You've returned to Code S once again. Tell us your thoughts.
My goal at the beginning of this season was to secure a Code S seed for Heart of the Swarm, so I feel glad. It's a bit unfortunate that I wasn't able to advance to the Code S Ro8.
How did you prepare once HerO was confirmed as your opponent?
I did play a little Heart of the Swarm before, but I prepared [for this match] for around two days, starting on Monday.
Did you anticipate a 2-0 victory?
I was playing a TvP, so I was confident. HerO may be a good player, but he kept on practicing Heart of the Swarm, so I felt that I would win.
You used early-game harassment during your games to get ahead of your opponent.
My play style is usually to go for a quick CC, so I decided to focus on performing early-game harassment this time, and it worked well. HerO looked like he got flustered.
You've mentioned that you've played Heart of the Swarm. What do you think of HotS?
I feel that Terran is the best, followed by Protoss. Zerg is the worst race, and I think there will need to be a patch. Zergs can manage during the mid and late game, but they have a hard time coping against early-game harassment.
You must be looking forward to Heart of the Swarm next season.
If HotS is released as is, I think that Zerg will become extinct (laughs). I would like them to leave just the Medivac boosters alone; that's my flavor of Terran.
Tell us anything more that you would like to say.
I would like to tell Zerg players that since you've won a lot during Wings of Liberty, I would like it if you suffered a bit. I want to send my thanks to Avenge and Han Jae-hoon [not that Jaehoon] for helping me practice, as well as my team's sponsors, Red Bull, ZOWIE, and Joy Gear.
I feel delighted about finishing well and being able to play in Code S for Heart of the Swarm next season.
How did you prepare for your match once your opponent was decided?
To be honest, I thought that I would lose. I aimed for the Up & Downs and only practiced Heart of the Swarm. After playing only HotS, playing Wings of Liberty somehow became more comfortable, and that's why I think I was able to win.
How was Heart of the Swarm?
Early- and mid-game harassment is too difficult to deal with, so I keep losing early on; there's no way to block Terran early-game pressure. I think I've lost nearly all of my HotS games [against Terran] (laughs).
What would you think would be good improvements for HotS?
I can't say for certain because I haven't played much, but I don't think there's any way to counter Hellbats; I even lose to amateur players. I can handle ZvZ or ZvP, but I keep on losing my ZvT games.
This is your ninth consecutive Code S season. If you stay in Code S just one more time, you'll receive the NesTea award.
I think that I can earn the NesTea award as long as I work hard, and I think that I'll be able to go above and beyond that if I work even harder.
Tell us anything more that you would like to say.
I'm always grateful to the fans for cheering for me, and I'm also thankful to my team's sponsors, FXO, Twitch.tv, and Razer.
You've advanced to Code S for three consecutive seasons.
Today's results were so-so. I wasn't looking foward [to this match] because my condition wasn't very good, but I feel that I was able to win because luck was on my side.
How did you prepare for today's match?
I practiced when I could find the time, but I didn't get enough practice because I was too fatigued. Even this morning, I had to go the hospital to get supplement shots.
Considering that you blocked the proxy Barracks attack during the first set, the game went on for a long time.
I don't know whether it's because I've gotten bad recently, but I wasn't able to focus well during today's match. I don't think that my performance today was very good.
You ended up losing Set 2 to MarineKing's Marines.
I definitely felt how astounding MarineKing's army maneuvering is. I definitely think that it's his strong point and that it's something that I should learn.
Were your MULE drop and manner CC during the third set intentional?
I used it after seeing the MULE drop during the second set. I didn't mean anything bad by it.
During your last Code A interview, you said that this match would be an exciting one. How does you feel now that you've actually played it?
MarineKing's army maneuvering was as good as I thought it would be. I wasn't able to enjoy this match because of my bodily condition, and I felt very pressured.
You've gone directly into Code S. Starting next season, you'll be playing Heart of the Swarm, so how are you planning to prepare?
I haven't played that many games yet. For now, I'm thinking of playing as much as I can. There are three Zergs by my side at the team house, and they all seemed to find HotS difficult; I think that Terran is the best right now.
Do you have any last words?
I'm thankful to my team's sponsors, LG Electronics, Googims Company, HyperX, Coca-Cola, SteelSeries, and ASRock, as well as to my brother's wife and my manager. Now that I've gotten sick after leaving home, I've started wanting to see my mother. I hope that all of you take care not to catch a cold.
First of all, tell us your thoughts on today's victory.
If Sniper had won today, he would have blocked my path forward just as he did in the finals, so I feel very glad. It's fortunate because I would have had trouble in the Up & Downs because of my tight overseas tournament schedule for March.
