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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
WCG 2011 Japan's Representative: Taiki " Breek" Kobayashi (小林大起)![[image loading]](http://sc-times.net/media/common/110830-01a.jpg) “Aside from just competing in the WCG main stage, I will strive to become one of the world’s best.”
The WCG 2011 Japanese Preliminary’s Second Round matches took place on August 27 at SolidRay Corporation’s research institution. The one to win it all and earn the spot as Japan’s representative was none other than Taiki “breek” Kobayashi (小林大起). Furthermore, breek will be competing against the world’s top players at the WCG 2011 Grand Finals hosted in Pusan, South Korea from December 8 – 11.
Located below is breek’s interview!
ー What are your thoughts on winning it all and becoming Japan’s representative?
I’m really happy. But, as expected, the preliminaries are just the preliminaries, and I’d like to begin practicing for the main tournament. There’s also the after party, so I feel like today I should just have fun, but honestly, I just want to have dinner, go home, and start laddering right away lol.
ー How was your condition today?
Not very good, because I was nervous and was only able to get about two hours of sleep. At first I thought things were going to go badly because of my lack of sleep, but when the matches started I became wide awake and was able to play my matches very well. To be honest, I even thought I was going to lose during the first round, but I managed to beat Pixtar and was able to ride that momentum.
ー Please tell us which match left the biggest impression on you today and why.
The match I lost against  Nazomen. In an interview I declared that I wouldn’t drop a single match this tournament and was enthusiastic about it, but I feel like I was done in by Protoss’s cheapness lol. However, just like my match against  CriMsoN, I feel my losses today were all due to the maps.
ー In your second set against nazomen on Crevasse you used banelings. Were you just improvising?
Hm, well, he went for a 1-gate expand, so I decided to break through with banelings. When a Protoss goes for a 1-gate expand, the core is delayed and he won’t have sentries ready. Even if he does make it in time, if I destroy the rock then the ramp widens and he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. To find that opening and take advantage of it is what I’d call a relatively ideal style.
ー In the interview for those who advanced past the first round, you said you wanted to defeat nazomen.
It now really is the shifting of generations, isn’t it? Lol. I was incredibly frustrated with losing to him three times in a row during the Japanese Grand Championships that I felt I had to really win some day, so when I was able to defeat him during the SteelSeries King of the Hill I thought to myself that we were even. I feel I was able to turn things around by defeating him today, so I’m really glad.
ー How do you feel about the Finals against CriMsoN when you look back on it?
CriMsoN was tough as expected. Maybe it’s because my condition was good, but I didn’t lose at all today except against some weird cheeses lol. I couldn’t find the right timing for gas during the spine crawler rush in Set 2. If it was a 15 hatch I could have went with a tonton(?) timing, but with 15 pool, 16 hatch the timing is a bit off. That spine crawler rush was something I saw either NesTea or IdrA do and wasn’t something I practiced beforehand. I thought it’d go a lot better though lol -_-. But overall, I was able to win through strategy and dominated the game, so it was pretty fun doing it.
ー During the first set on Shakuras Plateau, your timing for your third was a bit of a gamble, was it not?
From what I understood by watching his first round matches, CriMsoN’s play style is not very risky, so while praying for him to not attack me, I expanded. Also, since zerg’s anti-air units eat up gas, I decided to make it so I could harvest gas.
ー Your victory on Xel’Naga Caverns during the third set was especially wonderful.
I thought he went for a Stargate, but when I realized it was just a hallucination, I panicked. But since I was successful in defending my third, I decided to attack him while coordinating a drop simultaneously. Multitasking really is crucial versus Protoss. I myself sometimes play Protoss, so I felt calm.
ー Have you already decided how you would respond if you saw your opponent getting carriers?
If I saw him getting carriers, I’d immediately expand. Afterwards, while spreading creep, I’d get hydras while building a spire and subsequently get air upgrades. I feel getting Infestors a little later would be okay.
