome to Brasil!
Because we play at US servers unless you are using tunneling there will always be 100~200 ms delay.
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You will get used to it eventually.
Chin up.
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On February 13 2012 14:28 antilyon wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2012 08:52 vileIllusion wrote:
There was also a bit of delay from the event - which made stutter stepping very weird Welcome to Brasil! Because we play at US servers unless you are using tunneling there will always be 100~200 ms delay.
Yeah I forgot LA server merged*
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Keep it up dude, your excelling very fast. Look forward to seeing more good results from you buddie.
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On February 13 2012 15:22 RuMCaKe wrote:
Keep it up dude, your excelling very fast. Look forward to seeing more good results from you buddie.
Thanks <3
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Hey man, sup, the food there sux!!! And everything was overpriced because of the Campus party ,,, anyway, hope the best for you! Could not talk to you at the event, but you did good, you tryed hard, and there's nothing more we can ask! keep the good work!
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Too bad the games didn't go too well, hope you had fun dude 
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Cute blog Chris, sorry I'm late ;D was fun meeting you and I can't wait to 3g void ray all in you again at ladder <3, next IEM you qualify is yours 
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How much do you like pancakes?
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EPT
