[Interview] 2012 GSL S3 CodeS Ro32 Group D Winners

Tell us how you feel about advancing to ro16 in first place

I thought I was lucky to be in this group. So I did expect for myself to advance to ro16 but once it was time for me to play today, I started to feel anxious. Fortunately, I was able to advance after some great games and I’m really happy about that.

What made you confident about advancing to ro16?

I felt that there weren’t any Terrans in my group that could give me any trouble.

Why did you leave MVP?

I feel that Coach Choi’s style didn’t mesh well with me. I left the team after long consideration. The coach’s and my personalities clashed a little bit too much. It’s not that I had a particular problem within the team that made me leave.

When did you decide to leave the team?

I’ve actually been thinking about leaving for a long time. However, every time I tried to, the coach persuaded me out of it but this time, that wasn’t possible and the decision was made.

What plans do you have for the future?

For now, I will focus on GSL and then work on finding a team to join. I think I’ll try to find a foreign team.

Wasn’t practice difficult?

It’s been a while since I left the team. I practised with friends at home mostly. There are players on the ladder to practise with so I shouldn’t have much trouble at least for now.

Is there a team you have in mind?

I’m in a situation where I have to earn every cent I can. Therefore, I want to find a team which can pay me a wage and guarantees my participation in overseas tournaments.

What’s your goal for this season?

I went as far as the finals in Season 1 but afterwards, I felt like taking a break. Then, I was eliminated early in Season 2 which made me realise that staying in the league is a good thing. So, this season, I want to get as far as possible.

Anyone you want to face in ro16?

I was eliminated by Naniwa last season so I want to avoid him.

Lately, Zerg is doing really well compared to other races, how do you feel about that?

Zerg is so good right now. I’ve been telling David Kim for a long time to reduce the observer build time and cost as well as nerf larva inject to three larvae per inject and finally, the observer has been patched. The inject nerf should be coming along.

Anything to add?

I want to thank FXOasd, NSHSSculp and LiquidTaeja for practising with me and I hope that San works hard and gets into Code S. He’s certainly skilled enough to be in Code S.

How does it feel to advance to ro16 in second place?

My original goal was to get third place but luckily, I was able to advance. My only regret is that I had to take down Happy to do it.

Why were you going for third place?

I picked a Zerg but since the finals, I hadn't played a single TvZ. So I had no idea how strong Zerg was in the current metagame. I did really badly against Zerg in practice so I couldn’t be certain about winning. I came to the studio thinking that I should avoid straight losses at least.

You actually lost to Protoss rather than Zerg.

I had faith in Happy so I didn’t practise TvP. Then, I was taken aback when Genius advanced to the winner’s match. Our original plan was for me to advance through the winner’s match and for Happy to advance through the final match. I was really stunned when Happy lost his first match.

Lately, there is talk of Zerg being OP.

There’s a reason I aimed only for third place. Lately, my win rate for TvZ and TvP are only at 30% or so. The only reason a Zerg or Protoss loses in a broadcasted match is because they don’t play their best. Unless those races make a mistake, it’s really hard for Terran to win. Until we come up with something new, it’ll continue to be hard for Terrans.
Back when Toss was the OP race, Terran could at least deal with it. But now, there is nothing we can do against Zerg. If you have two players of equal skill, the Terran cannot beat the Zerg.

How do you think it will be for you to take on a top level Zerg?

I haven’t won a single game against Nestea lately. Unless I come up with a new strategy or build, it’ll stay like that. The Terran race needs a revolutionist.

Before the match, you said that the six queen build is very strong

I tried playing Zerg on the ladder and met a lot of barcode Terrans. All those Terrans opted for an all-in build. I defended all of those all-ins with the six queen build. Unless, it’s a super early marine/scv cheese rush, six queens can hold anything.

You won your game against Line.

Line used a lot of roaches in Set 1. So I expected him to stick to that style in the subsequent sets and adapted to his play. Line is a rather aggressive Zerg which is why I was able to win.

The Nestea award was given out for the first time this season, aren’t you jealous?

The Nestea award is given to players who have been in Code S for 10 seasons in a row. If I hadn’t messed up along the way, I could have gotten one too. I will work hard in the future to win this award.

There’s talk that a fifth time champion should be given a special award, how do you feel about that?

I think winning four times is hard enough already. So it would’ve been nice for the award to have been given when I last won. I think it would be very meaningful to receive an award for a fifth championship. Seeing how I’m the one most likely to, I hope I’m the first person to get that fifth championship.

Is there something you want for the fifth championship award?

A golden keyboard. Three wins in the OSL meant you got a mouse so five wins should be enough for a keyboard at least, right?

What is your goal this season?

I’ve achieved my goal for this season already (laugh). I’m really happy with advancing to ro16 and since I fulfilled my first goal, my next goal is ro8. I hope I get TvTs in ro16. TvT is so much easier in comparison at the moment.

OSL is switching to Starcraft 2 next season

Since I was the champion of the first season of GSL (T/N: not counting the first three open seasons) , I hope to have a repeat of that in OSL. I hope I get to face Zero (T/N: I previously said it might be a typo of Fantasy's name but nope, it's Zero. thanks, Dragonborn). I say this because we were really close in Starcraft 1 and I hope to see him advance to the playoffs.

Anything to add?

Lately, both Starcraft 1 and Starcraft 2 progamers are having a hard time. Some are debating whether they should retire. However, there are many who are not able to because they are afraid. I was afraid when I gave up Starcraft 1 as well. That’s why I wasn’t able to stop playing and move on quickly. Since most gamers are young, their fear of a new challenege is huge which stops them from giving up gaming that they have lost passion for.
However, because we are young, we still have plenty of opportunities. I hope those progamers decide to walk down a path other than gaming. If you feel like gaming might not be for you, you should try something new. I give this advice because I saw many in Starcraft 1 who suffered even more later on because they weren’t able to give up gaming. I’ve been meaning to say this for a while now but only got to do it now.