Kolll had been interviewed by Fragster during the WCG. I thought that some people might enjoy reading the interview, so I translated it. Have fun!
Fragster: Hello, Anton. You are pretty much unknown to less involved SC players, so please introduce yourself briefly.
Anton 'kolll' Emmerich: Yeah, hi. I am kolll, I have been playing Starcraft for about two years and I only recently joined ESC Gaming. By playing for ESC I have become relatively known and been invited to many online tourneys.
Fragster: Why of all things have you decided to play Starcraft?
kolll: My brothers told me that it is a good game. I also used to play Warcraft but then stuck with Starcraft.
Fragster: How did you enter the world of eSport?
kolll: When I was around ten years old, I already played Warcraft for various clans and participated in tourneys.
Fragster: And since when did you become a "professional" player?
kolll: Ever since I had the intention of becoming a really good player and when I joined ESC Gaming - then I became a professional player.
Fragster: What do your parents think about that?
kolll: Well, my parents support me partly. They are proud of me and support me where they can, but it was a bit strange for them in the beginning.
Fragster: How long do you roughly train a day?
kolll: Since I go to school I can't train as much as I could, but most of the time I play for four hours.
Fragster: Does this affect your grades in school?
kolll: They are okay, but in minor subjects such as History or Biology it does make a bit of a difference.
Fragster: Are there any players you are trying to emulate?
kolll: No, not really. Every good Zerg player is in some or another way useful, but there is no specific player I am trying to emulate.
Fragster: Let us talk about the WCG: How do you like it here so far?
kolll: Well, the hotel and the meals are really good - with the exception of the traditional Chinese dishes, those are a bit strange and unfamiliar. The tourney itself was very well organised and structured.
Fragster: Have you been to China before?
kolll: No, it is my first time.
Fragster: How do you like the Chinese culture?
kolll: The only problem is, that there is no one that speaks even one word of English. We always have to talk a lot, point - whatever - in order to make them realise that we want Fanta, Cola or something like that. That really gets on my nerves. The timetable was really good and there was no pressure, since we always had enough time.
Fragster: How did you like the players-lunch?
kolll: That was really good. We haven't really been out downtown, but word has it that we have been treated very well. So the lunch was pretty nice.
Fragster: A nice possibility to establish contact with other people?
kolll: No, the people rather kept to themselves, since every national team had its own table.
Fragster: Are you bothered that your brother had to accompany you to China?
kolll: Well, "had to" ... it is more a mixture of "had to" and "wanted". It does not bother me, though; I just came here to play. It is nice though that there is someone I can go sightseeing with and I know well.
Fragster: That was your first big offline event. How do you deal with nervousness?
kolll: I set a goal and just tried to accomplish it. I didn't put pressure on myself though and just tried to play my game. In the beginning you are of course somewhat nervous, but after some time you find into your rhythm and forget about the spectators. So I dealt pretty good with my nervousness.
Fragster: Well, in yesterdays matches you seemed pretty relaxed. Did you expect such a good performance of yourself?
kolll: I was pretty sure to survive the group stage. Then luck was the deciding factor in whom I would face in the quarterfinal. There I was lucky not to play against a Korean, so I had the chance to advance another round. I expected to play in the box on stage and to survive the group stage.
Fragster: Is the mappool in your favour? Since they made again some changes before the event started.
kolll: The mappool is so-so. Tau Cross could have been replaced with Heartbreak Ridge and any other map, so it would have been more recent. Apart from that, the mappool is decent with maps like Outsider and Destination. I've heard that it was even worse the year before.
Fragster: What are, in your opinion, your strongest matchups?
kolll: Zerg vs Terran is my best matchup. Zervs vs Zerg is my second best, but the outcome is not always clear - sometimes you win against really good players, sometimes you lose against bad players. So it is not really clear, but in my opinion it is my second best matchup.
