Hello again, everyone! We’re back with another set of interviews from the remaining 4 qualifiers for the Round of 8 of the NoisE Amateur StarLeague Season 2! Fox.KivA graciously did another round of interviews with Wallace, Dr.Shrinker, NoisE, and WandS. Enjoy and be sure to follow the ASL2!

Hello Wallace! It is nice to meet you. Please introduce yourself to the people.

Wallace: Hi all! I am Wallace(OD) and my real name is Mihail Tomov and I've been playing BW for 5-6 years now. I love BW and this is the best game! ^_^

How are you feeling after beating Bd.Makin 3:2?

Wallace: I feel great! Makin is definitely a strong player and I felt really happy after that I was able to beat him.

Congratulations on that! Ok, so how have you been and practicing for this league?

Wallace: Well, I've been playing some games on fish and couple of games with my friend TechnicS who helped me as well.

You came to quarter-finals already, which player did you struggle against the most?

Wallace: I have to say all of my opponents were really good players. I struggled against Makin the most since his T is really solid. I also struggled against Fold too who seemed to have prepared well and played really good too.

Who do you think the most difficult opponent will be in this league?

Wallace: Hm.. With Rush not participating in this league, I would probably say that it is wands. He is really strong and already a B- player. I also think everyone that made it to the Ro 8 are really good players and it will get tougher until the end.

What is your goal for this tournament?

Wallace: My goal is to go as further as I can. Last season, I reached the semi-finals so I guess now I will be aiming for the finals. And my other personal goal is to reach the blue ranks as soon as I can.

You will need to beat 2 more players in order to reach the final, how are you going to prepare?

Wallace: I will try to play a lot of games and practice as much as I can.

What do you think of this whole ASL2 league?

Wallace: I think it is really well organised like last season. I would like to thank Shimy, sponsors, and other staff members who are helping this league!

I also think it is really fun tourney overall, it helps yellow ranks get motivated to play more games. And become better in result.

Well thank you for sharing time and answering all these questions. Final shout outs to the people?

Wallace: Yes of course. I want to give a shout out to all involved in the making of ASL2, the players, the viewers and last but not least, the entire BW community that is still going strong. Also I would like to thank TechnicS for helping me a lot by analyzing and playing games with me. So BIG thanks to him! :D

Hihi Dr.Shrinker! It is nice to meet you. Tell everyone a little about yourself.

Dr.Shrinker: Hello!

24/M/Norway. Been playing on and off since '09 I believe. Most people know me for streaming I guess.

You beat PluS 3:2 in the group stages. How do you feel?

Dr.Shrinker: It was really close, so it felt good being able to bring it home in the last game. As I knew very little of Plus and his play I opted for standard builds and hoped I could outplay him. Wouldn't say it worked out fine, but it worked out in the end so I'm pleased.

How have you been preparing for this ASL2?

Dr.Shrinker: I've just massed games really, I haven't worked out timings on certain builds etc. I could however really use a good protoss practice partner as I struggle a lot in that matchup. Mirror matchups are awful.

You are already in the Ro8, which player gave you the toughest battle?

Dr.Shrinker: Plus. Had some tough games vs fold and my_game on Outsider in the groupstages - luckily I won them both.

Who are you most fearing in the next stages of the tournament?

Dr.Shrinker: Wands. I'd really like to meet him next and battle it out. His PvP is really good, so it would be cool to shut him down.

What is your goal for this tournament?

Dr.Shrinker: Second place is the first loser, so I wouldn't aim for anything less than first place. Honestly though I didn't have too much expectations coming into this tournament given there are a lot of strong players attending. Gotta focus on the next game and take it from there.

You will need to beat 3 more players in order to win this tourney, how are you going to prepare?

Dr.Shrinker: I've never really sat down and worked on timings etc. on certain builds, and knowing myself I probably won't do it this time either. Depends a bit on which opponent I'll face, but I have to improve my PvP and PvZ, so I'll probably focus on that. If I get a zerg I'll hopefully locate Modesty and play with him.

How do you feel about the tournament’s organization?

Dr.Shrinker: It's been really good. Helpful admins, flexibility when it comes to dates and times when rescheduling. The only thing I dislike a bit was the format used in the groups as I think it rewards those who does not show up on day one. If you are confident that you can take out the players in your group there isn't too much point in attending the first day which I dislike. Other than this it's been flawless.

Thank you so much for your time! Any shout outs you would like to make?

Dr.Shrinker: Shoutout to the organizers, casters and to everyone who is involved making this as good as it is. I'd also like to give credit the writers on TL for keeping the scene up to date with news, write-ups and interviews. Job well done!

Hey there Noise! It is nice to meet you and please introduce yourself to the people.

NoisE: Hey! I'm Noise aka Shotcoder. I'm a C+ Terran and current manager of Team Fox in GC cup and member of AoV.

How are you feeling after winning against Action by 3:1?

NoisE: I'm feeling extremely confident,at least in TvT hahaha. Every game went according to plan except game 1 and game 4.

Alright, so how have you been and practicing for this league?

NoisE: I can't tell you that. Can't be giving up my secrets!

You are already in the Ro8 after some tough matches. Who gave you the hardest struggle?

NoisE: I struggled a lot with Shrinker in the Up-down, his play is really strong.

That being said, who do you fear the most in the upcoming stages?

