Interviews - Coach Ju Hoon, Calm, Movie and KT

Top Zerg for a reason

Coach Ju Hoon of team 8 could not stifle his awe watching JD play.

After having watched the players of team8 for about 10 days, Coach Ju Hoon says "I don't think they have returned to form yet," but also added that, "there were a few moments when I was completely awe-struck watching JD's play."

Since team8's inception last Friday, it has risen as a hot topic among fans. Coach Ju Hoon, who has been charged with leading the team, gathered the players even before the official announcement to practice for Proleague 11-12, but the players have not yet returned to their peaks.

Even though they have only been practicing for a short while, Coach Ju Hoon was greatly impressed by JD's play. While he was coaching SKTelecom T1, he had watched many [great] Terran and Protoss players, so the Terran and Protoss players of team8 have yet to impress Coach Ju Hoon. However, as far as JD's play goes, he summarized his feelings after watching him play as "if my eye sockets had been purified."

Although SKT1 had some notable Zerg users such as GoRush, after retiring from coaching 3 years ago in 2008, he has not seen the FPView of progamers. Even when he was a commentator for OGN, the focus was on the flow of the game, so he didn't get a chance to watch the players actually managing their units and macroing up. Even as a commentator, it was difficult to visit a practice facility and watch the players' screen.

After having been charged with coaching team8, he got a chance to be impressed by JD's play. Putting his blazing APM aside, JD manages to control units in 4~5 different places on the map, while not missing a production cycle in his bases. Furthermore, he catches every blip on the minimap, no matter how small, and Ju Hoon said what he felt could only be described as if his eyesockets had been purified.

Coach Ju Hoon says "I am now just starting to realize why JD is the best Zerg to play in BW history." He says "I want to bring out as much of his potential as I can before the season starts to give great viewing pleasure to the fans."

Source: Daily E-sports

KTRolster forms strategic partnership with Barosun Hospital [Barosun = upstanding]

KTRolster(Manager Kwon Sa Il) has formed a strategic partnership with Barosun Hospital(Headed by Jin Gun Hyung), specializing in spinal and joint treatment.

On the 11th, KTRolster formed a strategic partnership with Barosun, located in Dobong Ku Chang Dong, Seoul, in a ceremony where players such as Reach, Flash and Stats attended.

KT says they pursued the partnership as awareness of the players' health and injuries increased, which was heightened by Flash's surgery, and thought it was necessary provide regular checkups and treatments for its players.

Barosun opened in May, 2005, and specializes in treating and rehabilitating patients with spinal or joint problems. They have participated actively in communal charity events, such as 'Briquets of love' and free health information sessions. Barosun said that, through this partnership, they wanted to help treat and rehabilitate people like progamers who are exposed to risk of injuries from repetitive use of joints.

By partnering with Barosun, KT will be able to take advantage of various services offered, such as regular checkups, injury treatments and meditation [don't ask]. At the end of the ceremony, KT players explored various rehabilitation facilities and workout devices provided by the hospital.

KT's Flash said that "I thank the hospital for partnering up with the progamers' health in mind. I hope this can serve as a chance for other players to be checked up and treat any problems that may be developing prematurely. I will do my best to promote Barosun in return."

Reach said "Repetitive wear on the joints is an occupational hazard for progamers; I think this partnership will be a win-win situation for both parties, as progamers will now have a chance to live a healthier life, and in return, we will promote the hospital."

Source: Daily E-sports

@rani0213:
You are very quiet on TV, but I heard you are quite the opposite in real life. How do you behave in your dormitory? Do you ever plan on showing your true colors on TV?

Calm: After having been in our dormitory for 7 years, I am now the most senior [not sure if he is the oldest, but he's been there the longest apparently]. Looking back to when I entered as a newbie 7 years ago, I try to live up to how the oldies treated me, but it is a lot of pressure. Through all those years of living together, I learned the importance of teamwork. I feel it is very important for the oldies to listen to and advise the young'ns with anything they may be struggling with. I believe it's called leading through listening. As a senior who is trying to do more listening than talking, I spare words and communicate my thoughts directly.

In our practice facilities and dormitory, I am the most senior, but I guess that doesn't come through on TV. I guess you want me to act cute or do some happy ceremonies [a la firebathero]... But I tend to care about my results greatly so I haven't been able to do much of that in the 10-11 season.

We had a workshop recently and somebody suggested that we as a team should approach our fans more, which I agree with. As the team's big brother, I will be sure to lead by example. You might not see funny, crazy YunHwan, but I will try to smile whenever possible.

@Leeyedawoon:
What do you do on your days off? Also please comment on your good looks in two versions: a more PC version for the public to read, and an honest version.