In the first set, you fell behind for a moment.
It had been an even situation; Sniper is a very good macro player. I had thought before that winning would be difficult, but when I took a strong position after the first engagement, I believed that I could easily win. However, I somehow ended being pushed back. I don't know whether it was because of my experience losing to him at the finals, but I kept on going. I lost both the build order battle and the mind games.
What do you think were the factors behind your defeat in the second game?
Instead of spawning a Queen at my natural, I made two at my main base. After my first Queen came out, I knew that I had made a mistake. Truthfully, I couldn't get much practice on Icarus because I was knocked out of Code S so quickly. They say that Icarus will trip you up if you don't practice on it much. All I focused on was mining the gold minerals with my workers, so I only ended up getting four Larva instead of eight. Even when I attacked, I had no support for my Banelings; my opponent had more Banelings than I had Zerglings. I really regret making that initial mistake.
You must have been in a difficult position with the third set ahead of you.
I thought of how much I lost when I was defeated at the finals and how terrible it would be if I lost today, too. I think that Sniper was thinking about a lot of things during that game; he kept trying to scout me. I just focused on what I should do myself.
You seemed to have intentionally showed your expansion Hatchery during the third set.
It's true; I did it because making no expansion means that your opponent knows that you're going all-in. I think it was effective.
With next season's Code S seed, you'll have to start preparing for Heart of the Swarm right away.
I'm already practicing now, but it's too hard. I'm not asking for much, but I wish that it were more similar to Wings of Liberty. I also wish that Zerg would become slightly better. I feel that WoL was good. After last season's GSL finals, I feel like my results have been on the downfall; I kept getting blocked by ZvZ. I do feel confident, but I keep on facing strong Zerg players.
Tell us anything more that you have to say.
I hope that with today's turnaround, I can start showing good results. I would like it if the fans cheered a lot for me. I want to thank Symbol, RagnaroK, and Revival for helping me practice even when they had games of their own, and I also want to send my thanks to Quantic Gaming's owner and manager.
You must be looking forward to Heart of the Swarm next season.
If HotS is released as is, I think that Zerg will become extinct (laughs). I would like them to leave just the Medivac boosters alone; that's my flavor of Terran.
Damn, when koreans starting losing to "ametur terrans" as Z, you know Hellbats are VERY broken xD Guess blizz will act on it soon...xD Until then.....TVT WARS NEXT SEASON :D
I feel Bomber completely on his interview. It would be nice to see zergs suffer a little bit lol. But better their is a good balance asap for the sake of good tournaments. TY interviews!
Glad Bomber and Leenock spoke out about the Hellbats, so far they are by far the worst terran unit in the game, minimum micro potential, huge damage, , super versatile, low cost, as a terran player it makes me sick to have this unit in my armory.
On topic, happy with the players that made it trough today. Bomber is just awesome, and Leenock plays a very entertaining style, and is one season away from the NesTea award, Hyun gets revenge on Sniper. And we have a great series next week in Flash vs Rain.
You must be looking forward to Heart of the Swarm next season.
If HotS is released as is, I think that Zerg will become extinct (laughs). I would like them to leave just the Medivac boosters alone; that's my flavor of Terran.
On February 20 2013 20:47 Pandemona wrote: Thanks for interviews
Damn, when koreans starting losing to "ametur terrans" as Z, you know Hellbats are VERY broken xD Guess blizz will act on it soon...xD Until then.....TVT WARS NEXT SEASON :D
Well, looking at Jjakji vs Dream, I'm actually fine with that. We've had enough Zerg action the last couple of months.
Lol bomber must have forgotten the days of GomTvT. No complaining about wings of liberty there doctor inconsistent, only you made yourself suffer, it's not the talent or the race that's for sure.
On February 20 2013 22:39 Enema wrote: "I'm thankful to my team's sponsors, LG Electronics, Googims Company, HyperX, Coca-Cola, SteelSeries, and ASRock,"
On February 20 2013 22:51 Coolhwip wrote: Whta is the win ration in pvz on neo planet S? How can a torunament like GSL serisously have a map like that in the map pool, it's outrageous.
On February 20 2013 22:51 Coolhwip wrote: Whta is the win ration in pvz on neo planet S? How can a torunament like GSL serisously have a map like that in the map pool, it's outrageous.
I think the same thing when I see Daybreak still in the map pool.
On February 20 2013 22:51 Coolhwip wrote: Whta is the win ration in pvz on neo planet S? How can a torunament like GSL serisously have a map like that in the map pool, it's outrageous.
