[Interviews] TSL Ro8

Congratulations, you beat the Swedish player HayprO. Did you expect this to happen?
Thanks. Yup, I expected 2-1, but wondered who win.

In the first game on Wuthering Heights, you want for an 8rax. Why did you think this would work against this particular opponent/on this particular map?
Before my match vs HayprO I've played couple of games with my teammate ALF. And he wiped me off constantly. Thus I decided to cheese.

In the second game you openend 2 Barracks Academy into expansion. Why such an old school build?
I don't know. It thought it's good.

In the fourth game you made cloaked wraiths to counter HayprO's carefully prepared Guardian build. You played impressively. Do you feel on top of your game?
Third game was very nice. Zerg has spent too much Mutas on my Marines, that's why he lost the entire game.

Your next opponent will be MYM.Dreiven. What do you think of him? Do you think you will win?
He raped both Ex and A2. I'm worse. That's why it is extremely difficult match for me.

What do you think about what happened in the rest of the Ro16 Matches? Are you surprised at certain results?
I'm surprised with Dreiven's 2-0 score vs ZvP monster Mondragon. I also enjoyed Rondo's games.

Congratulations on beating one of the strongest terrans outside of Korea. It seems you are not that rusty after all.
Well considering the fact that my preparation was limited to one single game 30 minutes before the match I should agree. It's even more funny because I hadn't played even one game on Othello and Wuthering Heights before the match against Strelok but I still managed to win.

You won 2-0. Did the series go as expected?
Personally I didn't make any expectations. I was chilled out and I didn't think about such a things.

Game 2 was very back and forth. In the end you won due to templar drops.
I made few unwise decisions in the second game. I guess that I wouldn't win this game without these templars.

Your opponent in the next game will be MYM.White-Ra. Will your girlfriend allow you to prepare for this match?
Might be hard with that.

What do you think of the other Round of 8 players?
Personally I don't find any real surprises. In the next round I'm cheering for Dreiven since he is a good friend of mine.

Congratulations on your win against Idra[Media]. This was one of the most anticipated matches in the Ro16.
Yes, it was one of the most interesting matchups and I am glad I showed a good game.

In Game 1 you pressured Idra very well.
I practiced many games with Strelok and know how I needed to play. But when I saw Idra not wall, I made a first zealot and made him big work^^

In Game 2 you went for 2 base Carriers.
I was leading 1-0 and wanted to play some all-in tactic and choice fast cariers

Did you feel tired after you lost such a close Game 2?
No. I was concentrating and was sure I would win the series.

In Game 3 you delayed your third base.
I must make third base late because I needed a big army to play this tactic.

Your opponent in the Round of 8 will be the former pro-gamer Draco.
Draco has good shape and many practice now, but PvP can be luck match up. Who choses the best strategy will win.

What do you think of the other Ro16 results?
Good job Brat_Ok. He is back from the Army and shows how a Russian soldier can play^^

Congratulations on advancing. Did you expect to beat ret 2-0?
Thank you. I knew that winning the way I did was a possibility, and it was what I was hoping and planning for, but I wasn't wholeheartedly expecting it.

Your play seemed very solid and confident in both games.
I was fortunate enough to become comfortable with some builds very quickly on these new maps. I had a lot of options floating in my head and chose to play the way I thought would best counter ret's style. From what I can tell, zerg players in general have not been so fortunate on Wuthering Heights, as there isn't even one build that is agreed upon as good. Whether it's really imbalanced, just not figured out yet, or simply on a bad P>Z streak to start it off is impossible to tell at this point.

Who did you practice with for your match against ret?
Nobody in particular. I practiced in general on any map and any matchup just to keep my skills in shape and I watched a lot of VODs and replays and tested builds in single player and conducted "thought experiments" in order to decide my strategies.

Your next opponent will be ToT)Gosia(. Are you confident?
I would feel absolutely confident of a win if I was playing him in some random showmatch or practice games. But since this is the Razer TSL, he must be greatly motivated to win this match and I think that can bring out another level of play. I've seen him play brilliantly before and if he can bring that play out when the pressure is on, then I'll be in for a real challenge. Still, I feel compelled to mimic Bisu, so I will predict a 3-0 or 3-1 win with confidence.

There were some surprises in the Round of 16.
I can't be surprised by the results because I'm not fool enough to think that a tournament like this can be easily predicted. An argument can be made for every player.

Who are you cheering for in the Round of 8?
I'm cheering for JF over Dinot. I'm cheering for Dreiven just because I'd love to see Dreiven vs JF. I'm of course hoping I advance, and I don't have a preference between Draco and White-Ra. I wouldn't mind PPPP semis.

Congratulations on advancing. Who did you practice with for these games?
I've played 2 zvp games with both Carlo and Dissy. Had to take a little break. In the latest events I was lacking at the creativity, and little breaks usually help me to improve that factor of my playstyle.

You won on the Protoss favored Wuthering Heights.
Oh, I was just lucky. I dont really have any idea how I could've won that game.