A: My teammates love running around. So on our off days we just stay and play soccer outside. Sometimes we play ping pong too. Recently, we saw a movie called 'In Time.' It carried the message that time is the most important resource we have, even moreso than money. It was a pleasurable experience.

I always thank my parents when I look in the mirror. They gave me good looks so I don't have to spend money getting plastic surgery. I personally think my piercing eyes are my strongest features. I don't put on makeup but alot of people ask if I do [Lots of male pop stars in Korea put on eyeshadow and mascara to achieve this effect, so it's a compliment, contrary to what many of you would think.]

@Azuray_:
I heard you are amazing at soccer. How would you summarize your strengths in soccer?

A: I have played soccer all my life. My older brother played in a league when he was in elementary school. I practiced alone while waiting for his practices to be over, and as a result, I became one with the ball. I think I played at least 2~3 hours every day. Since I am good at controlling the ball, I play forward where I get a lot of chances to show off my dribbling and shooting skills.

@kbc1335:
Rank your looks in STX.

A: My coaching staff says I am number 1. My coach, assistant coaches and even my head chief, who is good at rating looks, say 'You're the best' [A parody of a recent 2NE1 song 'I'm the best' = 내가 제일 잘나가] I am always thankful for this.

@Azuray_:
If you got a chance to meet up with Kal, who recently entered ACE, what would you want to say?

A: I am older than Kal, and also entered the team about 6 months earlier than him. Because of that, he always followed me like an older brother. Even after I became the oldest in the team, he would still come and joke around with me. After he left, I felt a bit empty and lonely. If he comes out on break and comes to our matches, I will buy him food or drinks. I believe he will fit in great in the army.

@num_32:
Your performance in the 10-11 season didn't really fit your title of STX's ace. What mentality are you approaching this season with? Also, tell me one good thing and bad thing about dormitory life [Oh boy]

A: This season, we don't have Kal on the team. We were called the two-horsed chariot, but after he left I felt the burden from his absence on my shoulders. I didn't perform well in season 10-11, but I think I hit my lowest. In 11-12, I am confident I will perform better, and to do so, I have been practicing very hard during the off-season, so I will restore my faith in my fans as the team's ace.

After having lived in a dormitory for a while, there aren't really any bad things. As my seniority rose, I was treated better and the young'ns follow me quite well. I have been trying to be a good mentor for them as well. We have been establishing a comfortable, family-like environment here. Honestly, because I spend more time with my teammates than with my parents, they feel like my blood-siblings.

@drave13:
Amongst your team members, is there anybody with a peculiar hobby or interest?

A: Not really. Since we all live similar lives on similar schedules, we also share hobbies and interests. If I had to choose, I would think Bogus. He has been watching all the episodes of a recent drama with a pretty actress. I think he is lonely now that he is going through puberty. I guess he is at the age where you want a girlfriend?

@redsheos:
What does cuteness mean with regards to Calm?

A: Nobody on the team calls me cute anymore. I think it's been a few years since I heard somebody call me cute. I'm already 23 years old. I am now an adult that needs to shave to avoid growing facial hair.

@benihil:
What is the one game that you are most proud of?

A: I met Bisu in the 2007 Proleague First Stage. The first set was on Peaks of Baekdu. Most people said I would lose, because he had just gotten famous for crushing Zergs left and right in the GomTV MSL. I studied his play very hard, and beat him after great plays from me. I was so happy that I even performed a ceremony after winning. It was my first time meeting him. Afterwards, I lost alot to him.



@VKRKO님의 질문입니다:
Along with Kal, you showed poor performance last season. Why do you think so?

A: If I had to give an excuse, it would be the elimination of entry announcements before matches. Every player in Proleague plays as hard as they can. They practice putting everything on the line. In my case, I perform at 120% when I know my opponent beforehand. I check through all their recent games, and come up with counters to their styles. But with the entry announcements gone, I could not study my opponent beforehand. I had to go through all of the players' games now.

That made it much harder for me to practice, and I tried to change up my style, but because the season was in progress, I couldn't adjust. The element that defined me as the brain zerg was gone [he was named brain zerg for his innovative builds]. I need to know everything about the opponent to perform well, so trying to play reactionary starcraft was very difficult. I pressured myself alot because I felt I had become just another Zerg.

