The PuMa Fan Club! - Page 34

Not even two months ago PuMa won the first Global Challenge of this season in Cologne with a clear 3-0 over MC. Now he is in the semi finals of the GC Guangzhou against his teammate IdrA. We sat down with him to learn some more about this very talented player. Thanks go out to SK.Reis for translating.

China is not that far from Korea, but how different does it feel for you?

The biggest different for me is the food. The Chinese food is much fattier than the Korean. It also smells different here, not just the food but in general.

Did you expect your teammate IdrA to win against RevivaL?

I did not really care about that game because I was focused on my own match that day against JYP. After I learned the score though, I was almost shocked that IdrA won in such a convincing fashion.

How do you feel about going up against your teammate IdrA?

Well, IdrA is of course my team mate but I want to win this tournament and that makes him just another player I have to beat to beat if I want to take the first place.

How do you rate the level of the Chinese players that you saw in Guangzhou?

I watched the Chinese whenever I could and they don't play any different than the rest of the world. I guess their problem is that the number of very good players in China is smaller and means less high level competition and practice.

What do you think about elfittajas performance in his first IEM SC2 event?

I didn't manage to watch him a lot but what I heard from other players is that he has a unique style that differs from most other Protoss players.

If you win against IdrA, you'll meet a Protoss in the final. How do you like that match-up?

I think TvP is currently my strongest match-up. The only map loss I had in the past was against MaNa at the GC Cologne. I feel very confident for a final against a Protoss.

How do you like IEM compared to other events?

Since I won the Global Challenge Cologne I felt that if I go to China, that I also had to show a very good performance in Guangzhou. In general I don't differentiate a lot between events. Each of them is a tournament where I want to play as good as possible and ultimately win.

There are people who say that you play 1-1-1 and can't play macro games. How do you feel about that?

When I won the NASL, I never did the 1-1-1 or All-Ins. It was always macro games. The thing about macro is, that the games always lead up to the same point; huge armies and the chance for the enemy to come back. With 1-1-1 the chances to win are higher and I invest a lot of time to think about my 1-1-1.

You have been very successful outside of Korea. Do you feel you have what it takes to eventually make it into Code S?

Yes I think so 100%. Even though I am part of Team EG I practice a lot with Korean Code S players and I know that I have what it takes to play in Code S.

You mentioned Team EG and soon your mates HuK and IdrA will join you in Korea. Do yo look forward to practice with Idra and HuK them?

Yes I am very excited about it. I think it is important to have full-time practice partners and with those two I will be able to practice against a highly skilled Protoss and a highly skilled Zerg. For the future I definitely want to win the GSL and also maintain my performance in foreign events.

Do you think the current StarCraft 2 pros like youself, Nestea, MC or MVP will still be on top when the current StarCraft 1 pros switch to SC2?

I think that is hard to predict for the next years. I see my own chances as very good. The current StarCraft 1 pros will definitely be top notch, but being great in StarCraft 1 is no guarantee that you will be good in StarCraft 2. I was part of eSTRO and know how good the StarCraft 1 pros are.

MC won the Sick Nerd Baller title at GamesCom, does PuMa want to win it?

Of course I would like to win that title, but it is based on popularity and has nothing to do with skill for me.

Last question: Why the red hair?

*laughs* That is the result of a communication problem between me and my hairdresser. I wanted to have a more blond-brown color and ended up with this. The color is really hard to swallow. In the future I'll definitely have to change it again.