Fragster: You played against all Koreans in the tourney. What kind of feeling is it to play against such players?
kolll: Well, it is certainly an interesting experience to play such players. I can't really say what kind of feeling it is, you have to experience it yourself. In any case you are very excited and it is awesome, even though you know that you have hardly any chances.
Fragster: Do you think that there is someone who can beat the Koreans?
kolll: No, no way. If they keep the way they practice, no one will beat them. Other players also don't have coaches who explain strategies to them. Besides, many players start when they are already too old. I think it makes more sense to start at a young age. Apart from that, I think you have to go to Korea in order to have the same advantages as the pro teams and then you have to deal with the language problem. The players who go to Korea are often too old, too.
Fragster: Would you like to go to Korea?
kolll: Yes, absolutetly. If I'll get the chance, definitely. That would be an interesting experience.
Fragster: Where would you like to play?
kolll: Well, SK Telecom T1 would be very nice (laughs).
Fragster: About the final: Jaedong or Stork?
kolll: Well, I think Stork is the better player, but I think that Jaedong will win this final (Editors Note: Jaedong won the final).
Fragster: Last question: Will you switch to Starcraft 2 or wait at first?
kolll: In the beginning, I will play Starcraft 1 & 2 simultaneously, trying to become very good in both games. If Starcraft 2 establishes itself, I will switch. In the beginning though I will play both games.
Fragster: Thank you for this interview and good luck.
And what's about going to a school for foreigners in Korea. It's in Seoul, so there are many schools for foreign students. On the other hand being in a pro Team and attending school at the same time might be too much for a 14 year old. He's not Flash
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
Kolll has great potential. I referred to Flash Bogus and baby cause they are considered the wunderkinds of starcraft. Kolll has no chance at this point but who know if this kid gets a proper korean training...
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
Kolll has great potential. I referred to Flash Bogus and baby cause they are considered the wunderkinds of starcraft. Kolll has no chance at this point but who know if this kid gets a proper korean training...
I really said it lots of times now, but too make sure no one misunderstands: I do like kolll, he has shown great and impressive things YET It has nothing to do with talent. Back in the days, you started on battle.net with less good practice partners. Today you can start on iccup and bam, you will only face better players when you start and your skill will boost insanely fast.
He played at least 8000 Games in his 2 years, if not more and started at a high level of gaming (compared to battle.net). Thats why he's already that good. Ofcourse you still need a bit of talent, but if you think his potential is so great, it makes no sense that he's still stuck with A-/ low A maybe. I know that the skill difference is insane from holding an A- rank and holding an A rank, but still, that would define the word talent for me.
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
Kolll has great potential. I referred to Flash Bogus and baby cause they are considered the wunderkinds of starcraft. Kolll has no chance at this point but who know if this kid gets a proper korean training...
I really said it lots of times now, but too make sure no one misunderstands: I do like kolll, he has shown great and impressive things YET It has nothing to do with talent. Back in the days, you started on battle.net with less good practice partners. Today you can start on iccup and bam, you will only face better players when you start and your skill will boost insanely fast.
He played at least 8000 Games in his 2 years, if not more and started at a high level of gaming (compared to battle.net). Thats why he's already that good. Ofcourse you still need a bit of talent, but if you think his potential is so great, it makes no sense that he's still stuck with A-/ low A maybe. I know that the skill difference is insane from holding an A- rank and holding an A rank, but still, that would define the word talent for me.
even if you are completely right that kolll has a good environment to increase his level of play, you cant deny the fact that the kid has something. you speak of 8000 games - thats really a great dedication, and like the progamers say time and time again the key is to practice 24/7. If it looks so easy to like start playing like mad and climb up the ICCup rank, why kolll was that one kid who became 4th in the WCG?
There is always something more than pure skill and talent, but still the accomplishment of Kolll is amazing
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
Kolll has great potential. I referred to Flash Bogus and baby cause they are considered the wunderkinds of starcraft. Kolll has no chance at this point but who know if this kid gets a proper korean training...
