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Aotearoa39261 Posts
Welcome to the second 20Q20A! SeleCT chose his team mate, SjoW, to be the next person to be interviewed - so here he is! SjoW is one of the strongest Terrans in Europe. He has posted numbers strong tournament results, in particular he made the Top 4 of the most recent TL Open. He has been signed as a player for Dignitas who flew him out to participate in MLG Raleigh where he finished 5th overall.
Let's get to know SjoW a little bit better:
1. What is your background, as a gamer?
I started playing Nintendo 8bit when I was 7 and I loved it. My love for games developed into a love for computer games, mainly Starcraft.
I remember how I could play for hours against the computer on Starcraft and never get tired of it. Later I started playing Warcraft 3.
That's where I started playing competitively when I realized you could make money through gaming. I played it semi professional for 3 years and quit 2007.
2. Which European country do you think is the strongest in SC2?
I would say Sweden, Germany and Ukraine are top3 atm.
There haven't been any major inter-national league so hard to say who is number 1.
3. How did you decide on playing Terran as a race?
I actually played Protoss at first, but I couldn't handle roaches (they were 1 supply back then) and I didn't use forcefield properly so I couldn't win vs Zerg back then.
I decided to switch to Terran mainly because of that but also because it suited my wc3 harass style more.
4. Tell us an interesting story about the Swedish SC2 scene
At the Inferno Online League #1 I was playing Morrow in the final. And right before the match he said: "Do you think you would deserve the win if you are victorious, because it would suck if you don't think you deserve it".
I replied "Yes, of course" and I was thinking who is this guy. He followed that up with another question: "you wont become better if you just cheese all the time". I replied: "I know."
He thought I was a cheeser and only managed to get to finals by cheese. But I proved him wrong by beating him 3-1 in straight up games.
Now I know that he wasn't intentionally being rude, and is a nice guy but with a different mindset.
I think its partly why he's such a great player. For example he's not satisfied with some games where he didn't play at his full potential, even if he won the game.
That's a mindset I'm trying to achieve since the only way to truly become the best.
5. What's your opinion about the 3 Warpgate/Voidray build in PvT?
Its pretty hard to handle if you don't scout it. That's why you should scout all usual proxy spots.
I like to send in a scouting Hellion into the Protoss base early instead of scanning, since it's cheaper. You will 100% find out what the Protoss is doing once you get into the base, compared to scanning where its not guaranteed you will see what the Protoss is doing especially if he's hiding his key buildings well.
Picture credit: Team Dignitas
6. What do you think of the two new maps?
I'm very happy about new maps, the game needs changes once in awhile.
I haven't got a idea how good the new maps really is but they look much better than kulas and desert oasis at least.
7. What do you think the future holds for SC2?
Its gonna be huge! Just wait and see.
8. How do you feel about the new patch
I think most things were really good except that the Barracks now requires Supply Depot which is so bad since it completely destroys all potential rushes Terran can do, not that I like to cheese but I think it ruins the game a little.
9. If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be?
If I could pick any dead person I would eat with Bob Marley. Any living person I would pick the Dalai Lama.
10. Compared to other top SC2 gamers, you tend to scout significantly less than them. What is it about your style that allows you to get away with this?
I don't send out the early scout because I don't think it gets you any important information other than cheese. And even if you see cheese you wont change your build that much and it will still be equally hard to counter.
Because I don't scout I generally do safe builds that can handle any kind of early aggression. Sometimes I mixed it up though, if I see trends in a player's game. I do more risky builds if I think there's a high chance I can get away with it.
The lack of scouting isn't to compensate for my low apm. My low apm is something I'm trying to work on though I would like to average 120 without spam - then I'll be satisfied. I feel like I can't multitask optimally right now, but then again no one can yet.
11. What do you think about the ESL's efforts in the Nordic region?
Its really great, there are a lot of gamers in the Nordic region but it isn't accepted here yet so there's hardly any community or sponsorship here.
12. What's the worst injury you've ever had?
I damaged my shoulder at the gym.
13. What is your most memorable moment as a gamer?
My first wc3 LAN in Stockholm. Lots of people I met on the internet and the elite of Sweden attended
14. Do you have any other hobbies other than SC2?
I like MMA, Soccer, American Football - I don't do it in real life though.
15. (Select's question) When are you joining me in Korea!
GSL 3? ^^
16. What personal item could you not part with?
Cellphone
17. In a tournament which players do you look out for?
The players I think are good
18. Who would you like to be interviewed next, and what question would you like to ask them!
I would like to throw the ball to morrow, since he's an interesting person and also my number 1 nemesis in Sweden.
My question is: Do you think you really gonna play Zerg in the big tourneys in 2 weeks?