NoisE: I think Shrinker or Wands are the most difficult. They are really strong, although I am scared of ihufa because his TvZ at this level is so strong.

What is your goal for this tournament?

NoisE: Honestly I have already exceeded my goal. I was inactive for so long and actually was planning on staying with LoL, but now I expect to make the RO4 at least.

You will need to beat 3 more players in order to win this tourney, how are you going to prepare?

NoisE: I'm going to do exactly what I did to beat Action. Understanding my opponent is always the first step.

How has the tournament been run so far?

NoisE: I think it's been fantastic. I didn't like the way the Up-Down worked because it favored those who played weaker opponents in the last couple rounds. But other than that I am excited at ehat Shimy and the Organization has done.

Alright, thanks for answering all the questions. Any shout outs for closing?

NoisE: Shout out to team fox! You guys have motivated me and helped me a lot this ASL. Ty so much!

Hi WandS! Tell everyone a bit about yourself!

WandS: Hi everyone.

I am WandS from Ontario, Canada and I am a student majoring in Psychology. I started playing StarCraft back in the summer of 2000 when my friend was playing the demo. Right away when I got home, I downloaded the shareware demo version where you are stuck playing terran vs. terran on one map. At the time I was really young and naive and I thought the limited features of the shareware version were what the game was so I got bored and quit after a week. A year later I spotted another friend playing the same game, but with Zerg this time and I was baffled with all these neat new things. My friend kindly lent me the game and I’ve been hooked ever since. Over the years I have been playing team games, ums maps, and in-house 1on1 games with my friends on USEast casually on and off. When my friends up and left for WarCraft 3 in 2004 I still wanted to play Brood war in my spare time and that’s when I stumbled upon Teamliquid.net where they introduced me to WGTour and iCCup ladders.

Also over the past decade, I’ve enjoyed being a lurker reading Teamliquid threads and posts. When NoisE ASL was introduced 6 months ago, that’s when I wanted to come out of hiding and put in the hours to compete in the grand stage.

It’s been an enjoyable ride so far pushing my limits in Brood war and to see how far I can go with this.

How do you feel after beating Espiritu 3:1?

WandS: Initially I felt relieved because I was really worried I was going to lose the series when Espiritu tied the series at 1-1. And then I quickly felt pumped knowing I am in the Ro8. Espiritu was a very tough Terran opponent - so beating him in a Bo5 made my day.

Awesome! Tell us a little about your practice for this league.

WandS: During the summer, I had the perfect practice routine. My team leader, BOSS.KisS would find a practice partner for me to practice for hours on a particular race & map for the day. He also took the time to watch over a lot of my games to point out all the mistakes I¡¯ve made and show me what I have to improve on.Although ever since school started in September ? BOSS team has been inactive and my time has been very limited. I have to take every game I play to heart now.

Sometimes even when I walk between classes or places like the grocery store ? I try to analyze my StarCraft games in my head.

YWho do you believe will be the most difficult person in the league?

WandS: Wallace will be the most difficult opponent for me. He's a jack of all trades with many different strategies up his sleeves. You never know what he's going to do which makes it that much harder to prepare against someone of his caliber. It was no fluke he made it to the semi-finals in the last ASL and I expect him to go far again in ASL2.

What is your goal right now?

WandS: My goal is to win this tournament. I was so close in winning the last ASL that I've felt empty ever since. I want to feel full again.

Only 3 matches away before you are able to fulfill that goal. How are you going to prepare?

WandS: I am going to take it one step/one opponent at a time. All the spare time I can find will go towards in playing Brood war. If I can dig out any information on the player I am playing then that¡¯s a bonus, but as of right now there are many areas in my game play that I know I can work on.

What does this tournament mean to you?

WandS: This whole ASL2 tourney means a lot to me. 10 years ago I felt an indescribable bliss when I won my local 2 vs. 2 Brood War LAN tournament. I trained for weeks preparing for the tournament and to see it was all worth it at the end was priceless. At the time - I never knew Brood War was going to be so big to the e-sport it is today so school, sports, and other hobbies always came before StarCraft. Then over the years I read the success stories of StarCraft players and I became really envious of them. I had the feeling of regret of not pursuing e-sports for the longest time. Before the ASL - there were tournaments too high of a skill that I felt it was too late to dedicate my time to have an impact in the scene. Then came the news of the ASL and my eyes lit up - this was as close as it could get to e-sports and the perfect tournament to push me into bigger horizons. One day I want to get rid of 'the regret' and rekindle that same feeling I had 10 years ago.

Sincerest thanks to you for spending time with me for this interview. The mic is yours! Shout outs?

WandS: I'd like to thank the players:
Alec, BOSS.Man, DragOn, DraW, dsyxelic, Ezail, fold, Game, KisS, KniF, Kiva, LML, Madclaw, Madinho, Mewka, NoisE, Quirinus, orz, Reclusive, sizz123, White, Zimp to helping me become the player I am today.

I'd also like to thank the Brood war staff and commentators for dedicating their time to make Brood war the best experience ever: Shimy, Eywa-, Statos, Shiroiusagi, EleGant, Hacklebeast, and Sayle.
And lastly my girlfriend Angie in supporting my Broodwar dream.

Sponsors: NoisE, Reclusive, and Sayle
Organization: Shimy
Casters: EleGant & Hacklebeast
Staff: Quirinus and Eywa-
Graphics: Shiroiusagi
Media Director: Stratos