The Puzzle Fan Club

On February 03 2012 01:05 Weirdkid wrote:
Q: Once again, you advance into the round of 8 of Code S. How do you feel about that?
A: The round of 16 grouping was pretty bad, and I was very worried about the matches today. However, I was able to play as I did during practice, and I am glad to be able to advance.

Q: You mentioned several times you wanted to restore your image. (T/N: See his previous interview for clarification. Apparently, he received quite a bit of flak for his performance in the round of 8 last season.)
A: I still don't know if people have changed their views about me (laughs). I think that unless I am able to make a huge turnaround in a game in which I am in a horrible position, people will probably still say that I lack the toughness.

Q: But today, you played some really good games.
A: Before the matches today, I already knew my opponents' styles, so I was confident of winning as long as I was able to play like I did during practice. As a whole, I am quite pleased with how the matches went.

Q: It seems like Protosses have a really high win rate against Terran recently. What do you think about this?
A: I still lose more than I win during practice. I don't think you can really say that Protoss is bugged in the PvT matchup. It's just that we are playing slightly better recently. Wasn't it always tough to play as Protoss before this? (laughs)

Q: Your timing attack with the immortals was really powerful.
A: It wasn't planned before hand, but was improvised. I used this strategy frequently when I just started playing Starcraft 2. Recently, immortals received a buff, and so I again started to use this strategy once in a while.

Q: Your opponent in the winner's match was your team mate MMA.
A: We had an agreement that even if we were going to face up against each other, we would not practise specifically for each other, so there wasn't too much pressure.

Q: Your score against MMA is now 5:2.
A: MMA hyung really plays very well during practice, but he seems to fluctuate a bit when it comes to big tournaments. Personally though, I think I am indeed the MMA-killer (laughs).

Q: Your opponent in the round of 8 is Gumiho.
A: I didn't watch the games yesterday, and only managed to see the results. I realised he beat Mvp twice to go through though, so he's definitely not an easy opponent. I think it's fortunate that he's Terran though. Recently, I've been having a better win rate against him, so I think the situation is not bad.

Q: Do you see any possibility of you winning the competition?
A: I think I have a better chance than I did last season. Hopefully, all the remaining Zergs in the competition are eliminated. Then after that, all the Terrans should be eliminated. Oh, with the exception of MarineKing.

(T/N from the Chinese translation: What Puzzle means is that he wants MC and Parting to advance from Group C, and Genius and MarineKing to advance from Group D, because he isn't afraid of MarineKing.)

Q: Any last things you want to add?
A: I want to thank the players who helped me practise. Recently, Idra's been living in our training house and teaching us to work out. He has a really great body/figure. To increase my toughness, I've been working out really hard, and so I think I will do better this season than the last.

"Puzzle thanks Puma, Clide, Ganzi, and Jjakji for helping him with practice. (FYI, it's rumored that Puzzle is as fast as some of the top BW pros as far as the APM and mouse movement are concerned)"

On January 21 2012 14:07 Weirdkid wrote:

Q: How does it feel to make it into the round of 16?
A: I didn't have much time to practise, but I am glad to be able to advance.

Q: You mainly used all-in strategies today. Was it due to the lack of practice?
A: I don't usually use all-ins. Actually, I didn't plan to use all-ins today either. However, during the games, I just had the thought that the all-ins might be effective. On the ladder, I tend to use all-ins, so I played today's games using those strategies I use on the ladder.

Q: Other than the all-ins, you were quite good at guessing your opponent's strategies. Seems like your sixth sense was really good today.
A: The people around me gave me a lot of help. Today's games basically were due to their help.

Q: Didn't you feel anxious after losing the first set?
A: When I lose in mirror matches, I don't really feel like there's a big difference in skill. As long as the other player gains an advantage with his starting, you basically have no chance of flipping the game around in a mirror match. Therefore, I was ok with the situation. It's been a long time since I played a major tournament and I felt slightly nervous, but I kept surpressing it, and tried my best to forget the losses.

Q: What are your plans for 2012?
A: I've set my goals every time I qualified, and basically, I would say that I want to make it to the round of 8 or the round of 16, and in the end, I really did only make it to the round of 8 or the round of 16. So I want to say that my goal of 2012 to to be champion. Hopefully, I'll win the tournament at least once this year.

