EPT
Some nice pictures of oov in a business suit are in the original link.
-You’ve been picked for the 26th live interview…
There aren’t any issues surrounding me, so thanks for choosing to interview me anyway. I hope everybody enjoys it.
-So what are you doing lately?
These days, I haven’t really been given specific things to do. It’s more of a preparation period, so sometimes I don’t have anything to do, and sometimes work piles up unexpectedly. It’s hard to predict how much work there will be, and it’s my first time even doing this kind of work, so I’m adjusting right now.
-What’s the most different thing from when you were a player?
I don’t get to play games. When I thought about being a coach, I thought I would be making build-orders myself, and teaching them to other players. I figured I would still be a trend-setter, just that I wouldn’t be on TV anymore. In reality, I’m too busy to play games now that I’ve become a coach. Acting-Manager Park Yong Un(SKT has yet to hire a permanent manager) has told me to try to train a Terran Starleague winner. I want to succeed at that goal, so Terran will be a big part of the team again.
-If it’s different from what you first expected, you must have some second thoughts.
It’s unfortunate that I can’t play as much, so I guess I’ll have to make the time for myself. I’m not a progamer, so I can’t just grab ahold of some of our main players and ask for a game, and I’m doing different work than previous coaches anyway. However, I think it’s okay to get some games with the team’s trainees (aspiring pro-gamers). I believe one day I can think of a new concept and lead a trend in BW. I’ve barely been able to play for one or two months now. But I played a few games on PGTour recently, and it wasn’t that bad. I think if I play 20~30 games, I’ll get my gaming instinct back.
-A lot of fans were shocked by your sudden decision to become a coach.
There were a lot of reasons behind it. Part of me wanted to rest a little. I had been considering retiring since early 2007, and Nada and Savior knew this. So I often said that I wanted to flare up one last time before I retired. It’s been 2 or 3 years since my wrist started to hurt as well. I got shots whenever my wrist hurt so I was able to keep playing, but at some point, I lost my drive. I have some other personal reasons, but I think it would be better not to mention those… Anyway, I gave up on trying going out with a bang. After that, gaming simply became uninteresting, and I was unmotivated. I was thinking about leaving e-sports entirely, but the company’s offer to coach came in around then.
-Is it just because gaming wasn’t fun anymore? Was there any pivotal reason for your retirement?
I joined when Boxer was still on the team, and the team has declined so much since then. It’s obvious what he’s going to think of us once he gets out of the military. Maybe he doesn’t remember, but I remember getting scolded by him on battle.net. I wanted to make a team that Boxer wouldn’t be ashamed of. So when I signed my contract, I didn’t even look at the money. I just left that to the team. There’s about a year and a half left, and I want to enter the army as someone I can be proud of. Some people ask, why are you lowering your value so willingly, but I think I’ve already earned a lot of money, and gained a lot of things. I’ve done so little for the team, compared to how much the team has done for me. It was time for me to repay them. That lead me to become a coach.
-Did your poor performance in 2006 make you decide to retire?
I didn’t retire because of my performance. I’ve never cared much about performance.
I never won a league because I was striving to win it. When leagues are announced, I don’t think “it would be nice if I won,” I think “It must be nice for whoever whoever wins.” I just say that I try, because televised interviews won’t stop until you do. In the tournament I entered trying to win, I was knocked out in the round of 16(laughs). It might seem selfish, but I’ve never been stressed out because of performance, or used poor performance as motivation to do better.
-How did you become a progamer?
I actually became a pro so I could quit Starcraft. When I first started playing, I couldn’t do anything else. If I went off to study, I’d find myself at a PCbang playing games. Daily life in itself was that difficult. So I thought maybe if I actually went on TV and played, things would get better. And now, I finally quit (laughs). Right now, I don’t have any particular withdrawal symptoms when I don’t play.
-What was your happiest moment as a progamer?
Interesting, whenever I was winning a final, I would think ‘How much money have I earned up to now?’ and set specific plans to buy a house. When I was young, my family never owned a home. My father had some really peculiar thinking about homes. He didn’t think they were particularly important, and I really hated that. When my family started to face financial difficulties, my mother wanted to take me and live together somewhere else. Even now, I take the subway everywhere and try to save money. Recently, my mom acquired a home through Jeonsae (a form of real estate rental, where one puts down a very large deposit which is returned at a later date). I think that was when I was the happiest. Whenever I earned money, I’d give almost all of it to my parents. I went to my hometown one day, and saw that we had a different house. I felt so much happier than when I had won a tournament.
-Conversely, when did you feel the most regretful?
That would be now. I haven’t beaten Savior in an official game yet, and I haven’t filled 100 matches vs Nada yet. I’m still regretting those now.
