EPTI wanted to get the thoughts of the two finalists on both the end of Brood War and the finals themselves so I talked to them at the Proleague match Tuesday between SKT and Khan. They didn't have very much time to spare, but thanks to them for agreeing to talk to me for a few minutes. Big apologies for all the background noise in the interviews.. we didn't really have anywhere good to conduct the interviews and I can't afford a nice camera or microphone right now. Thanks to Supernovamaniac for translating!
The Finalists
JangBi had won 4 major tournament silver medals, and finally got first place in the Jin Air OSL Finals last season, almost a year ago, beating Fantasy 3-2 getting revenge for his teammate Stork whom Fantasy had beaten in the previous season's finals (Bacchus 2010). He is currently #3 in Kespa rankings, and beat #2 Flash in this OSL's group stage.
Jangbi: "I want to go 3-0 to secure the win, but for the fans I want it to be 3-2 with great games."
+ Show Spoiler [Interview] +
Fantasy has a silver mouse (my term for 3 OSL second places) and one OSL first place. He has won 28 of the 32 Brood War games since he played Jangbi last season, and hasn't lost in BW to a Protoss since those finals almost a year ago. He is currently #1 in Kespa rankings, and beat #2 Flash 3-0 in the semifinals. He has not lost a single game yet this OSL.
Fantasy: "I want revenge for last season... I will win 3-0."
+ Show Spoiler [Interview] +
Fantasy is currently up 7-6 against JangBi over their careers, unless you count offline preliminaries in which case JangBi is up 8-7.
I have talked to the OGN producers about the OSL finals a few times in the last couple months... talking about foreign fans that have been watching OSL for years online and how many are happy that OGN is starting to make their shows more available to the "foreign" audience.
OGN is excited about its foreign fans, and wants to do something to give back to the foreign community who has followed Brood War from afar, so we decided to do an English stream for the finals. TorcH and I will be casting live from Jamsil Student Gymnasium in Seoul, with Supernovamaniac alongside to translate the opening and closing ceremonies/interviews. Due to logistics, it will just be English audio over the Korean video stream, but it will be streamed at:
http://www.twitch.tv/ogn_star2
It's a dream come true to have gone from discovering the OSL online 5 years ago and being amazed at this crazy mystical world across the sea where nerds are kings, to being here in Korea working at OGN. I'm super excited to finally be able to officially cast a major Brood War finals once before there aren't any more. I've got nerd chills, as well as nerd tears welling up in my eyes... but I do believe Brood War's time has come, and I hope we can enjoy an epic finale together and think of it as the beginning of a new era as well.
Related Links:
NukeTheStars Hype Video Thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=357644
Finals Live Report: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=357247
Location Info: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=353653
FANTASTIC Hype Thread from Jin Air finals (last season): http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=265636
GTR's Media Day Coverage: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=356858
Funny fake translation of last finals' opening interviews, with fun facts about JangBi in the video description.
Bonus Interviews with Stork/Bisu about transitioning to SC2 if you're interested
+ Show Spoiler +
Stork:
Bisu:
I hope at least you will let Sayle do his own casting, he is the only BW caster for me.