I think the same thing when I see Daybreak still in the map pool.
Nothing compared to Neo Planet S. TvZ: 7-15 (31.8%) | ZvP: 8-15 (34.8%) | PvT: 9-1 (90%) 90% PvT......
On February 20 2013 22:51 Coolhwip wrote: Whta is the win ration in pvz on neo planet S? How can a torunament like GSL serisously have a map like that in the map pool, it's outrageous.
I think the same thing when I see Daybreak still in the map pool.
Nothing compared to Neo Planet S. TvZ: 7-15 (31.8%) | ZvP: 8-15 (34.8%) | PvT: 9-1 (90%) 90% PvT......
While you might have a point and I don't want to argue that, the sample size is way too small to really draw conclusions from.
Very good games today, and all of my favorites except Fantasy and MKP won. Interesting to see what the progamers have to say about Hots too. Feel somewhat bad for the players in the up and downs though, having to play WoL while the others can practice Hots. I wonder how many of them will actually practice WoL for this. If no one does, we could have some poor games in the up and downs...
On February 20 2013 22:51 Coolhwip wrote: Whta is the win ration in pvz on neo planet S? How can a torunament like GSL serisously have a map like that in the map pool, it's outrageous.
I think the same thing when I see Daybreak still in the map pool.
Nothing compared to Neo Planet S. TvZ: 7-15 (31.8%) | ZvP: 8-15 (34.8%) | PvT: 9-1 (90%) 90% PvT......
While you might have a point and I don't want to argue that, the sample size is way too small to really draw conclusions from.
Also I see Planet S to be a much, much, much better map for HoTS.
It's also one of the nicest and most enjoyable maps to play/watch currently in the pool, despite the win ratios.
I am worry about hellbats and medivacs. Althought they are probably OP right now in the early mid game, if Blizzard nerfs them so that early harassment is no longer effective. TvZ could turn into WoL again where the zergs all take super early thirds/fourth and just macro up the unit of their choice and wins. It is a very fine line between early harassment OP and crippling harassment so much that opponent can be safe even with very Eco builds.
I really don't like this asymmetric balance. Terran mainly got early/mid game boost while zergs got mid/late game. Both seemed to get buffed in the area which they were already strong.
On February 21 2013 01:52 vthree wrote: I am worry about hellbats and medivacs. Althought they are probably OP right now in the early mid game, if Blizzard nerfs them so that early harassment is no longer effective. TvZ could turn into WoL again where the zergs all take super early thirds/fourth and just macro up the unit of their choice and wins. It is a very fine line between early harassment OP and crippling harassment so much that opponent can be safe even with very Eco builds.
I really don't like this asymmetric balance. Terran mainly got early/mid game boost while zergs got mid/late game. Both seemed to get buffed in the area which they were already strong.
don't worry thorzain is going to beat MC in the first HOTS TSL and Terran will be nerfed swiftly lol
On February 21 2013 01:52 vthree wrote: I am worry about hellbats and medivacs. Althought they are probably OP right now in the early mid game, if Blizzard nerfs them so that early harassment is no longer effective. TvZ could turn into WoL again where the zergs all take super early thirds/fourth and just macro up the unit of their choice and wins. It is a very fine line between early harassment OP and crippling harassment so much that opponent can be safe even with very Eco builds.
I really don't like this asymmetric balance. Terran mainly got early/mid game boost while zergs got mid/late game. Both seemed to get buffed in the area which they were already strong.
don't worry thorzain is going to beat MC in the first HOTS TSL and Terran will be nerfed swiftly lol
The more things change, the more they stay the same heh.
Yeah wouldn't be surprised if HOTS for nearly a year will be TvT dominance in GSL. Then Blizzard starts patching things up and we'll have something like the queen/patchzerg era while Toss sticks around begging for buffs too before LOTV comes out.
HotS can really become a repeat of history. But I hope this time Blizzard will find the right answer. Hopefully we won't end up with games below 8 minutes or 15 minutes no rush. Or only 20% ratio of Zerg or Terran above Bronze. For me HotS looks like WoL start, where Zerg struggled in the early game until they have a ton of experience dealing with it. The question is what will Blizzard and the Mapmakers do in the meantime. Depending on that we might fall back to a Broodlord Infestor type. Or the GomTvT, which happened because the Mapmakers wanted open fields to help Zerg, but they created the most powerful Bio Maps ever.