Game 2 was really close. Were you nervous during the tense moments?
Nah not really, I just thought that there's gonna be the 3rd deciding game. The thing that I didn't have hydras range and any carapace upgrade for the whole game didn't help me to win that game. That's the other side of being not so active for a while.

Your next opponent will be another Protoss, Excello.NonY.
He is the better player. I don't expect to come out at the top. I'll just try to do my best, but I dont think it'll be enough. Anyway from the Ro8 I'm the worst player. I just feel that I didnt deserve the place in the Ro8. There were a lot of better players that unfortunately had some bad coincidences that made them go down and they didn't advance after all.

What do you think of the other Ro16 results?
I dont want to comment on that, I'm sorry.

Congratulations on advancing. During the games you told ClouD you didn't expect to win.
I knew we were both capable of winning and saying anything else would be a lie. But I am quite relieved after winning My strategy is to never be too confident, or else bad things will happen.

You lost to DTs in Game 1. How did you feel during Game 2?
Loss of confidence, no. Nervous, yes! Who wouldn't be ? being 0-1 in a Bo3 series that involves such a large prize pool.

In Games 2 and 3, you used your reavers perfectly in combination with observers. Many fans think you have the best PvP of any foreigner.
Definitely a lot of better players out there. PvP is quite BO oriented (therefore some luck involved), so anything can happen. Anyone in the top 16 is capable of taking games off any other person in the top 16.

Your opponent next round will be MYM.DinOt. Are you confident you'll win?
I watched DinOt's games vs Rondo, quite impressive actually. I will need to train hard to prepare for this match.

What do you think of the other Ro16 results? Who are you cheering for in this next round?
The series that was the most entertaining was Mondi vs Dreiven, both played excellently, but one had to fall. Sad to see Mondi go. Other than that, there were not any major surprises. And of couse, I will cheer for no one but myself in the next round

Congratulations on advancing.
Thanks to all of the players who helped me practice.

In Game 1 you attempted a hydralisk cannon break. Did you do this because of the map?
Yes, when I trained this map I didn't get any win playing normal, so I tried an all-in, but I guess I lost too many hydras in the first battle.

In Game 2 you played a very defensive/harassing style.
I made lurkers in game two. I turned into defensive mode because I lost an important fight, which defined who will exp and who won't.

Game 3 was very long and close.
I wasn't too nervous, I played like that just to be safe, and I realized that I had won when he started to lose exps and stopped mining while he didn't make damage me, killing only new exps.

Your next opponent will be Excello.IefNaij. Are you confident?
Now on anyone can win, the most concentrated and clever in the moment will win.

What do you think of the other Ro16 results?
Dreiven impressed me, not for winning mondragon, but for playing really good. And Draco, beating top europeans even he was retired.

You beat the tournament favorite!
It's a great feeling to beat the ZvP king ! I played few games vs ret on wuthering I watched some of Mondi's replays.. I needed to prepare for his style which is very devastating (44-1 vs p is not that easy )

Mondragon did an interesting build in Game 1.
I was expecting some ling + hydra and those mutas really suprised me.. I wasnt warmed-up so needed like 15minutes of game to get into my macro and micro

Game 2 was very action packed. When did you realize you had won?
I realized that I am gaining advantage when Mondi's drops began to making less and less damage and my army kept growing. Then when I took his expo on 8 o'clock I realized I had a chance to win this

You're nicknamed the BBQ-toss now.
Haha :D This nickname is really funny Im at BBQ very often so its kinda right nickname after all.. I really enjoying my new nick :D

Your opponent in the next round will be RoX.BRAT_OK.
PvT is hard match up and I didn't play that much on those maps.. Brat has strong TvP so I won't underestimate him.. I think I can take this but still I will play my best.

What do you think of the other Ro16 results? Who are you cheering for?
I'm cheering for Draco since he's my friend and really great starcraft player He can acomplish anything with just little of training.. I can say I was quite suprised that Haypro lost to Brat. I hope I won't finish like him :D

- Does Draco really not practice at all? Maybe he is exaggerating.

- IefNaij said his heart was beating so fast when he was playing down 0-1.

- GOsia may not want to comment on the other Ro16 results because his clan member Mondragon lost in an upset.

- NonY's PvP is very strong, it is not surprising he wouldn't mind a PPPP semifinals.

- Rondo has had several entertaining 30+ minute PvZs, against Notforu and Xiaozi in the Ro32 as well as against DinOt in the Ro16.

- The later rounds of this tournament may be decided by who plays under pressure better, and so far it seems both BRAT and Dreiven are very unaffected by nerves.

- There are three Polish players alive in the Ro8, with the chance of a Poland vs Poland final.

- There are three MYM players in the Ro8, but the two Excello players are looking strong and favored to win in their matches.

- Dreiven's BBQ affected this tournament greatly. Without it, he'd have been switched with Kr in the brackets. Perhaps even the Squall-A2-Kr-Dreiven Ro32 group would have turned out differently.