[Interview] WCS LR2 D2 Winners

Source: This Is Game

You've made it to the third round of the losers' bracket.

I have ProLeague tomorrow but I focused on today's games for my practices. I lost a lot during those practices but I'm glad right now cause my results came out good.

Your play style today seemed to be macro games that aimed for late game. What was the reason?

Leenock is a really good player so I felt like any attack I attempted during early game would be blocked. That's why I purposely aimed for late game and prepared that way.

Both games, your defending skills were great.

I was just doing things as I saw fit and they turned out well for me. I even found out Leenock's purpose late in to the game but I still blocked it luckily. I got thrown off track a lot more than I thought I would.

KeSPA players are running on 11 straight wins.

I watched yesterday's performances before coming here today. To be honest, I really wish one of us would lose already. If all of us keep winning, the burden's just going to keep getting worse. I keep telling myself that I cannot allow to lose so I worry a lot. Soulkey is going up next and I'm pretty sure he's going to be feeling a lot of burden and pressure. It feels like a ticking time bomb (laughs).

There seems to be a notion that you guys became good rather quickly. If there is a secret, what is it?

I really think it's because we used to be BW pro gamers. We have a ton of experience so it transferred over to SC2. It also feels like we practice more. Since it seemed like we were lessening the gap between our two organizations, it spurred us to prepare extensively and to practice a lot.

Doesn't the hybrid feature in ProLeague prevent you guys from practicing a lot though?

It's true that we don't really get to practice as much as we should because of BW practices also. But in that sort of situation, we just get rid of that feeling and don't feel pressured by the amount of practice we've got to do. Rather than that, we feel pressured by the fact that we have to manage two games at the same time.

BoxeR joined SKT T1 as a coach.

I've lived with BoxeR before. I was only a trainee back then but he still gave a lot of advice and helped me with my game, so I really felt something. He's a hard worker so it influenced a lot inside and outside.

Your next opponent is Jaedong. What do you think will happen?

I watched Jaedong's games and I got to say, he is good. So I think we're going to have some intense games. But, I currently lead the score in our head to head for SC2 so I think I'll be okay. I am worried that it is another PvZ though, since my build order were already revealed.

How likely do you think you'll be picked to be a Korean representative?

I haven't actually thought to myself that that's what I want to achieve. This tournament is mainly for increasing my skills and gaining experience.

Anything else you would like to say?

We play against CJ Entus tomorrow. I really hope we win. I hope my teammates all do their best. I got to use the SlayerS' gaming chair again today. I think my games went well because of that.

Source: This Is Game

You made it to the third round of the losers' bracket rather difficultly. How do you feel?

Personally, as I play my matches I feel like my game is just not working out for me. I mean I won sure, but I don't feel very good about it. When you go up against KeSPA players, there's this huge burden that you never noticed was there before. That's why I think all the other GSL players lost, and also why I think I played so badly today. Nevertheless, I am very happy I stopped the KeSPA streak today.

In game one, you lost your sentries and immortals rather pathetically.

Those were units I couldn't afford to lose. But I had completely forgotten that I had moved out with them so I ended up losing them. I was doing something else when I noticed that all of a sudden, they had all died. After that, the game was not in my favor at all. If they had lived, I think I would've been okay.

You also struggled to win game two even though you had a good early game thanks to phoenixes.

I put on some pressure but like I said before, my game was not where it should have been. My hands were not responding the way I wanted them to. My multi-tasking did not go the way I wanted it to. Whenever I would initiate the attack, I would be the one getting flustered and feeling disturbed.

In the final game, you won because of air superiority micro.

I didn't get to practice a lot. I had to go to America for IPL TAC, and I also had to stream on TeamLiquid so I didn't get to prepare for my upcoming games. So because I only got to play a couple of games on Entombed Valley, I played my game as long as my hands would allow it. But I won because I made the right decisions.

What triggered you to build a mothership?

I saw he had no corruptors so I told myself that I had to grab the aerial advantage so I built a mothership. I had a lot of resources banked up but I had already hit 200/200. Thanks to that, I missed my timing to build a mothership. Because of that, the situation became potentially dangerous.

In America for IPL TAC, you were so close but ended up taking second place.

I think we lost because of me so I want to apologize for that. TaeJa performed phenomenally as our team's ace but we couldn't grab first place so it was a real bummer.

Why do you think GSL players fell to the KeSPA players 11 times?

Truth be told, we never anticipated that they would catch up this quickly. KeSPA players have a lot of practice experiences and grab the basics really well so I think that's why they are catching up so quickly. There's also the fact that KeSPA players are really good at what they do and the fact that GSL players feel a heavy burden when playing against them. In our case, we know that the possibility of losing to them is very likely, while on the other side, the fans think there's no way we could ever lose to them yet, so the pressure from that is really huge. I would like to take this moment to request that the fans start thinking like pro gamers and stop considering us to be this dominant force that should never lose.

Your next opponent is KeSPA's Reality. What do you think will happen?

I'm going to try not to think of him as a KeSPA opponent. I know there will be pressure but I just want to win regardless of the opponent and I want to play games that I can be satisfied with.

Anything else you would like to say?

I want to thank our sponsors The Little App Factory, Twitch, and RAZER. I want to thank DRG and Jaedong for helping me with practice. I also want to thank Jinro for coming with me and cheering me on today. I want the fans and my parents to know that I am always grateful for their support. Lastly, I want to tell all the GSL players who lost to the KeSPA players, to not let the losses affect them so much and to remain strong.