19. If you could live in any country other than Sweden, what would it be?
hmm, Canada or USA because I can play Starcraft 2 there and I speak a little English
20. What was your experience at MLG like?
Tournament wise I wasn't happy with the result. But other than that it was a great experience, probably my biggest esports event so far.
Massive thanks to SjoW for taking the time to answer our questions! You heard the man, our next interview will be with Morrow! If you would like to ask him a question feel free to leave it in this thread and it might just be included!
 Plexa
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@ Morrow: During the Inferno #1 tournament you told Sjow "you wont become better if you just cheese all the time". However, you are considered one of the most abusive terran players in the game. As seen in the IEM tournament vs idra. Do you think you are as abusive of a player as people view you to be?
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On October 16 2010 18:37 Bosu wrote:
@ Morrow: During the Inferno #1 tournament you told Sjow "you wont become better if you just cheese all the time". However, you are considered one of the most abusive terran players in the game. As seen in the IEM tournament vs idra. Do you think you are as abusive of a player as people view you to be?
#1 Kwanro Fan
Oh man irony. Ok maybe that's presumptuous, you could be on Morrow's side and simple presenting the argument. My apologies.
In actual relation to the article SjoW seems like a pretty chill fellow, I would've been pissed at Morrow lol. Also I can relate to having low apm syndrome =[, Snail Terran fighting!
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I was thinking the same, why the hell does he not scout at all.
he needs to get his mechanics up to be a contender in GSL.
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i think sjow misunderstood me. he definetly deserved the win 100% as he outplayed be because he had practiced more and shown greater skill
the cheese part was me about thinking his openers were pretty abusive and would die to cheese builds, which they pretty much do still. i was still making the tank viking style and sjow showed me this new style to me, later after the series i ofcourse realized a new tvt medigame slipped by me as i was inactive
sjow is a great player and has improved alot but its clear that hes more abusive than most players (doesnt scout enough) as he almost always dies whenever i do gimmicky cheese builds. im not saying im any different as ive started not scouting alot at all too, sjow was the one who opened my sight of tvt and showed a totally new perspective of it. like many top terran players say "u dont have to scout beacause in this mu it doesnt matter what u scout because you cant scout anything in time, and if you did scout it in time your econ loss was too hard to do anything about it"
hell ive even started copy one of his tvz builds to great success. best wishes to sjow ofcourse and its fun how u write u will interview me next without asking me yet :D ofcourse ill do it tho!
On October 16 2010 18:37 Bosu wrote:
@ Morrow: During the Inferno #1 tournament you told Sjow "you wont become better if you just cheese all the time". However, you are considered one of the most abusive terran players in the game. As seen in the IEM tournament vs idra. Do you think you are as abusive of a player as people view you to be?
do u see the difference between playing abusive and cheesy?
5rax reaper was just a straight up win regardless of what zerg did or scouted, this is just to exploit the game to the max, which is a good thing.
cheese means your taking huge risks based on mind games, scouting and lack of skill in your opponents play, like a 6pool for example
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Morrow, Warcraft 3, Dalai lama, Terrans, cheese, this interview has everything :D
Quite a good read but sadly i don't think his mechanics are good enough to be successful for a long period.
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Good read. Sjow is my favourite swedish terran atm.
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On October 16 2010 20:14 Boblion wrote:
Quite a good read but sadly i don't think his mechanics are good enough to be successful for a long period.
Mechanics can be acquired by hard work (not saying it's easy or anything). Originality, strong nerves, handling the pressure, those things are equaly important and not as "trainable" as mechanics. Giyom Patry comes to mind to show you also need lots of things aside mechanics to be good. I don't think SjoW lacks those things. Good luck for the future man.
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Enjoyed the read! I know Sjow played WC3, but does anyone remember the team? For some reason I'm thinking mTw but i don't think thats it.
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Dalai lama lol
I thought everyone would be like Warren Buffett! Give me a tip so I can retire
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Nice interview, good job, looking forward to Morrow next 
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Is.. Is that a real tiger?
I want one.
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Russian Federation370 Posts
Nice. I suck at WC3, i suck in sc2 beta, than i switch to Terran and now i top player with 120 apm.)))
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naama is ur arch nemesis, morrow is idras.
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whats with the tiger. he cant be that rich
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I liked this a lot more than the SeleCT interview. SjoW is pretty cool and fun.
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8. How do you feel about the new patch
I think most things were really good except that the Barracks now requires Supply Depot which is so bad since it completely destroys all potential rushes Terran can do, not that I like to cheese but I think it ruins the game a little.
im going to add on as to what the Depot before Barracks can cause. I started my wall TvsZ with a Depot, then added 2 barracks to complete the wall. The supply depot got busted, well, I wanted another rax because I knew it would survive the rest of the attack. OH NO! This is just one example.