I really said it lots of times now, but too make sure no one misunderstands: I do like kolll, he has shown great and impressive things YET It has nothing to do with talent. Back in the days, you started on battle.net with less good practice partners. Today you can start on iccup and bam, you will only face better players when you start and your skill will boost insanely fast.
He played at least 8000 Games in his 2 years, if not more and started at a high level of gaming (compared to battle.net). Thats why he's already that good. Ofcourse you still need a bit of talent, but if you think his potential is so great, it makes no sense that he's still stuck with A-/ low A maybe. I know that the skill difference is insane from holding an A- rank and holding an A rank, but still, that would define the word talent for me.
This is like the worst argument in the world. If things are so damn easy now, why aren't there more players like kolll. Oh wait, because hes a prodigy.
I admire the dedication and the hard work he puts into his play. The results come with his immense effort and the 4th place (WCG) finish shows through his hard work.
I think it's kinda wrong to say that Jaedong is better just because he has more titles, it's true only when comparing to other zergs, but it's not so obvious for P or T.
On November 19 2009 06:22 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Naruto it's not amazing that he's so good that fast.. it's just already amazing that he IS that good
I wont compare both of you now.. but Im sure u played as many games as he did ( overall ) even though he played much more in a shorter timeframe..
Still kolll is just standing out.. he's almost like a foreigner with korean blood so to say..
He plays almost like a korean
Wow, this thread is slowly growing too many exaggerations. Kolll is good yes, very good. But please don't make him so much better than he really is. Before WCG he lost 0-3 to Mana for example. He still has to prove that he can play on this niveau for a longer time.
I dont make him much better than he really is I dont exaggerate at all.
He beat Idra, I aldready saw games of him vs ret where he amazed me.
He constantly plays at the A- level vs all sort of amazing koreans. He advanced out of the hardest wcg group. Made top 4 at his first grand final event ever. Made 1st place at his first National Final event ever.
This is something special. Really. No exaggeration..
On November 19 2009 04:45 StylishVODs wrote: nice interview although jaedong is obviously the better player!
in the matchup of stork vs jaedong, stork is the favourite most of the time. its just one of those things
This doesn't make Stork the better player.
Stork is KNOWN for his bad mechanics (shitty apm, lack of practice). You can interrpret his success then as him being the better player, but I think it just makes him a great mind. Jaedong is clearly a more well-rounded player.
But I digress (don't want this to turn into JD v Stork since i love them both), this kid seems pretty cool. I watched his games and he played well enough to show he at least is decent. I really want to see his games v Idra but can't find them QQ.
Oh come on, guys. Yeah, kolll is amazing and stuff, but really, he just got the lucky bracket. Yes, he managed to kick asses in his group, but in the next round he got lucky to play Idra, who is a free win compared to Stork, Bisu or Jaedong. I know he's only 14 and i assume he will get much more better, but for now he is only better than Idra, which is no too big achievement and certainly is not enough to tell that he almost plays like koreans or whatever.
lol it gets on his nerves that no one talks english in china and he has to point when he wants a fanta or coke. Well guess what kiddo, mandarin is the biggest language in the world and has twice as many speakers as english. You can't expect people to know english everywhere
On November 19 2009 06:40 Foucault wrote: lol it gets on his nerves that no one talks english in china and he has to point when he wants a fanta or coke. Well guess what kiddo, mandarin is the biggest language in the world and has twice as many speakers as english. You can't expect people to know english everywhere
Besides from that koll seems cool
Language barriers are annoying to pretty much anyone. That's not really a fault of his.
I don't know anything about him and haven't seen many of his games, so I don't know how good he is. All I know is that he did amazing at WCG and is very young. I'm very excited to see how he does in TSL 2. I think every single person here is very interested in how koll will do in TSL2
On November 19 2009 06:39 ftb wrote: I know he's only 14 and i assume he will get much more better, but for now he is only better than Idra, which is no too big achievement and certainly is not enough to tell that he almost plays like koreans or whatever.