On February 20 2013 22:39 Enema wrote: "I'm thankful to my team's sponsors, LG Electronics, Googims Company, HyperX, Coca-Cola, SteelSeries, and ASRock,"
Well, zerg lost the powerful infestor since WoL and protoss and terran gained some new early game tools. Given that the swarm host is slightly underwhelming, it should not be a surprise that zerg is losing a lot in a beta which is mostly about early game advantages still.
Ahh. All the balance complaints are going to get noticed. I hope they don't Nerf terrain too much, after all the xerg dominance for so long I agree with bomber, I want to see zergs suffer.
On February 21 2013 05:21 SoFrOsTy wrote: Ahh. All the balance complaints are going to get noticed. I hope they don't Nerf terrain too much, after all the xerg dominance for so long I agree with bomber, I want to see zergs suffer.
Vendettas make for shitty game balance, qq elsewhere.
On February 21 2013 05:21 SoFrOsTy wrote: Ahh. All the balance complaints are going to get noticed. I hope they don't Nerf terrain too much, after all the xerg dominance for so long I agree with bomber, I want to see zergs suffer.
You know that even know terran still had by far the longest dominance right? From the start till somwhere late 2011/2012. Or do you happen to forget the 20terrans in code S in the middle of 2011?
On February 21 2013 05:21 SoFrOsTy wrote: Ahh. All the balance complaints are going to get noticed. I hope they don't Nerf terrain too much, after all the xerg dominance for so long I agree with bomber, I want to see zergs suffer.
You know that even know terran still had by far the longest dominance right? From the start till somwhere late 2011/2012. Or do you happen to forget the 20terrans in code S in the middle of 2011?
In terms of patching towards racial balance, I think viewers would all prefer a slight terran imbalance as opposed to a slight zerg imbalance along the way. Due to the nature of the race zerg players love to play no rush 15 styles which leads to lack of interest in games come periods of zerg dominance.
On February 21 2013 05:21 SoFrOsTy wrote: Ahh. All the balance complaints are going to get noticed. I hope they don't Nerf terrain too much, after all the xerg dominance for so long I agree with bomber, I want to see zergs suffer.
You know that even know terran still had by far the longest dominance right? From the start till somwhere late 2011/2012. Or do you happen to forget the 20terrans in code S in the middle of 2011?
In terms of patching towards racial balance, I think viewers would all prefer a slight terran imbalance as opposed to a slight zerg imbalance along the way. Due to the nature of the race zerg players love to play no rush 15 styles which leads to lack of interest in games come periods of zerg dominance.
As a zerg player here, i kinda hope that zerg stays underpowered. at least for a little bit. During the ending stages of WOL, i feel like i got no credit for my wins. they would all be labeled as "well you won because zerg OP" and not because of my skill. now i feel that when i win games, people respect me a lot more. sure, it may be hard to deal with early agression, but at least i won't be accused of having no skill. On topic though, i loved bomber's interview and hope that he does well next season in Code S
You've mentioned that you've played Heart of the Swarm. What do you think of HotS?
I feel that Terran is the best, followed by Protoss. Zerg is the worst race, and I think there will need to be a patch. Zergs can manage during the mid and late game, but they have a hard time coping against early-game harassment.
You must be looking forward to Heart of the Swarm next season.
If HotS is released as is, I think that Zerg will become extinct (laughs). I would like them to leave just the Medivac boosters alone; that's my flavor of Terran.
On February 21 2013 05:21 SoFrOsTy wrote: Ahh. All the balance complaints are going to get noticed. I hope they don't Nerf terrain too much, after all the xerg dominance for so long I agree with bomber, I want to see zergs suffer.
You know that even know terran still had by far the longest dominance right? From the start till somwhere late 2011/2012. Or do you happen to forget the 20terrans in code S in the middle of 2011?
In terms of patching towards racial balance, I think viewers would all prefer a slight terran imbalance as opposed to a slight zerg imbalance along the way. Due to the nature of the race zerg players love to play no rush 15 styles which leads to lack of interest in games come periods of zerg dominance.
As a zerg player here, i kinda hope that zerg stays underpowered. at least for a little bit. During the ending stages of WOL, i feel like i got no credit for my wins. they would all be labeled as "well you won because zerg OP" and not because of my skill. now i feel that when i win games, people respect me a lot more. sure, it may be hard to deal with early agression, but at least i won't be accused of having no skill. On topic though, i loved bomber's interview and hope that he does well next season in Code S
Me too! Seeing FD and Nestea win when Z was very underpowered was so satisfying...maybe we'll get some new heroes early on in HotS.
EPT
ST_Bomber![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/IrZKfsr.jpg)
FXO_Leenock![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NJhZjFf.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/aUJsmzx.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/erNYgmR.jpg)