Q: The picking ceremony for the round of 16 are about to begin. Do you have any plans drawn up?
A: I hope that apart from me, the other 3 people in the group will be from the same race. I do not like playing mirror matchups, so I hope it would be three Terrans. If they were all Terrans, I would be fine with it even if MMA was in the group. For team SlayerS, the situation where team mates have to fight each other is already commonplace.

Q: Even though you made it to the round of 8 last season, it seemed like your condition at that time was not very good.
A: I remember that day was the second day after I had returned from MLG. I basically didn't practise, and used the strategies recommended by Coach Ryu Won. I disappointed everyone by typing in GG so soon in the third game. At that time, I really thought that the situation was hopeless for me, but when I watched the replay afterward, I realised I was not in that big a disadvantage.

After those games were over, there were many negative messages posted on my webpage. I also received many negative messages on my mobile phone. This was a really big blow to me (laughs). Boxer hyung also taught me a lesson. Currently, there are many people who judge me based on my condition during that time. I hope to show everyone my ability this season, and let people think that I am really strong too.

Q: Any last things to add?
A: There are many players who helped me practise. I want to thank them. I also hope that people will pay attention to GSTL, which is coming up soon, and I hope that they will come to the studio to support us.

On July 18 2011 23:01 Phosgene wrote:

You just won code A. How do you feel?
I was a bit worried because PvP can be so volatile, but I think I was able to win because I practiced a lot in order to stop 4 gates.

- In the first game, you went 3 gates and lost to a 4 gate.
I was nervous because it was the first game and got hit by some stalker shots which was the result of my poor reaction to the rush.

- You started off by losing the first 2 games.
I was angry. It felt like I did nothing during the first two games and just kind of lost, so I began to get angry at myself.

- By set 6, you started with 4 gates so often that it felt like you didn’t do 4 gate only for 2 games or so.
I don’t usually like to do 4 gate, but my opponent’s 4 gate was too strong. I could only match him when I went 4 gate as well. So I began each match with a defensive 4 gate. I think NSHoSeo protosses are definitely at a different level than most other protosses.

- You became the first person to advance to code S by winning code A.
Even last season, during the up and down matches, 6 out of 8 code A players advanced to code S. So getting into code S right away doesn’t seem to be that different. After I beat MMA I only had victory in my mind. I knew that I would advance to code S after I won that match. I feel great right now.

- How long do you think you will retain your code S spot?
I have said previously that some players in code S do not deserve it, but even with those people in there, I believe code S is an extreme challenge. However, I do not think I am that far behind any of them. As long as I practice hard, I believe the chance that I retain my spot is 100%. I believe I will keep it until I retire.

- You said before you wanted to face LosirA.
I have an overall losing record against him and BanBanssu. I also lost to him (LosirA) during the preliminaries when I felt like I could make it. So I want to face him even more because of that.

- It was the first PvP finals at the GSL and it was full of 4 gates.
I am not the only player who doesn’t like 4 gates. Many protoss players now prefer to play more standard now rather than doing that. But I guess it just is the NSHoSeo style to do this strategy. I think they just like to use strategies that are against the trend.

- Your ambition going into code S?
I didn’t practice as much as I should have to be perfectly sure to secure my victory in code A. So in order to win code S, I think I will need to practice like my life was on the line.

- Any last comments?
I want to thank Yong and cOre for helping me practice. Practicing PvP can be mindnumbing so we just crammed the practice in a short time. It hurts when you have to think so much about the matchup.

On July 11 2011 22:55 Phosgene wrote:

- You just made it to the code A finals. How do you feel?
I wasn’t in very good condition in the morning so I didn’t practice too much. I didn’t know I would get this kind of score, but either way, I am glad I won.

- What part of your body feels weak?
Every time before a tournament, my stomach feels pretty bad. Even during my match today, my stomach was feeling terrible. I think it is because I have been practicing non-stop and built up a lot of stress.

- Why have you been cramming practice so much?
Before a match, my focus for practice is different so I am able to cram in more practice. But it’s not like I don’t practice often regularly.

- Your opponent was IMHappy. You won 3:0, was that an expected outcome?
He did strategies today that I have never faced before. I blocked them pretty well, but I felt like my opponent was very nervous. I tried to use safe builds so that no matter what strategy came at me I was able to win.