First of all, beating Idra in a bo3 does not convince me that he is a better player. Second, it IS a pretty big accomplishment
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
Kolll has great potential. I referred to Flash Bogus and baby cause they are considered the wunderkinds of starcraft. Kolll has no chance at this point but who know if this kid gets a proper korean training...
I really said it lots of times now, but too make sure no one misunderstands: I do like kolll, he has shown great and impressive things YET It has nothing to do with talent. Back in the days, you started on battle.net with less good practice partners. Today you can start on iccup and bam, you will only face better players when you start and your skill will boost insanely fast.
He played at least 8000 Games in his 2 years, if not more and started at a high level of gaming (compared to battle.net). Thats why he's already that good. Ofcourse you still need a bit of talent, but if you think his potential is so great, it makes no sense that he's still stuck with A-/ low A maybe. I know that the skill difference is insane from holding an A- rank and holding an A rank, but still, that would define the word talent for me.
This is like the worst argument in the world. If things are so damn easy now, why aren't there more players like kolll. Oh wait, because hes a prodigy.
Or...because like it was mentioned he has played a SHIT TON of games in a short time frame, whereas other players don't put in half as much effort.
Thanks for the interview. I'd still like to know how his games went vs Idra. Idra's korean training has put him significantly above a lot of foreigners and he got 2-0'ed. Hopefully koll continues to perform well and has a good showing at TSL2.
On November 19 2009 07:11 vnlegend wrote: Thanks for the interview. I'd still like to know how his games went vs Idra. Idra's korean training has put him significantly above a lot of foreigners and he got 2-0'ed. Hopefully koll continues to perform well and has a good showing at TSL2.
I dont have any clue but my guess is kolll went 2 hatch muta and destroyed him or some 3 hatch build into late game lings/ultra swarm. .whatever
I don't think its truely that amazing the kid progress considering he has been playing strategy games for many many years so you can think he is "young" but young is a relative word.
He has been playing for 2 years straight with ppl that already played SC which is a long time. If you give most gamer kids 1 game to master and opponents that are already playing it at age 12 and they already have an understanding of rts's then they become very good very fast as they have more free time then anyone else other then someone who is jobless/rich/pro gamer. I mean very few ppl have 4 hours a day everyday. Anyone who does have free time regardless of age can surely make it as a pro-gamer as long as they have fast hands/reactions time to play and opponents/mentors.
i highly doubt his parents would let him quit school for a progaming career in korea ... in fact i find it mindblowing they let him play so much at home already. my parents would have kicked my ass until i go out. ^^
Child prodigy alert. What impresses me is not his age (which does) but how quickly it took him to master the game. Would anyone have expected even Mondragon to 2-0 Idra at WCG? But this kid did it.
Yea any 15 y.o. that can 2-0 Idra on such a big stage deserves a tryout at least... I really doubt his parents would let him go to Korea though, kid's so young and he'd be 1000s of miles away from any family.
On November 19 2009 07:35 Corvi wrote: i highly doubt his parents would let him quit school for a progaming career in korea ... in fact i find it mindblowing they let him play so much at home already. my parents would have kicked my ass until i go out. ^^
I guess since their son won a trip to China by playing computer games, they might suspect he's not the average lazy teenager
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
Kolll has great potential. I referred to Flash Bogus and baby cause they are considered the wunderkinds of starcraft. Kolll has no chance at this point but who know if this kid gets a proper korean training...
I really said it lots of times now, but too make sure no one misunderstands: I do like kolll, he has shown great and impressive things YET It has nothing to do with talent. Back in the days, you started on battle.net with less good practice partners. Today you can start on iccup and bam, you will only face better players when you start and your skill will boost insanely fast.
He played at least 8000 Games in his 2 years, if not more and started at a high level of gaming (compared to battle.net). Thats why he's already that good. Ofcourse you still need a bit of talent, but if you think his potential is so great, it makes no sense that he's still stuck with A-/ low A maybe. I know that the skill difference is insane from holding an A- rank and holding an A rank, but still, that would define the word talent for me.