ー In preparation for December’s WCG Grand Finals, how do you plan on preparing?
enza said he would contact some professional gamers for me, so I think I’ll be able to play with them. I know all of the Japanese players’ play styles, so I don’t really want to play custom games with them. In any case, I would like to spend this limited amount of time effectively. I want to be able to take this momentum and focus on nothing but studying and Starcraft 2. In January of next year I have an exam so everyone is asking me if I’m insane… but I want to be able to balance both, while leaning towards games a bit more lol.
ー A word for your fans who have been cheering for you and your goals from here on out?
There were some bad things in the past… well, rather, there were some small issues, but to those who have been cheering me on until now, and for those who started rooting for me after seeing me play for the first time today, I would like to give you all my thanks. Also, aside from just competing in the WCG main stage, I will strive to become one of the world’s best from then on as well.
source: http://sc-times.net/item/4362
Thank you to Starcraft Times for allowing me to translate the article and use their pictures!
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What server does Japan play on? I know their SC2 scene is underdeveloped. Is this guy just going to get his face smashed at WCG world?
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Cool, but I dont think Japan has much of a chance in WCG  .
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Thanks. Really cool interview.
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Good for him I guess... Wonder what his skill level is like, something like high masterish?
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On September 01 2011 07:07 fire_brand wrote:
What server does Japan play on? I know their SC2 scene is underdeveloped. Is this guy just going to get his face smashed at WCG world?
They play on NA from what I know of.
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Interesting, I always wondered what the japanese Sc2 scene was like. Best of luck to him in the grand finals!
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The Japanese players get carriers?
I totally want to see this guy build carriers against us sometime.
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Interesting interview. I really don't know literally anything about Japanese Starcraft/2 scene. Looking forward to see him play!
Thanks!
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Thanks for the interview! Always wondered why we never hear anything about japan in pro gaming.
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I don't know their metagame... but it seems to me they are far far far behind NA / EU w/o mentioning KR.
On September 01 2011 07:22 Benjef wrote:
Thanks for the interview! Always wondered why we never hear anything about japan in pro gaming.
Because they focus on arcade games. Nothing like their DDR or SF.
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isn't Japan only good at the fighting games like Tekken and Street Fighter? Would love to be surprised by this guy tho.
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Daigo should play SC2.
hahaha nice interview. Hope he does well, its always nice to see new talent
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991 points masters on AM servers = breek.
Meh.
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I know he is good player 
We are playing on NA and some people are playing on KR/TW.
well, He sometimes attend to some tournaments.
US.CraftCup #28 Ro8
US.CraftCup #34 Finalist
ZOTAC NA Cup #2 Ro8
TeamSpeak TL Open #21 Ro16
These are his carriers.
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Mutalisks are crucial against Protoss?
Did I read that right?
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On September 01 2011 17:15 youngminii wrote:
Mutalisks are crucial against Protoss?
Did I read that right? You read it right but the translator was probably rushing.やっぱりvPはマルチタスクが重要ですね。 Should be "As expected, multitasking is crucial versus Protoss.
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
On September 01 2011 18:23 god_forbids wrote:Show nested quote +On September 01 2011 17:15 youngminii wrote:
Mutalisks are crucial against Protoss?
Did I read that right? You read it right but the translator was probably rushing. Should be "As expected, multitasking is crucial versus Protoss.
Oops, I knew that sounded odd. Thanks.
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Glad for him, I hope he can make a strong showing at the WCG.
Btw. was only one sponsored trip to the WCG available?
Will there be other people representing Japan at the WCG anyways,
considering that Japan <-> Korea isn't that huge of a travel distance?
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ー Have you already decided how you would respond if you saw your opponent getting carriers?
If I saw him getting carriers, I’d immediately expand. Afterwards, while spreading creep, I’d get hydras while building a spire and subsequently get air upgrades. I feel getting Infestors a little later would be okay.
uh lol. Do zergs have to prepare for carriers now in this match-up or am i just behind in the trend?
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
From what I can see, Japan is only sending one representative.
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Te sad thing is...in terms of Starcraft, japanese people dunno shit and even NA Masters are better then their best players....