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Marrow: What are your future goals for sc2 thus far?
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On October 16 2010 21:47 Pharax wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2010 20:14 Boblion wrote:
Quite a good read but sadly i don't think his mechanics are good enough to be successful for a long period. Mechanics can be acquired by hard work (not saying it's easy or anything). Originality, strong nerves, handling the pressure, those things are equaly important and not as "trainable" as mechanics. Giyom Patry comes to mind to show you also need lots of things aside mechanics to be good. I don't think SjoW lacks those things. Good luck for the future man.
I agree with this. I watch my friend Jobless who has frequented the top 200. He is the most calm person I have ever seen, he makes quick decisions under situations where most people would be pressured, and is very original. He also is like the lowest apm player you will see in the top 200. When he does matches on his stream it baffles the viewers how he's beating the bigger names (like Machine, Moman, etc...).
And he doesn't hotkey production facilities. Just units. Usually 1 or 2 control groups, that's IT!
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It seems Morrow will end up answering all questions in this thread.
My question though:
How do you handle your rage after loss? You were known for leaving bad comments sometimes like IdrA , but lately you became a bit more mannered or I would say mature. What's the key? or is it just time and experience.
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On October 17 2010 02:39 bokeevboke wrote:
It seems Morrow will end up answering all questions in this thread.
My question though:
How do you handle your rage after loss? You were known for leaving bad comments sometimes like IdrA , but lately you became a bit more mannered or I would say mature. What's the key? or is it just time and experience.
What kind of question is this? Do you think he is gonna just be like "Oh i took some xanex" or something?
Awesome that MorroW responded to the interview however, great read.
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15. (Select's question) When are you joining me in Korea!
GSL 3? ^^
even if joking, wonderful to see players discussing the idea.
I really hope the GSL events next year (top 200 ladder tourney + international invitee) allow some of these players to get a strong foothold in the GSL and get them thinking about trying to get into hte S league!
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Sjow is my favorite player, I guess because I am a little older and play with a very similar style. I look forward to meeting/facing him and others in Dallas!
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On October 17 2010 02:39 bokeevboke wrote:
It seems Morrow will end up answering all questions in this thread.
The interviewer won't have any questions left. :D
While we're busy, are there any FPVODs of Morrow and/or SjoW.
I'd like to see the hotkeys for one. Seeing as they evolve from early to mid and late game.
My keyboard layout is actually dvorak as it is superior in many ways, except maybe for gaming. 
But at least I'll catch the drift. thx.
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Dalai Lama - Good answer. I might have to use that answer someday.
Thanks for the interview.
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I met SjoW for the first time at his first LAN. I believe it was the first wc3 inferno online tour. He played in the pro tour and I in the amateur one. We had only playedd online before that but he was a cool guy.
SjoW may not have the best machanics atm but he has a lot of other great qualities and I've seen him play very well macro wise. But obviously when you're in tournaments macro can slip up and he's only going to require some more training before he gets better at that. The most important thing is that he often plays for the macro game. Meaning he sets up his game to harass, deal damage and then go into a later game situation. He very rarely does pure all ins. It's more often 1 base heavy harass into 2 base timing.
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Great interview glad morrow posted afterwards too!
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On October 16 2010 22:06 eazo wrote:
Enjoyed the read! I know Sjow played WC3, but does anyone remember the team? For some reason I'm thinking mTw but i don't think thats it.
aNc, playing an amazing 2v2 team with delicato, then 64AMD but i could be wrong and/or Forget a few more recent ones....
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This is a really great feature, thanks!
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On October 17 2010 01:23 wishbones wrote:
8. How do you feel about the new patch
I think most things were really good except that the Barracks now requires Supply Depot which is so bad since it completely destroys all potential rushes Terran can do, not that I like to cheese but I think it ruins the game a little.
im going to add on as to what the Depot before Barracks can cause. I started my wall TvsZ with a Depot, then added 2 barracks to complete the wall. The supply depot got busted, well, I wanted another rax because I knew it would survive the rest of the attack. OH NO! This is just one example.
If u get busted with less than 19pop (less than 2 supply depot)
I believed you are screwed, wall off or not...
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MorroW has some nerve saying stuff like that considering hes only won major tournaments by cheesing.
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Good read. I haven't seen too many of Sjow's games but the ones I have he has shown that he is an extremely good player. Lookin' forward to seeing more from him!!
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pachi/2020/2020_Banner.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/20Q20A/sjow1.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/20Q20A/sjow2.jpg)