This is like the worst argument in the world. If things are so damn easy now, why aren't there more players like kolll. Oh wait, because hes a prodigy.
Or...because like it was mentioned he has played a SHIT TON of games in a short time frame, whereas other players don't put in half as much effort.
8000 games in 2 years is nothing; I've played well over 3000 since I started in June. 4 hours a day is also only slightly more than what I put in during the summer. I'm D- right now, he bested Idra. Clearly there's some talent going on
8000 games in 2 years is incredible, he deserves to be among high players for his dedication to the game for sure.
I think talent is when you play few games or over a short period and get good, 8000 games is not a few games and 2 years is incredibly long in terms of SC experience. Throwing the word prodigy around isn't appropriate. Iirc Flash only played 2 years or less of SC before becoming a pro? I would call Flash a prodigy and not Kolll just because of his young age. I may be wrong please correct me i'm remembering from some pro-gamers interview a short while back.
Oh and as a Zerg v Zerg you can get a high win rate if you get yourself good muta micro for starters, it also can devastate bionic T's and most lesser P's. So if I was to pick a race to get the best at to go the furthest in the shortest amount of time it would be as Zerg as T & P need a quite different way of thinking/finesse imo; whereas zerg is quite straight forward a race to play.
jeez, that kid's got talent. He earned a lot of respect at the wcg. I really wanna see what the future holds for him... besides that I think I play for ages and still am a newb.
jesus guys, give him more time. He gets far in one major tournament and you guys want him in Korea already? Not to mention he played Idra, the worst progamer in Korea. We know his ZvT is at least that good but let him work on his other matchup first. Don't forget he's also 14. If he goes now and fail in Korea, his future won't be too bright.
yeh he is good but i dont know if hes good in all 3 matchups. he won vs idra and many good z but lost against mana and draco. I dont say that mana and draco are bad players but u can see that his main problem is his zvp.
On November 19 2009 07:18 Adeeler wrote:Anyone who does have free time regardless of age can surely make it as a pro-gamer as long as they have fast hands/reactions time to play and opponents/mentors.
On November 19 2009 10:14 AsianEcksDragon wrote: jesus guys, give him more time. He gets far in one major tournament and you guys want him in Korea already? Not to mention he played Idra, the worst progamer in Korea. We know his ZvT is at least that good but let him work on his other matchup first. Don't forget he's also 14. If he goes now and fail in Korea, his future won't be too bright.
Kolll defeated the greatest foreign player the world has ever witnessed in his best matchup at the pinnacle of E-Sports competition, 2-0.
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
Kolll has great potential. I referred to Flash Bogus and baby cause they are considered the wunderkinds of starcraft. Kolll has no chance at this point but who know if this kid gets a proper korean training...
I really said it lots of times now, but too make sure no one misunderstands: I do like kolll, he has shown great and impressive things YET It has nothing to do with talent. Back in the days, you started on battle.net with less good practice partners. Today you can start on iccup and bam, you will only face better players when you start and your skill will boost insanely fast.
He played at least 8000 Games in his 2 years, if not more and started at a high level of gaming (compared to battle.net). Thats why he's already that good. Ofcourse you still need a bit of talent, but if you think his potential is so great, it makes no sense that he's still stuck with A-/ low A maybe. I know that the skill difference is insane from holding an A- rank and holding an A rank, but still, that would define the word talent for me.
This is like the worst argument in the world. If things are so damn easy now, why aren't there more players like kolll. Oh wait, because hes a prodigy.
Or...because like it was mentioned he has played a SHIT TON of games in a short time frame, whereas other players don't put in half as much effort.