Source: This Is Game

How do you feel about making it to the third round of the losers' bracket?

I only had two days to prepare for this upcoming game. I was pressed for time but I'm glad I still won. I think I won more easily than I should have because my opponent was nervous.

In game one, he blocked your proxy build attack and the situation was not in your favor.

I know my proxy rush failed, but I knew my opponent likes to delay his tech so I expanded myself to try to catch up to him. He went for a triple OC, but I told myself that if I can just catch up to his pace, I would be able to win.

What was the secret to your victory in game two?

I didn't get to do a lot of harassment but I think I won because my opponent made the wrong decisions. Even in the last moment where we tried to eliminate each other, I was in a situation where I knew I couldn't win. I won thought because my opponent threw away his tanks needlessly.

Recently, KeSPA players had a 11 win streak against GSL players. What do you think about that?

In my case, I'm not really concerned about it. A part of me wants to face the KeSPA players to see what it would be like but the other part of me doesn't want to because of the burden. The GSL players couldn't play their best because of the burden but if I ever get to face the KeSPA players, I'm going to try to play without any burden. If the opportunity ever comes, I'm going to play with the mindset of never allowing a loss and with the determination to show them that I am different than the others.

Your next opponent will be the winner between Miya vs Hack. Who do you want to face?

Truth be told, I don't really want to face Hack. I've beaten him before but I won because he got nervous. Not to mention I've been hearing that he's gotten better lately. Regarding Miya, I beat him easily in the GSTL and I've heard that he gets nervous very easily. I have map choice so I think playing against Miya would be the best.

You leave soon for the upcoming MLG.

I plan on leaving around the afternoon on the 22nd. If I win my match for the losers' bracket third round, I may have to just forfeit the rest of my WCS matches. That's why I don't know for sure if I'll get picked to be Korea's representative even if I win. If I can get some sort of extension, I won't forfeit as I leave for MLG. I want to face the KeSPA players but for now, my main focus seems to be foreign tournaments. I haven't been able to make notable results lately so for this MLG, I want to make a big splash. Instead of losing and getting eliminated, even if you do have to eventually forfeit, winning is everything to a professional gamer.

Anything else you would like to say?

I want to thank our sponsors, MSI, Raid Call, EIZO, and Steelseries. I also want to thank my fans, my family, and a special someone for always cheering for me. I also want to thank my coach and teammates for always working so hard. When Fnatic leaves for MLG this next week, there's going to be only Luvsic and ByuL at the team house. I am hoping that they will take care of themselves. I also hope they hurry up and catch the ghost in the team house.

Source: This Is Game

You advanced to the third round of the losers' bracket after a long macro game.

I originally thought that I would win easily with a 2-0 score. Recently I saw Hack streaming so I went online and did the match search at the same time that he was searching and through that, I got to play against him. That's why I thought I would win easily because of that, but as expected, a televised match was a whole different story. I feel like I couldn't even show half of what I had been preparing so I'm a little angry at myself right now.

All three games you played macro games. What was the reason for that?

I purposely went for macro games. I wanted to adapt to the televised matches atmosphere so I did that. I wanted to gain experiences in how to cope with various situations. However, I am capable of doing unorthodox builds and ending the game early.

BoxeR headed over to SKTelecom to be a coach. How's the team's atmosphere?

The team's atmosphere is pretty much the same. When BoxeR hyung was there, we would feel a certain force to practice really hard but now that he's gone, I wonder if we'll be able to take it a litte easier now (laughs).

By.Sun and HerO have both stated that they won because of the SlayerS' gaming chair. Is there some sort of secret to that?

The slayers' gaming chair has an arm rest adjustment feature. Because of that, you can adjust it to your needs and feel less strain on your hands and move faster. There really is an effect there. But I think Sun's going to have to get used to chairs without arm rests. Foreign tournaments, whether on stage or off stage, have no arm rests on the chairs.

Why do you think GSL players suffered 11 straight losses to KeSPA players?

KeSPA players really practiced a lot. That doesn't mean we don't practice though. Even for me, I didn't watch any professional games and I hit Masters League in four days. That's how comfortable and easily adaptable the SC2 interface is. But for KeSPA players, they get to watch our televised matches and replays so it's easier for them to catch up. For me, I thought Flash would only need one week's worth of practice and then he would go on to win Code S (laughs). After his match against Reality, Puzzle told me that he was on the verge of retiring as a pro gamer. That's how much of a burden and pressure GSL players feel. Because of that, I would appreciate it if people didn't ridicule the GSL players so much.

Your next opponent is aLive. What do you think will happen?

It's going to be hard. aLive's army control is off the chats. If I get nervous or end up tilting, I'm going to get hit from all sorts of places and just end up GGing. Even today, I saw all of Hack's medivacs but my hands just froze up. I only needed to send a certain amount of my army but I wounded up sending the whole thing. I needed to micro around and split my army efficiently but it didn't happen. I had to block the attack somehow so I hastily sent my army.

You are going to attend the Code A qualifiers. Are you confident?

The qualifiers are absolute hell so I can't really say anything about that. It's not strange for anyone if you get eliminated during the qualifiers. Neither players are nervous so the skill differences are like paper thin.

Anything else you would like to say?

I hope Puzzle listens to this well. Protoss is OP but Puzzle refuses to admit it. We even switched races and I won but he still refuses to admit it. I really hope Puzzle hurries up and admits that Protoss is OP.