[Spoilers] eSTRO vs CJ Winners' Interview

eSTRO's hyvaa took his 29th victory of the season, defeating CJ's sKyHigh in the first set.

The following is the interview with Hyvaa.

- Your thoughts on your team's 3-match winning streak?
▲ I read an article before we came here to the stadium today. It was written that our team would go on a 3-match winning streak every round. We felt good about today's match, and somehow felt that we could go on a 3-match winning streak. We are amazed that we managed to record a 3-match winning streak today, and we want to go beyond and claim the record of '4-match winning streak' in our next match against SKT1.

- You lured your opponent's bionic army with just 4 zerglings. Was this intentional?
▲ Skyhigh abandoned his play style and played standard, but my build was weak against standard play. I saw his bionic army with my zerglings and I thought he would fall back. But he continued to advance so I fought with my zerglings, and I won that battle, hence I was able to take the game with ease. It was not an intentional play, and it just occurred while I was checking his army size, so I was rather lucky.

- When did you feel that you had won?
▲ It was when I killed his bionic army with my zerglings.

- You are now at 29 wins, and just 1 win left to 30 wins.
▲ Going by the number of wins, I should be satisfied but I have lost too many games. I think that any player who was sent out the same number of times as I was could have gotten the same results. My senses were alive during practice, but my end results weren't satisfactory. I lost too many games disappointingly, but there is still the remainder of Round 4 and Round 5 left, so after the end of this season, I want to have a satisfactory record.

- What record is satisfactory to you?
▲ As what I revealed previously, I must get my winning rate to above 60% to be satisfied.

- Your next opponent will be SKTelecom T1's Thezerg.
▲ I watched many of his games. He plays well and I don't know if people think I'm the only friendly one, but we actually share builds and help each other a lot. We discussed many strategies that were viable on God's Garden, so I think there will be many mind games going on (when we face each other). That is why I think it will be a tough match, but I will work hard and try my best to win.

- Anything you wish to specially say?
▲ I wish to say thanks to KTF's Shine hyung and WeMade FOX's Mind. And recently, gaming has become so much more fun. I don't know if it's because I've been riding on our team's recent great momentum, but I have gotten a lot of confidence. I hope everyone can look forward to me.

eSTRO's SangHo recorded his 20th win of the season after he defeated CJ's Much in the second set.

The following is the interview with Sangho.

- Your team is now on a 3-match winning streak.
▲ After we defeated Hwaseung 3:0, our next opponent was Air Force ACE. If we had won ACE then we would have already recorded a 3-match winning streak and we would have been on a 5-match winning streak now, so it's kind of disappointing. We have recorded 3-match winning streak many times, so I think it's important for us to set an even better record and therefore, our next match against SKTelecom T1 will be even more important.

- You went the exact 4-gate build as your opponent.
▲ I was under attack by my opponent at the center of the map, and our army size was similar so I immediately realised that he also went 4-gate. I decided on going 4-gate just yesterday night, so I did not practice this build a lot. I did not anticipate my opponent going 4 gate so I prepared with knowledge and experience I gained from playing on other maps. The builds coincided well, so i was able to take the game with ease.

- The key point seemed to be going fast dark templars.
▲ If Much immediately built an observer then it would have been easily defended. But he went for observer after shuttle, so I was able to push my army in, and as long as I didn't make any mistakes, I knew I would win.

- You were on a 4-game losing streak against Protoss.
▲ I did not know that I was on a 4-game losing streak against Protoss. Even if I had known that, I would not have lost confidence. I am always confident in playing against Protoss, regardless of whom it may be.

- With your win today, your winning rate is now exactly 50%, with 20 wins and 20 losses.
▲ I get this question asked a lot. I used to be on a 80% winning rate with 12 wins 3 losses, but I suddenly lost so many games that my winning rate dropped drastically to 50%, which I feel is very unfortunate. I want to work hard and end off (the season) with a good record.

- You will be facing SKTelecom T1's fantasy next.
▲ Fantasy has been playing very well lately, and I feel that he plays well whenever I watch him play. I expect a tough match, but in order for us to go on a 4-match winning streak, they are opponents we have to defeat. We will do our best and prepare to our fullest.

eSTRO's Really recorded his 27th win of the season by defeating CJ's Iris in the 4th set, sealing the team's victory.

The following is the interview with Really.

- You sealed your team's 3-match winning streak record with your hands through your victory.
▲ I am very glad. I just playfully told Upmagic to lose, but he really lost so I felt a bit sorry, but on the other hand, I won so I'm happy.

- You yourself is now on a 3-game winning streak.
▲ I don't feel anything special about it. I kept alternating between losing and winning, so I think I'll have to go on a longer winning streak to be happy. I think I'll have to go on at least a 5-match winning streak to be happy.

- You were on a 3-game losing streak against Terran.
▲ Luck has not been on my side recently, and I always went builds were I ended up starting at a disadvantage, so my results had not been good. But now, I am trying to my best so that I will win regardless of what build I go for.

- You didn't start off well today either.
▲ I knew about my opponent's proxy rax and that his expo was late. My opponent saw my every move and played accordingly, but I did not pay much attention. I had confidence in winning late into the game with vultures anyway. My opponent pressured with mines, but I did not receive any damage so I thought I was in an okay situation.

- Your timing rush became a bin-jip attack. (T/L note: Search 'bin-jip' here)
▲ It wasn't intentional but I saw that his army was advancing with my mines. My additional units were being built so I could defend with that, and even if I were to be contained, it didn't matter. I wanted to contain his army at his nat, but there were less units than I thought, so I gained a lot of points from there.

- When did you feel that you had won?
▲ It was when I did more damage than I thought at my opponent's natural expansion.

- You are so close to getting 50% win rate, with a current record of 27 wins and 28 losses. However, you always failed to go beyond 50% win rate.
▲ I will soon exceed the 50% win rate. It has got to do with my skills, but it also had to do with my poor mindset. As I mentioned previously, it was because of psychological factors, and also because of my loss in confidence after losing continuously. Now that I have picked up my momentum, I will continue winning more often and compensate for all my previous losses.

- You will next be facing SKTelecom T1's BeSt in the first set.
▲ Best's game tends to be a macro-based game, so I expect it to be fun. I will play with the mindset of getting past early game without any troubles and dragging the game until late-game and win. If my opponent is heavily macro-based, I have confidence and it is also the style which I am comfortable with.

- Any final words?
▲ I think our team can get into the top half of the rankings. It would be good if we can all practice hard and end off well in Round 5. I think we can at least climb up to the 7th rank.