MajOr Joins KeSPa Team 8! - Page 30

Hello! Please take a moment to introduce yourself to the INVEN family.

Hello, INVEN! I’m Juan Carlos Lopez and I’m a Terran player who goes by the ID, MajOr. I’m happy to have finally fulfilled my aspiration of joining a KeSPA team. Please root for me!

You left ROOT Gaming and joined a KeSPA team. Why did you make this decision?

When I first became a pro-gamer, the first goal that I set was to join a KeSPA team. Truthfully, even though I was a part of ROOT Gaming, I didn’t sign an official contract or anything. The reason I chose to be in ROOT was because of my friendship with the ROOT players. They’re all my close friends.

I always wanted to join a KeSPA team and told ROOT Gaming that if I ever got an offer from a KeSPA team, I’d be taking the offer. Getting the offer from Team 8 was really an honor and a great joy.

Just about 10 days ago on December 24th, there was an announcement on a foreign site (TEAMLIQUIDDDDDD) that you’d returned to ROOT. So there were a lot of fans who thought that you’d given up on Korea.

After being contacted by KeSPA, I tried out for Team 8. After trying out, I was waiting for a response, but the time just kept passing. Originally, I’d decided to retire if negotiations with KeSPA teams fell through.

However, I still had passion for the game and wanted to continue playing the game with my friends – So I re-joined ROOT Gaming. That’s why the announcement was made that ‘MajOr joins ROOT Gaming’ again. But fortunately for me, I was notified of my acceptance and with a happy heart, I was able to make the decision to go to Korea.

What were the reasons that you dreamed of joining a KeSPA team?

When I was playing Brood War, I was a big fan of Oz. We are both members of the ‘Gosi’ clan. I was watching one of Oz’s pro-league matches at the time and was amazed when he defeated Bisu. It was so cool.

I think it was after experiencing that moment that I thought to myself “Damn, I want to play on a KeSPA team too.” I’m so happy that such a passing thought has become a reality. Now I really want to be that type of player and experience those moments firsthand.

Of the members of the ‘Gosi’ clan, I see Flying and Sniper are playing. I still remember the other members too, but I’m not sure if they’re playing Starcraft 2.

To be honest, it looked like you changed teams a lot in a very short amount of time. What was going on?

It can definitely seem that way (laughs) because I’ve changed teams three times already. However, it definitely wasn’t because I couldn’t adjust to the teams or because there were any disagreements. I just want to clarify that there were legitimate reasons for all of the changes.

Firstly, the team I joined in 2011, Sixjax, disbanded. The team disbanded so I needed to find a new team and joined CheckSix. However, during this time, I entered talks with TSL, which I really wanted to join. I didn’t want there to be any issues regarding contractual complications so I had to leave CheckSix. But because of a lot of different issues, TSL didn’t work out. Likewise, although I really wanted to join LG-IM, it wasn’t meant to be.

My most recent team, ROOT Gaming, is the third team I joined. As I mentioned earlier, I joined ROOT to play with my friends, and already stated that if I would be leaving if I received an offer from a KeSPA team. Because of this, there weren’t any problems and I was able to join Team 8.

Even though Team 8 is the fourth team that I’m joining, there were reasons behind all of my decisions and I hope that I won’t simply be labeled as a team hopper.

Do you think there’ll be any difficulties in adjusting to Korean team life?

Honestly, I’ve already experienced Korean team life. I spent time at the GOM guest house and briefly at the TSL house. I had a really good experience and a lot of positive memories regarding Korea. The people are nice, polite, and generally seem like very good people. It’s also a very safe place so I think I’ll be able to rest easy. As for the cuisine, I really like kimchi-jjigae, bulgogi, kalbi, and all the other meat dishes (laughs).

If I had to pick a potential problem, it’d have to be that none of my teammates speak English very well so I think I might be lonely (laughs). However, I think we’ll be able to work out our communication issues one way or other. In the past, when I chatted with Jaehoon while playing a game, it didn’t seem too hard to understand each other. I’m glad that all of my teammates seem to know at least simple English phrases.