8000 games in 2 years is nothing; I've played well over 3000 since I started in June. 4 hours a day is also only slightly more than what I put in during the summer. I'm D- right now, he bested Idra. Clearly there's some talent going on
that means you have played 20+ games every single day without any breaks in the day since June. Are you sure you're not just throwing out a random number? 171 days and you said you have played "well over 3000". So being humble lets put it at 3500. That would be 21 games per day without any days off.
with games averaging 15minutes (closer to 18) thats 4 per hour, which would make an average of 5 hours per day, even though you say you don't even play 4hours.
Lastly I looked up the Id "wok" on iccup, and if thats you, it only has 282 games since september 1st. That was 79 days ago, which averages out to only 3 games a day, far off from the 20+ required to have over 3000 since June. Things just don't add up.
Stork is obviously not better than Jaedong in any way. He's a great great player by all means. But seriously, Jaedong is the best player of all time. He is the one who has achieved the highest skill and has been able to maintain it.
On November 19 2009 10:14 AsianEcksDragon wrote: jesus guys, give him more time. He gets far in one major tournament and you guys want him in Korea already? Not to mention he played Idra, the worst progamer in Korea. We know his ZvT is at least that good but let him work on his other matchup first. Don't forget he's also 14. If he goes now and fail in Korea, his future won't be too bright.
Kolll defeated the greatest foreign player the world has ever witnessed in his best matchup at the pinnacle of E-Sports competition, 2-0.
Exaggerate much? Idra the greatest foreigner? Nope. WCG 2009 the pinnacle of E-sports competition? Nope.
Idra is the best foreigner right now and Kolll deserves credit but come on.
Geez, so much envy and discrediting going on for Koll... He's 14yrs old and beat the best foreigner in his best mu. When I was 14 (I'm a korean living in korea) I could barely beat comps. Also, it's amazing that he became what he is in a matter of 2 years. I've started playing SC seriously 8 months ago, and still cannot get above c-... I've played at least 1000 games in 8 months (yes, less than Koll annual 4000 games, but still). This kid's got talent, and even korean netizens at Fomos.kr praised him, saying some team should bring him and "raise" him to be the next big foreigner SC player... (something rare for foreigners, since Fomos loves to trash IdrA...as for ret, I have yet to see an article on him)
On November 19 2009 14:42 Waffles wrote: he got roflstomped with scouts by stork. No zealots just goons too. made him look like a D- noob. sounds about right.
I don't remember enough to recall the use of pure dragoons, but the scouts were all Bisu.
I wouldn't just assume BW proscene is going to immediately die out because of SC2. If theres still going to be people to play it and people to watch it, which there will, why wouldn't it continue.
about that "if he goes to korea and fails his future is down the drain"-argument: if he still goes to school in seoul it wouldnt throw him off too much. if he goes to college afterwards, no one cares about his a-level grades so it wouldnt even make any difference if he was bad in school coz of his progaming career, as long as he makes the a-levels.
and imagine how kickass it would be if u make an application for a job and there u write "ive been to seoul, south korea for 3 years when i was 14, i was working for samsung group in a team of professionals... and im not kidding" or anything like that.
Sure, 8000 seems like a large number. But do the math yourself- 2 Years- 730 Days, that's like 11 games/day. Considering the average 1v1 lasts about 15-20 minutes, that's about 3-4 hours a day. Not that much by any pro gamers (not even including the korean scene) standards.
kolll: Well, I think Stork is the better protoss, but I think that Jaedong will win this final, if he plays zerg (Editors Note: Jaedong won the final).
On November 19 2009 04:27 Quint wrote: Fragster: How do you like the Chinese culture?
kolll: We always have to talk a lot, point - whatever - in order to make them realise that we want Fanta, Cola or something like that. That really gets on my nerves.
I think that SC2 will be initially dominated by returning ex-Korean pro such as Garimto and Foreigners at first while the active Korean pro focus on Broodwar. If Koll wants to make his name, SC2 is his best shot.
We need to somehow send this guy to Korea, if he fails then everyone will. On the other hand, may be he should just try to win courage or at least make it to the finals, b/c if someone is accepted just because he's foreigner it usually ends bad, lol.
