The first day of the quarterfinals featured Mini vs sSak and HiyA vs Snow in two best of three matches. The winners of the two matches will face one another in the semifinals next.
You advanced to the semifinals. How do you feel?
Before arriving at the stadium I was quite nervous but I guess I was fortunate. Coming back even in the last game, it felt like Lady Luck smiled on me.
You must have been worried over Mini who loves extremely unconventional play.
He's an unconventional player but his play is preordained. If you take a look at the patterns in his games he often uses a shuttle while teching to carriers so I came up with a strategy that countered that.
Your performance in the first game was flawless.
As I expected, Mini would either gas rush or zealot rush on the map. So I was able to tailor my play to deal with that.
You used wraiths in two sets.
The wraiths were an impromptu choice. I always only use goliaths but this time I thought I could take the lead by going wraiths.
How would you feel about four Terrans in the semifinals?
Honestly it would probably not be the best for the show but it would be good for me. (laughs) Since this was a best of three it was okay but if it was a best of five there would be a lack of maps to beat Protoss on. I'm also confident in my TvT so as far as I'm concerned, four Terrans is fine. (laughs) Honestly, even if Snow had advanced it probably wouldn't be so great for the show, I think. (laughs)
Any final words?
I was stressed out a lot today while practising, so I want to thank Yoon Chul (Snow) and Taek Yong (Bisu) for helping me.
Source: DES
You completed the Terran four in the semifinal. How do you feel?
I am pleased but somehow, even though I advanced, I feel sorry. I somewhat feel like a villain now. It's a relief I won but it's a peculiar feeling. (laughs)
Why do you feel like a villain?
Since me and sSak have advanced today, doesn't that mean there's four Terrans in the semifinals? While it's historically the first time this has happened I still feel like I should apologize to the commentators and the SBENU CEO Sonic. I'll do my utmost best to show the most entertaining games possible.
Many of the maps favored Protoss but it's four Terrans in the semifinals.
It's true there's a lot of Protoss maps. (laughs) But oddly they dropped out using nonsensical builds or builds that were out of touch with the world. I also cheered on the Protoss in sSak vs Mini but the Protoss just wasn't able to do anything and lost. If that happens then of course the Terran player has to advance.
It looked like you completely predicted your opponent's build in your game against Snow.
I expected the build roughly so I was able to to think of a strategy. Since the practice style has changed from before, players tend to use only builds they are confident in. So I was able to win easily.
Is there a reason for the Protoss weakness?
Weirdly the players were very nervous and made mistakes because of that. Both me and sSak were progamers for a long time so we use unorthodox strategies and are skilled in dealing with unconventional situations so we were able to get good results.
There's an anticipation of TheMarine's (commentator) transformation when it comes to casting a TvT.
It's a relief that the ex-Terran TheMarine is one of the commentators. I also dislike TvT. (laughs) With my agressive style there shouldn't be long macro wars. I'll do my best to show fun games.
You said your goal was to advance into the finals.
I really want to get into the finals. I don't like female singers (in general) so it's not because of IU but rather that I hate the 3rd/4th place match that I want to get into the finals. I really hate that I'm becoming the bad player among the four Terrans since I'm not so good at the mirror match-up.
Any final words?
I didn't think I'd go all the way into the semifinals when I started at the round of 32 and, also contrary to my expectation, it's four Terrans now. Viewers and fans may not like that but I'll start preparing as best as I can to show interesting games. I'll do everything in my power so that I can win this Starleague while showing good performance for the fans that still cheer on me.
Source: DES
Original interviews by Daily eSports journalist Lee Sora - sora@dailyesports.com
Shoutouts to QuickStriker for help with the translation <3
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