EPTTmG Exclusive Blackman Interview
Tuesday 16th August 2005, 14:42 .
The long awaited interview with the out of retirement player Blackman is finally here. He discusses his plans for the future, memories of the past, and his opinions on todays broodwar scene.
Read on for the interview.
TmG: Hey, it is good to see you back to starcraft.
BM: Hi, i am also happy to be back.
TmG: Let us kick off with standard informations to refresh our memory: name/age/location?
BM: Artur Michalak/19/Poland
TmG: Since we are speaking about your return, tell us what insipired you to change your mind? You have been inactive for quite a long time.
BM: WCG is coming, and i participate in this tournament every year. I am going to have a lot of fun this time.
TmG: Even if you lose?
BM: Well, i have lost many times already, yet i always return. At first everyone can be pissed off, but later, when the ambiency calms down, it is good to come back and fight again. It is the only chance to win.
TmG: You have been absent roughly over a year. Explain to us, what have you been doing during the break.
BM: A lot of other activities were waiting for their turn to come. In September 2004 i started the last year of high school and i wanted to graduate it with a good result. And i succeeded. Soon i start studies in Warsaw Univeristy of Technology in the faculty of Electonics and Information Technology.
TmG: Does it mean that you are moving to the capitol?
BM: Yes, it is. From October 2005 i will probably be living in the capitol or at least in the vicinity. It is also connected with new way of activity. I have hope to conduce to the e-sports growth in some measure. But now i still can not tell much to this subject. Everything will be clear when i am there and start studying.
TmG: You have mentioned the e-sport. How does the Polish starcraft scene look like at the moment?
BM: Well, i can not tell you much about it. I have not been there for quite a long time, and still i have not been showing there too often. I know though that since the year 2002 the scene has expanded a lot. The players have increased their gaming level. You can see the successes of Polish National Team, WGTour results, occassional Showmatches, Tournaments (PGTour for instance), Netwars.pl gaming portal. The gaming community is growing fast, it is worse with the media though. We do not get much interest from them, what is normal in this country, and wierd outside it.
TmG: Let us get back to your person now. The information about your return had a lot of interest in the net. It seems that despite your long break you are still very popular. Moreover some people tend to copy you and even fake you. Tell us how does your gaming look like now? What race do you play now and what about your skills?
BM: I am still playing zerg, with the same style i once created. It is a long road to being in a good gaming condition, but i am working on it. A friend of mine said once that playing is like bicycle riding, you can not forget it. I think that if you were good once then you will always be at least avarage.
TmG: You seem to have much popularity since your return to the competitive Broodwar scene. It appears that you are a national icon in Poland. What is your opinion of all this fame and popularity.
BM: Fame is not as nice as most people think. Sometimes you can not have a second of silence. Even during the games some people tend to message me and believe me it can drive crazy. A while ago i accepted that i can do nothing to fight those faking me. Although it does not mean that it does not make me angry.
TmG: It surely can be frustrating. Do you often go to the LANs? What was your top winning prize?
BM: I do not go to the tournaments frequently, with one exception which is WCG. My top winning prize was in 2002 during WCG in Korea. I got the third place and collected 5000$. I was 16 then and this was hell of a prize for me. Earlier, before i became known, i used to play in local online tournaments organised by Arena.pl (now Netwars.pl). I remember i won a cellular, TV tuner and some cash in such tournaments.
TmG: You were very young back then at WCG. Probably the youngest player ever to take one of the top3 spots. And one of so few of the foreign players as well. Certainly a lot of people would like to know the secret of such success. I realize that the victory in starcraft does not depend on hand speed, but on the skills and experience. How did you manage to become so high-skilled back in 2002?
BM: I played a lot then. Like 12-14 hours a day, and mostly with better players than me. You learn a lot more then, however i think that giving maximum capabilities from yourself every game is most important here, as well as winning. It does no matter against who.
TmG: You are very fast player. Your APM reaches 300 actions per minute. Were you that fast back then in 2002 too?
BM: I remember that before i went to Korea the fastest clicking man on earth was Chojja. People were bringing themselves to a climax watching his POVs. I, however, did not watch any VODs or POVs. I did not see his speed. I just played. And when i was to experience this live in Korea i said to myself: "i can do it as well". From then on i started clicking faster and more accurate without any special training before. And indeed, i have become very fast then. It was a big surprise there. I remember that after every game i played, especially after the one with Odyssay, all the referees were standing behind me tapping me on the shoulder and saying: "good good". It was so amazing. Later, when i was out of competition, i played a friendly game with Autumn and the situation was similar. Before the match there was almost no-one watching. After the match, when i looked behind my back, there were crowds.
TmG: This really had to be amazing. You must have great control and reflexes. Do your strategies come to you as intuitively as the speed? There were rumours that you were making special maps in Starcraft Editor and the computer was playing like, for example, Boxer?
BM: Well, it was long time ago. But, in fact, there were some kind of maps, when i did not have any decent internet connection at home (i was using a modem then). The computer did not play like Boxer though. It can not micro, so there is no comparision. They could teach timing a lot, but nothing more. I have never popularised them to anyone and i will not. As to strategies, i think up most of them before the game. At first, years ago, i was having a close eye on the mechanics of Starcraft. I remember i was reading the articles of Tsunami's, Zileas' and many other players i can not remember now. There used to be a damage calculating program of some sorts. Learning all this was hell of a work to do. And when i came to know the mechanics, i made my strategies. Actually, the game was everywhere inside my head. I could imagine whole games, i was calculating the time to do this or that. Now a lot of things are more or less obvious to me. I see and know what to do. But it is much harder to put a strategy into effect during the game and chaos is everywhere. It is hard to concentrate one one thing then.
TmG; Starcraft is rather an old game, but its magic still works. How do you think why does just this game achieve such a great success?
BM: I think Starcraft is on the top thanks to its perfect complexity and great multiplayer mode. The game absorbs a lot of attention and there is no escape from it when you reach the higher ground. It is like in hell: once you sell your soul there is no turning back. You can only love it. Embrace the flames and enjoy the game.
TmG: Do you play often nowadays and with whom?
BM: I do not play that much as i used to. Usually like 4-5 hours a day. Many other activities take my free time. All in all, long-time gaming can be exhausting. A man needs to rest sometimes. If i am to play though, i usually play with old friends, like Aquarius or Slog4. I often play arranged matches as well.
TmG: You are training for WCG 2005 lately. What do you think are your chances to win this time?
BM: Well, i do not expect much from myself but i am full of energy. I have hope not to be defeated like i was a year ago after first two games. It will be hard to win. Only one goes to Singapore.
TmG: You have joined a new BW team called Trademark Gamers. Many people tend to think that it is a joke. Did you join them for real and are you guys doing good there?
BM: This informations is for real. The team is still crawling, but i am sure it will be big pretty soon. We put a lot of work in it so that it goes for the best.
TmG: Why TmG?
BM: I have a few friends there, the atmosphere is good and there are profits.
TmG: Recent news has unveiled mYm's Broodwar Division, featuring both Draco, and Rave, two up and coming competetive polish players. What opinions do you have on this?
BM: It is sad that they are not with us in the team, but it is good to see mates going their way and doing good. If we are to clash in battle we will fight to death. I wish them good luck in the future anyway.
TmG: Do you plan to play Starcraft still in future?
BM: Of course yes. And if i am not able to participate the Starcraft World as a player i hope to be at least a technical support or something like that.
TmG: Thanks for the interview. Would you like to add anything?
BM: I wish to send greetings to all my friends. Thanks.
yours truly
roger