I have to say that i read from time to time people posting in the "strategy" forum , asking for help and starting their post by something like " stucked to d/d+ rank iccup, "hi i started starcraft about 2 years ago and i can"t break..." lol
I like his point of view on the foreigner going pro thing. He is right, if a foreigner goes to Korea it should be at a young age when he can sort of commit like most progamers do, not at 25 having finished college and an MBA.
kolll: The only problem is, that there is no one that speaks even one word of English. We always have to talk a lot, point - whatever - in order to make them realise that we want Fanta, Cola or something like that. That really gets on my nerves. The timetable was really good and there was no pressure, since we always had enough time.
What a shame... He's too young to be so ethnocentric! Whenever a tourist goes anywhere, the locals need to speak their language.
On November 19 2009 04:27 Quint wrote:
Fragster: About the final: Jaedong or Stork?
kolll: Well, I think Stork is the better player, but I think that Jaedong will win this final (Editors Note: Jaedong won the final).
If Stork was the better player, then he should have won... Just saying.
On November 20 2009 08:53 RamenStyle wrote: I like his point of view on the foreigner going pro thing. He is right, if a foreigner goes to Korea it should be at a young age when he can sort of commit like most progamers do, not at 25 having finished college and an MBA.
Apart from slightly diminishing hand speed, the main reason age is bad for koreans is military service. That doesn't affect foreigners. Still, over 21 and I'd say you're life will start getting in the way.
Perhaps he feels Stork is better than Jaedong because he played them both. Perhaps Stork's PvZ is better than Jaedong's ZvZ? Perhaps Koll played against Jaedong better than he did against Stork? These things could have a big impact on his opinion.
kolll: The only problem is, that there is no one that speaks even one word of English. We always have to talk a lot, point - whatever - in order to make them realise that we want Fanta, Cola or something like that. That really gets on my nerves. The timetable was really good and there was no pressure, since we always had enough time.
What a shame... He's too young to be so ethnocentric! Whenever a tourist goes anywhere, the locals need to speak their language.
kolll: Well, I think Stork is the better player, but I think that Jaedong will win this final (Editors Note: Jaedong won the final).
If Stork was the better player, then he should have won... Just saying.
Maybe someone should get him on TLAttack?
don't make such a big deal out of that first quote. Speak their language? His first language is german. His second language is english. Of course it is annoying if you can't communicate.
don't make such a big deal out of that first quote. Speak their language? His first language is german. His second language is english. Of course it is annoying if you can't communicate.
It takes about 5 minutes to learn how to say "Can I please have a coke" in Chinese. In turn he'll learn something about a language that is on another end of the spectrum from his own, he'll learn to respect other cultures, he'll learn many things. Locals will have great respect for a person who tries to learn just a tiny bit of their language. He seems like a bright successful kid, learning a line or two shouldn't be that hard.
He is still young I understand that and maybe the article wasn't translated well, but from what I read in that line he sounds like a brat. These sorts of lessons in life are perhaps the most important ones one can ever learn.
kolll: The only problem is, that there is no one that speaks even one word of English. We always have to talk a lot, point - whatever - in order to make them realise that we want Fanta, Cola or something like that. That really gets on my nerves. The timetable was really good and there was no pressure, since we always had enough time.
What a shame... He's too young to be so ethnocentric! Whenever a tourist goes anywhere, the locals need to speak their language.
He wasn't asking them to speak German, ie his language. He was asking them to speak English, the language of international communication. He's made the effort to be bilingual and was hoping the same of them.
well, keep in mind that chengdu is not the typical tourist destination. in a fast food restaurant in shanghai or bejing they would probably speak some english....
i wouldnt overdiscuss koll in any way atm. he has shown great potential, but we havent seen enough of him yet to determine how good he actually is. time will tell, lets just wait. and by the same principle, its kinda ridiculous to try to rate his character after one single statement that might have gone wrong. how much intolerant or just plain stupid bullshit have u said when u were 14? even if his statement was meant as a complaint towards the chinese mcdonalds staff and not just as the expression of his frustration, we should still keep in mind that it comes from a 14 year old teenager that hasnt seen much of the world yet.