Oh, another thing I don’t really like is that there’re a lot of mosquitos (laughs). There really are a lot of mosquitos.

Is there a story behind how you became a Starcraft 2 pro-gamer?

I didn’t start playing in the beta or even when the game was first released. I got a pretty late start. The person who really opened my path to being a pro-gamer is definitely MVP. I started playing seriously after watching him play.
I’m not sure why I chose to be Terran. Maybe there was some sort of subconscious draw towards it, but I think it might have just been the first race I saw. I don’t have any plans to change race in the future either.

You briefly changed your ID to ‘Princess’, ‘Kitty’, and ‘WinDy’. Was there a reason for using these names?

To be honest, they’re IDs of Brood War players. Even ‘MajOr’ is a Brood War player’s ID that I saw and liked. There was also a time when I used ‘Light’ because I was a fan of his.

From what I know, the player who used ‘Princess’ is actually a part of Team 8. It’s really amazing that and I’m really happy that I’m going to be able to live with these players. I just use IDs of players that I like. I used ‘Britney’ before too (laughs).

** The player who used to be known as ‘Princess’ is alone[WHITE]

Is there a Korean player that you like? Maybe you really enjoy their play, or maybe a player that you’d want to make a role model?

Out of the current Starcraft 2 players, I really like Innovation. I think he’s really good and that I can learn a lot from him. I liked MVP but I know he’s having some problems with his wrist. I hope he recovers quickly and shows his old dominance again.

There isn’t one player I’d pick out as a role model. I’ll just take all of the best parts of all of the best players and make it my own. Out of all players of all time, my favorite is Light.

Now that you’ve joined a KeSPA team, you’ve managed to accomplish your first goal. What’s going to be your next goal?

I want to work hard and succeed. I want to try everything that I possibly can and also integrate with the team. Through my hard work, I hope to make not only foreign fans but fans in Korea as well. My goal is to capture and captivate the hearts of fans through good results.

You’re going to be going away from home. Don’t you think you’ll miss Mexico?

I’m not sure about anything else, but I’m going to miss my puppy (laughs). My dog, Prada, is just so cute.
My parents are supportive of my decision to be a pro-gamer. Of course at first, they didn’t really like the idea but after becoming a pro, earning an income, and after seeing me treat gaming as a real job, they have become extremely supportive.

Do you have sports that you enjoy outside of games?

When I was young, I played soccer. You probably wouldn’t believe me looking at me now (laughs). I was even on a pro youth team as a forward. My ball handling wasn’t the greatest, but I was good at getting the ball in the net – let’s call it Chicarito style (laughs). Actually, I even went to the same school as him. Believe me!

I’ve gained a lot of weight now, but I was very athletic when I was young. To be honest, gaining weight has some to do with sitting and playing games all the time, but I also injured my knee. Since then, I wasn’t able to run around without severe pain so I gave up on sports. My knee is okay now so I’m planning on starting a consistent exercise program once I join the team in Korea. I’ve gotta work out to look good in the team uniform (laughs).

What game was most memorable since you became a professional?

The most memorable series was in the Teamliquid Proleague where I beat TSL’s Hyun 3 to 2. I want to be able to show lots of games like those.

What do you most want to learn by joining Team 8?

I want to continue to evolve and advance my game style. The reason I wanted to join a KeSPA team was because of this and because I like the system. Weaknesses can be fixed with help from the coaching staff. I heard that our coach was a kickboxer… I’ll work hard (laughs).

I’ve always preferred playing against Zerg and enjoy playing mech. I want to be able to develop and advance these aspects of my game even further. Please keep an eye on me!

You’re going to have to work really hard! (laughs) Any last words?

Thanks for reading the interview. I have such a positive impression of Korea and I really like Kpop too. I like SISTAR’s Hyorin and Son Dam Bi. I don’t understand the lyrics, but I’ve been listening to ‘Dripping Tears’ (laughs).
I hope to be around for a long time. I’ll work hard so that I can show good results. Please root for me and thank you!