- How was your practice?
I thought my opponent was someone who used 1-1-1 all the time, but his switch to macro play was pretty good. So I didn’t practice against 1-1-1 too much, and rather focused on facing macro based stategies.

- You can get into code S with one more win.
I would have been happier if I had to face Leenock. I think it will be a tough match against Tassadar who has been playing really well recently. But I think I can win as long as the games go as well as they did against BanBanssu.

- It will be a best of 7 PvP. What do you think will happen?
I think my head will explode. There are too many things I have to worry about so I plan on thinking about the situation as they happen during the game.

- This is the first PvP finals.
I think at least practice will not be a problem.

- Your team suffered a recent loss in the GSTL.
Our goal was to get at least 1 win, so I think we were ok. It will all be fine if we can do well against Startale in the next match. I am looking forward to playing against Bomber. He is someone who loves macro so I feel like we can have a fun match.

- Any last comments?
I had many people who helped me practice. A lot of SlayerS players helped me, MMA, Ryung, Lots, and TSL’s Clide, my team’s Issue and Hack, all helped me practice. Thank you.

On July 05 2011 23:11 Phosgene wrote: - Your thoughts on making the semifinals?
PvP can change on a whim so I was worried, but I am glad I advanced.

- You won through your defense.
I predicted that. I knew my opponent would be agressive.

- Did you practice stopping the 4 gate?
After I lost to Banbanssu last time, I learned how to effectively stop the 4 gate.

- You were successful in your revenge.
After I lost to him last time, it took a while to get out of the funk of bad results.

- Are you confident that you can reach code S?
The up and down will be difficult so I don’t know yet. But I want to win code A. And as long as I can win in the semifinals, I feel like I can win the championship. I think I will have to face Leenock in the finals. I heard that Leenock isn’t that good against Protoss, so I think I will have an easy time.

- But you will be facing a terran in the semifinals.
I think asd will be a bit easier than Happy as I have faced asd many times on ladder. Also, Happy has been on a tear recently. He is also unpredictable in the kind of style he will use, so he is a more difficult opponent.

- You have not yet played in the GSTL.
We only used 2 players to face FXO. I never thought that we would lose, so I didn’t have to think that much about it (**playing).

- You will be facing IM next.
We have lost to them twice, I want to win against them this time.

- Any player you would like to face (in that team)?
I want to face YoungHwa.

- Any last comments?
It was my mom’s birthday last week, I want to say thanks to her for giving birth to me and say happy birthday. cOre and Yong helped me practice, I want to say thanks to them. We started off with an all-kill and we have not lost a match yet in the GSTL. Although we still have the image of a weak team, I hope that we can change that in this season.

On July 02 2011 03:09 Phosgene wrote: - You secured a spot in the up and down. How do you feel?
I didn’t get to practice that much. So I tried to cram as much I could last night, I am glad it worked out.

- You are extremely aggressive.
I had planned to play it ordinarily, but then I remembered blink stalkers, and just went for it.

- When were you sure of your victory?
This strategy is something that can be usually stopped. And I even thought that it would be stopped. But whether or not by chance or by mistake, I found overlords before I went in, which I promptly killed before going in which made it easier on me.

- Were you confident when you first looked at the brackets?
I thought that as long as I broke through the round of 32, it was very possible.

- In the round of 8, you will be facing the 4-gate veteran Banbanssu.
I met him during the open season 3 preliminary finals. Back then I lost to him once by 4 gate and another by proxy gates. Had I won that day, I believe things would look a lot different today.

- Do you have an answer for his 4 gates?
There are many builds that can stop it now, so I don’t necessarily have to do a 4 gate myself to stop it.

- Do you have a solution to PvP?
I don’t do anything special. Everyone does all the same stuff.

- The up and down has changed its format to a 5 person group, are you confident?
Getting to code S has become that much harder. But I believe with enough practice I can get there.

- Everyone so far has said they would like to avoid Marineking in their groups. How about you?
I don’t care. I am not that worried about him.

- Will you be coming out in the GSTL as well?
Even if I don’t come out, my teammates will play well no matter what.

- Any last comments?
I want to thank Coca and Line for helping me practice.