@DraGoonHero:
Your favorite nickname? Is it Brain Zerg, or Conan Zerg? [Detective Conan is a famous comic book series in Korea depicting a young, but brilliant, detective who solves impossible cases. He wears big glasses like Calm]

A: I think I like Brain better than Conan. It sounds impressive. I also use my brain alot in real life. My older teammates used to say that I'm clever, or shrewd. Because I know my teammates' styles well, I perform well in intrateam tourneys. I watch VOD's of their games to analyze their playstyles and search for counters to their play. So it takes me a long time to prepare for games. I believe part of the reason for why they called me shrewd was because I put in the time to analyze their play [instead of just relying on game sense and mechanics].

@Be_Ever:
Your play deteriorated from mid-season, but you still performed well in individual leagues. How?

A: Same reasons as above. In individual leagues, I get to know my opponent ahead of time, so it's easy for me to prepare for them specifically. I can't prepare for my proleague opponents, on the otherhand, because I don't know who it will be. I can focus on very specific parts of the game [when preparing for individual league games] so I practice efficiently. That's why my individual league performance remained stellar.

@CrystalTheRain:
Your unit control, macro and decision making is renown, but your results have deteriorated. I feel that it may be because BW is so old and all viable strategies have been explored: what do you think? There are also people saying that because younger players have learned the mechanics for ZvZ and the matchup has become more of a coinflip based on build orders: what are your thoughts?

A: The Zerg race has an innate upper limit. Since Zerg needs to build on creep and can't proxy as a result, it's hard to devise creative builds. It is purely through mechanics and macro that the player wins. I always try to do something unexpected, but in terms of mechanics and macro, you are seeing the upper limit.

I want to explain ZvZ using proportions. Under the assumption that both players are equally skilled, the build with the upperhand has a 9:1 chance of winning. The only external variable is the nervousness of playing on live broadcast. If a player makes a micro mistake, the gap tightens, and at times, the game turns around. That's what's unique about ZvZ. Even if your skills drop, you can beat an S-class zerg through a good build order. The build order advantage is always present.

@ohoh505:
Proleague is about to start: what's your goal for number of wins this season? Also, how possible is it for STX to win this season?

A: My goal is to get in the top 5 wins this season. Please don't think of it as '1 after TBLS'. When I was at my peak, I performed around there. I just want to bring my performance back up to that. STX always has a chance to win. We just haven't been able to perform well during post-season games, but if we can break this jynx, we will be able to win, I believe.

@486202:
Where do you imagine yourself in 10 years? Do you put in a lot of attention to your looks? How is your older brother these days?

A: I hope to be working in the e-sports industry. When I was younger, I wanted to start my own business. If I am not coaching in 10 years, I will be running my own business.

I don't care too much for my looks. I just groom my skin a bit. Because I believe even men should pay attention to their skin, I wash and apply products often. I had alot of acne when I was younger, but after becoming a progamer, it went away [0_o].

My brother has been working after returning from the military.

@SS_Monologuer:
You always earn a seed in individual leagues, but rarely appear in the finals. Why?

A: I've been to the Ro4 often. I remember them very well. I lost to Flash, Jaedong and Fantasy once. I think I was suppressed by their momentum and gameplay each time.

@sususu2:
People say your pictures all look like magazine catalogues; are you sometimes awestruck by how good you look in pictures when you look at them?

A: I always go through all of my pictures once or twice a years. I search my own name and look for stuff. I make a distinction between pictures where I look bad and where I look good, but I've never been awe-struck by any. How can I do that to my own pictures (Laughs). I am always thankful towards the photographers. I want to take this opportunity to show my appreciation for them, and to ask them to continue applying photoshop effects to make my skin glow in the future. [I translated pretty liberally here]

@sususu2:
Do you play SC:BW with your brother?

A: Rarely. My brother asks me to, but I never accept. One time, he was so persistent that we went to a PC room nearby and played. I felt his skill deteriorated alot, so he played zerg and I off-raced as Terran. I lost to him on purpose, but told him "you improved alot" and he seemed very happy. I didn't tell him I lost to him on purpose.

@HaNe_Dreamer:
Excluding yourself, who looks good in real life?

A: Classic looks the best in real life. I know alot of you may think that odd, but if you look at him from the side, you can tell that he will look very good if he just corrected his jaw [a la Mind and Stats]. His skin is flawless: it is clean and white. I am jealous of his skin.

Source: Daily E-sports

It's hard to get a feeling of shrewdness from CJ Entus' Movie's looks. His face is round, and his eyes and nose are those of a stereotypical 'nice guy.' His thick-ish lips even exude a sense of clumsiness. Watching him play is even worse: his hands are slow. His hands are slow as hell. Just like his slow hands, and clumsy looks, he is also slow and clumsy in real life [ouch reporter, was this necessary?] However, during his interviews, at least he gets his point across in an articulate manner. He also has a great sense of humor. He is a person that says what he needs to, albeit slowly.