-You were the one who started doing edgy interviews mocking your opponents, what made you do so?
I always used interviews strategically. That’s why I would mock my opponents, or pretend to be strong. I thought all of that was momentum, and I would even ask my fans to post things on message boards like “ILoveoov is really good” etc. When I played JulyZerg in the Starleague final, I thought mentality was particularly important. Honestly, I was scared and nervous. After I admitted he was a strong opponent and said honestly what I felt, I was able to go into the game with confidence and get a good result.
-When do you think your prime was?
I think it was during the IBM Team League. I felt like I was the strongest when I 4-0’d the GO team. Over a longer period of time, I’d say it was when I won the MSL 3 times in a row. The OSL victory after winning 3 MSLs was very difficult. My momentum had slowed down, and games weren’t going as well as before.
-What do you think of your relationship with Nada?
I was in a small, elite guild with Nada a long time ago. The Game-I ranking system added the total scores of all guild members, but our guild only had 19 members. The only Terrans were me and Nada. Nada then went on iTV and beat chrh, and became a progamer. At that time, I knew Nada, but he didn’t know me that well. After I joined Dongyang (precursor to SKT1), I played in the Four Kings special event tournament, which is where I first met him.
- There’s a rumor that you changed from Random to Terran in order to beat Nada.
That isn’t true. While I was playing games with Yellow, I asked him “What race should I play?” He replied “Play Terran.” A long time ago, Yellow accused me of map-hacking. After I joined Dongyang I played many games with him, and asked what my weakest points were, which is when he told me to play Terran. (if this paragraph makes no sense, it’s because it doesn’t in Korean either).
- So you couldn’t reach 100 games vs Nada.
It’s fun to play against Nada. It would probably be fun even now. Maybe it’s because I won, but I can feel mind games from the very start of the game. When I play vs Boxer, I get nervous. He always scouts fast, so I feel like I’m starting with a disadvantage somehow. Maybe Nada feels the same way about me.
-You say you have regrets about Savior.
I didn’t beat him even once. He was coming up fast, and I was slumping when we played. I wish we had played when we were both playing well. I really regret it.
-Are you close with Nada and Savior personally?
I’m not that close with Nada on a personal basis, we don’t go out to drink or anything. Actually, I don’t do that with any progamers. Sometimes I take amateurs out to drink or eat to thank them for practicing, but otherwise I don’t invite people out to meet privately. Kingdom and I are very different in that respect. I don’t even have that many numbers stored on my cellphone. Since a long time ago, I haven’t prepared for finals by practicing with other progamers. On a side note, some of the amateurs that practiced with me have joined the team. Word goes around that by being my practice partner, you can join the team.
- Any particular reasons you practiced with Amateurs?
The way I play is to create a pattern where I have an advantage, and then crush my opponents with momentum. That way my opponent can’t play with 100% of his skill. That’s why I think mind-games are more important than skill. Anyway, it became harder and harder to practice with Amateurs. All the other pro-teams swept them up, so it became difficult to find amateur gamers to practice with.
- What do you think of the discussion surrounding “Bonjwa?”
The standard for being ‘good’ changes all the time. I think Bonjwa is simply being recognized by people. Bonjwa is someone who everyone is forced to recognize, all the people in the industry, the fans, and even his detractors. It would be silly to declare myself a Bonjwa, but I think it’s correct that Boxer, Nada, and Savior were Bonjwas. A player recognized by all the fans can become a Bonjwa.
-Who do you think is the Terran to succeed ILoveoov?
I don’t know. I thought Canata could do it, but he is not aggressive enough. He needs to get over that. When you play, you have to start off with a mind to turn the game into a rape. If you do that, you’ll at least get a win. If you decide to go to Seoul, at least you’ll get as far as Kyeon-gi province (the province Seoul is located in).
-You say you want to make a Terran winner within 18 months, which players are showing potential?
I told all the terrans on the team that I want to train a winner, and make terran an important part of the team again. If there are no prospects, then I’ll have to find some new ones. Right now, Fantasy has the most potential. His strength is that he absorbs things very quickly, but his weakness is that he is too introverted. But we can change that.
-How is chemistry with Kingdom?
We took an MBTI test (some psychology/personality test), and we came out as complete opposites. It’s true in real life. Anything I say, his opinion is different from mine. However, we don’t fight, and reach compromises fairly well. Though our personalities differ, I think we work well together.
-What are your future goals?
When I didn’t try to win, I started to play better, and I ended up winning. That’s my style. I hope that works for the team as well. Just play, get stronger, and then maybe we’ll have a terran winner.
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