On November 19 2009 05:11 disciple wrote: time for Flash Bogus and Baby to shit their pants Kolll will eat worlds if he goes to korea
I don't want to imagine what Bogus and Flash would do to kolll.. Seriously Flash is fucking insane. He is demolishing Korean progamers left and right (not right now, but not too far in the past, he's still amazing though). What do you think he'd do to kolll? Not to mention he already won a starleague etc..
Kolll has great potential. I referred to Flash Bogus and baby cause they are considered the wunderkinds of starcraft. Kolll has no chance at this point but who know if this kid gets a proper korean training...
I really said it lots of times now, but too make sure no one misunderstands: I do like kolll, he has shown great and impressive things YET It has nothing to do with talent. Back in the days, you started on battle.net with less good practice partners. Today you can start on iccup and bam, you will only face better players when you start and your skill will boost insanely fast.
He played at least 8000 Games in his 2 years, if not more and started at a high level of gaming (compared to battle.net). Thats why he's already that good. Ofcourse you still need a bit of talent, but if you think his potential is so great, it makes no sense that he's still stuck with A-/ low A maybe. I know that the skill difference is insane from holding an A- rank and holding an A rank, but still, that would define the word talent for me.
This is like the worst argument in the world. If things are so damn easy now, why aren't there more players like kolll. Oh wait, because hes a prodigy.
Or...because like it was mentioned he has played a SHIT TON of games in a short time frame, whereas other players don't put in half as much effort.
8000 games in 2 years is nothing; I've played well over 3000 since I started in June. 4 hours a day is also only slightly more than what I put in during the summer. I'm D- right now, he bested Idra. Clearly there's some talent going on
Are you serious? 3000 games and your still D-? I watched your stream the other day and I though you had barely played for a week lol. I've played this game casually for a year, been mainly following the scene, according to my replays I've played slightly over 2300 games. (It is slightly more because I played Garena for a few weeks before discovering ICCUP.) I'm a weak Cplus (I get there and stay there but can't really advance forward.) And you play Protoss!
Anyways, I think it's a mixture of both in Kolls case. Talent and the fact he actually put the time to it = really goooood.
On November 19 2009 04:32 3 Lions wrote: lol he thinks Jaedong is worse than Stork. i guess that's true in certain aspects of the game
Stork is better. If you have enough knowledge about Starcraft you realize this.
I think so too, at intelligence and overall understanding of the game. He knows which way to play to beat his opponent, just that he is slow. JD is insane in small unit control though, those battles under 100-150 supply.
He wasn't asking them to speak German, ie his language. He was asking them to speak English, the language of international communication. He's made the effort to be bilingual and was hoping the same of them.[/QUOTE]
But he is in China. I don't think it's much of an effort to be bilingual in Europe. Plenty of Chinese are bilingual, in their own dialects, cause that's all they really need to get around, they don't need English, 'the language of international communication' since tiny grocery stores that sell drinks do not operate internationally. It sounds like you're just as ethnocentric as he is.
He just says what he thinks without worrying about how others might think or considering extenuating circumstances, imo. He isn't calling the people in china idiots because they don't speak english. He is just a headstrong young gamer.
On November 19 2009 04:32 3 Lions wrote: lol he thinks Jaedong is worse than Stork. i guess that's true in certain aspects of the game
Stork is better. If you have enough knowledge about Starcraft you realize this.
I think so too, at intelligence and overall understanding of the game. He knows which way to play to beat his opponent, just that he is slow. JD is insane in small unit control though, those battles under 100-150 supply.
I actually think JD is way better, he's on another level, together with FlaSh.
EPT