◆Are you surfing the web?
Movie's hands are slow. The average APM for progamers is between 300~400 these days, yet Movie's max APM is 230. That's with all the practice he has put in as a progamer: when he first entered, he had a hard time passing 200.

"When I first entered the CJ B-team lineup, I got yelled at alot for being slow. We had very strict rules, one of which was that if you were caught surfing the web, you would get yelled at to no end, pack your stuff and go home. One day, during the intrateam tournament, Coach Cho came to encourage the B-teamers. Then, he saw me and started running at me, screaming. He said 'Why are you surfing around the web during practice.' Then he saw that I was actually playing a game. He told me to move away from my chair for a bit and checked my other windows with Alt+tab. After seeing that nothing but starcraft was running, I was deemed innocent."

This was what had happened: other players were tapping away on their mouse and keyboard at blazing speed, and their screens were flickering back and forth between different parts of the map. However, Movie was playing so slowly: he only clicked when he needed to, and he pressed his hotkeys relatively peacefully. Coach Cho, having seen this from a far distance, thought he wasn't playing.

"It's understandable. The rate at which I surf the web is not much slower than how fast I play starcraft. I still win though. I don't think your hands need to be overly fast. You just need to issue the precise orders you need."



◆The forgotten one
Movie is one of the few to go down the legends of CJ's B-team. Along with Zerg user EffOrt and Terran user sKyHigh, the trio was dubbed the 'Troika' for securing spots in the starting lineup while in the B-team. However, even after having been CJ's ace, Movie is the least popular out of the three. Skyhigh became famous first by reverse-allkilling the Jaedong-led Hwaseung Oz in the 08-09 Winners League Finals, and Effort became famous with his reverse sweep against Flash in the 2010 Korean Air OSL finals. Movie's achievements pale in comparison: he lost to Flash in the 2009 Ever OSL finals, and never ranked in the top 5 most wins for Proleague.

"Everytime there was a critical match that I could use to spread my awareness, I failed. I wasn't able to convert the opportunities. In 2009 at the Ever OSL, I was contender for the trophy, but failed. I knew I would lose at the time, because I was tired from practicing for Proleague at the same time. However, when I actually lost, I was regretful. I lost the will to play and my performance took a nose dive."

During the 10-11 season, he revived with an all-kill in the Winners League. With Horang2 and Snow, he contributed to leading the 13-win streak of the CJ protoss lineup. Due to his efforts, CJ finished second, and got a ticket to the playoffs. However, when faced with another opportunity to raise his popularity, he failed yet again. And he became an enemy-of-state at that.

"During our match with KT, I met Zerg both times. I played against Action and HoeJJa. I thought I had a viable strategy for PvZ but I lost both games. Our team lost 0:2 to KT and had to hand over the ticket to the Proleague finals. Reading through the netizens' responses, they called me CJ's enemy-of-state. I despaired at the thought of not having lived up to my fans expectations again.



◆The lows are there for you to overcome
It's not an exaggeration to say that Movie's life has been riddled with adverse periods. When he was younger, he moved around between Seoul and rural towns, so he has virtually no friends. His parents both worked and had to relocate almost every year. Every time he felt he had made some friends, he would have to pack up again and roamed around like a nomad.

"As I moved around, I learned that everything is not a race. If you have a clear vision of what you want, and work slowly and steadily, you will achieve it some day. I moved between Seoul and Daejon about three times, and finally settled in Deajon. I was able to reconnect with friend I had made previously. After middle school, we didn't move, so we became best friends."

Movie considers getting second in the EVER OSL and the last-minute slump of 10-11 season a trauma he must overcome. He believes that although they are not pleasant memories, he can grow from them.

"I will be a new Movie in the 11-12 season. This is a very important period for me [as a progamer] as well. I am the second-oldest in CJ Entus. I must lead my juniors by example and we have the task of winning Proleague. To take it one step further and become a player that can represent all of e-sports, I must forget the past and move towards a good finish."

Movie came up with a big resolution with the 11-12 season impending. As he is now starting his 5th year as a progamer, he does not want to become a player without even a single league title. He learned alot from watching JangBi win the OSL or KT pull out a dramatic victory in Proleague.



"I often imagine 'what if I were the one on that stage' or 'what if CJ were the one on that stage.' I often have nightmares about it. It's not all stress, though. I like to think of it as a teaser to the ecstasy I will feel when I finally get to lift the trophy on stage. I will play my soul out to get a taste of that feeling."

Let's all watch Movie, who has slowly treaded his way as a progamer for the past 5 years, achieve his dreams and hopes in the culmination of his career during the 11-12 season.

Source: Daily E-sports