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I'm really excited to see some Japanese SC2, how they play the game basically. Going to be really fun, and hopefully they're not too behind the rest of us ^_^
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On September 01 2011 18:54 Mentymion wrote:
Te sad thing is...in terms of Starcraft, japanese people dunno shit and even NA Masters are better then their best players....
Which is sad because North Americans arn't that great in comparisson to Europa and most of all Koreans
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On September 01 2011 19:03 Krehlmar wrote:Show nested quote +On September 01 2011 18:54 Mentymion wrote:
Te sad thing is...in terms of Starcraft, japanese people dunno shit and even NA Masters are better then their best players.... Which is sad because North Americans arn't that great in comparisson to Europa and most of all Koreans
i'am impressed....you got my NA bashing/Eu is 10 times better reference!^^
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Although I guess it feels like an acheivement, the competition in japan is really below the rest of the countries.
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that guy looks happy i hope japan will be a force in starcraft as they are in ssf4
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On September 01 2011 18:54 Mentymion wrote:
Te sad thing is...in terms of Starcraft, japanese people dunno shit and even NA Masters are better then their best players....
Before you say stuff like this.. From what I know, active Japanese players are at least Masters on NA servers...
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Why are people bashing his skill level, I mean Japan is a very undeveloped scene compared to Korea. Just be happy for him that he did well in his qualifiers. Also its pretty neat that Japan has a small SC2 scene, since all I know about competitive gaming in japan is just arcades and fighting games.
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Japanese guys are all about manga and anime. Pc bans dont even have CS.
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
Regardless of player skill, it's admirable that Japan has formed their own small community and is sending a player to the WCG.
For those who forget, Starcraft 2 was not localized in Japan, so they're all mainly playing on the NA servers and some are on the Taiwan and Korean servers. The language barrier makes it incredibly tough for a lot of them to improve as they don't have as many opportunities to find practice partners (they can't just sign into TL and search, and even if they do find practice partners it's impossible to give and receive feedback) and they cannot understand casts from huge events such as the GSL and MLG. This dampens the ability for growth by a lot and scares away potential new players.
The skills that they've developed are mainly through their own collective efforts. Unfortunately that puts them way behind with the rest of the world since the player base is so small. So to those guys who continue trucking along and continue to polish their game, I believe they deserve a lot of credit. There are quite a bit of them who devote A LOT of time to Starcraft 2, but they can only grow so much alone.
If I were to make a comparison, the current Japanese Starcraft 2 community is a lot like Japan during their period of isolation. It wasn't until America broke open their door that they experienced phenomenal growth. I think what the Japanese SC2 scene needs is a bit of the same - someone to peel them away from isolation and help them grow; the Japanese are built for gaming in the same sense as Koreans are - smart, hardworking and dedicated.
Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon, though. It would take a lot of hard work and dedication for someone to help the scene flourish.
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On September 02 2011 06:17 Souma wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Regardless of player skill, it's admirable that Japan has formed their own small community and is sending a player to the WCG.
For those who forget, Starcraft 2 was not localized in Japan, so they're all mainly playing on the NA servers and some are on the Taiwan and Korean servers. The language barrier makes it incredibly tough for a lot of them to improve as they don't have as many opportunities to find practice partners (they can't just sign into TL and search, and even if they do find practice partners it's impossible to give and receive feedback) and they cannot understand casts from huge events such as the GSL and MLG. This dampens the ability for growth by a lot and scares away potential new players.
The skills that they've developed are mainly through their own collective efforts. Unfortunately that puts them way behind with the rest of the world since the player base is so small. So to those guys who continue trucking along and continue to polish their game, I believe they deserve a lot of credit. There are quite a bit of them who devote A LOT of time to Starcraft 2, but they can only grow so much alone.
If I were to make a comparison, the current Japanese Starcraft 2 community is a lot like Japan during their period of isolation. It wasn't until America broke open their door that they experienced phenomenal growth. I think what the Japanese SC2 scene needs is a bit of the same - someone to peel them away from isolation and help them grow; the Japanese are built for gaming in the same sense as Koreans are - smart, hardworking and dedicated.
Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon, though. It would take a lot of hard work and dedication for someone to help the scene flourish.
The fact they they've fought passed their limited resources and representation and managed to get a WCG team to send someone to the Grand Finals for them is fantastic, especially considering one of the bigger players in the SC2 community, my very own Canada, can't get it's shit together.
Japan fighting! Cool to see you guys like Pixtar posting in here
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On September 01 2011 07:29 windsupernova wrote:
Daigo should play SC2.
hahaha nice interview. Hope he does well, its always nice to see new talent
And Flash should play Street Fighter. (=
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Japan has a small but seemingly resourceful SC community. I recall that they sent BW representatives to WCG, as well, though sadly I think it was one of their players who Jaedong called "like playing the computer" in the WCG.
The main reason Japan isn't seen as a target market for Blizzard (leading to the lack of localization) is that PC gaming, especially of non-Japanese games, is perceived to be largely non-existent there.
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Well he watches nestea and idra so he cant be that bad.
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On September 02 2011 06:46 Azarkon wrote:
Japan has a small but seemingly resourceful SC community. I recall that they sent BW representatives to WCG, as well, though sadly I think it was one of their players who Jaedong called "like playing the computer" in the WCG.
The main reason Japan isn't seen as a target market for Blizzard (leading to the lack of localization) is that PC gaming, especially of non-Japanese games, is perceived to be largely non-existent there.
Nah man, as far as i remember they did pretty good and beat some of the top foreigner. The one who was called "like playing the computer" was someone from a west asian country i don't exactly recall now.
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On September 02 2011 06:46 Azarkon wrote:
Japan has a small but seemingly resourceful SC community. I recall that they sent BW representatives to WCG, as well, though sadly I think it was one of their players who Jaedong called "like playing the computer" in the WCG.
The main reason Japan isn't seen as a target market for Blizzard (leading to the lack of localization) is that PC gaming, especially of non-Japanese games, is perceived to be largely non-existent there.
Jaedong actually said that? What a jerk.
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On September 02 2011 07:02 Sandro wrote:Show nested quote +On September 02 2011 06:46 Azarkon wrote:
Japan has a small but seemingly resourceful SC community. I recall that they sent BW representatives to WCG, as well, though sadly I think it was one of their players who Jaedong called "like playing the computer" in the WCG.
The main reason Japan isn't seen as a target market for Blizzard (leading to the lack of localization) is that PC gaming, especially of non-Japanese games, is perceived to be largely non-existent there. Jaedong actually said that? What a jerk.
Nope, it wasn't a japanese player. He was form Azerbajian.
edit: and he played really horrible, like D- play, so he deserved it.
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Canada13389 Posts
wait ... carriers = hydras into spire ->> infestors LATER!? I really want to see how this guy plays lol. Japanese scene seems so strange lol Or perhaps it was the interviewer?
Either way gl to Japan at WCG! This guy seems like a good guy
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United Kingdom16710 Posts
On September 02 2011 07:02 Sandro wrote:Show nested quote +On September 02 2011 06:46 Azarkon wrote:
Japan has a small but seemingly resourceful SC community. I recall that they sent BW representatives to WCG, as well, though sadly I think it was one of their players who Jaedong called "like playing the computer" in the WCG.
The main reason Japan isn't seen as a target market for Blizzard (leading to the lack of localization) is that PC gaming, especially of non-Japanese games, is perceived to be largely non-existent there. Jaedong actually said that? What a jerk.
He called a bad player bad. What's wrong with that?
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On September 02 2011 06:46 Azarkon wrote:
Japan has a small but seemingly resourceful SC community. I recall that they sent BW representatives to WCG, as well, though sadly I think it was one of their players who Jaedong called "like playing the computer" in the WCG.
The main reason Japan isn't seen as a target market for Blizzard (leading to the lack of localization) is that PC gaming, especially of non-Japanese games, is perceived to be largely non-existent there.
Nothing to do with blizzard, pc gaming in general is low pop in Japan, mass DS, PSP, PS
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