Crank, mOOnGLaDe interviews - WCS AM Ro16

How did you prepare for the games? You had PvZ first, and a guaranteed PvT next. What did you focus on?

I had GSTL preparation right until I had to leave Korea. The match-up I was responsible for in GSTL was PvZ, so I had already played a lot of PvZ, but hadn't been able to practice PvT. So I only played PvT after I arrived here. Because of that, honestly I don't think my play in the first series was that good. I just kept playing PvT with MMA after I got here, for PvZ I only planned it out before I went into the games.

You lost to a speedling all-in in the first game against mOOnGLaDe. Did you accept that possibility when you decided not to scout?

Even if I do that kind of greedy play, the probability a late probe scout will discover that strat is still 2/3. But he ended up being at the last spot I was scouting, so I didn't see it. That I just thought I was really unlucky. Instead of feeling bad about that game, I just thought "well he got me this time."

You went DTs in game three, but it got stopped as your opponent got overseers in time. Did you think you had lost?

Maybe it was because I only planned the series in my head without actually practicing, but my tech tree, my build wasn't precise. Everything was slow, DTs, zealots, and everything, so I felt that my DTs would be stopped even as I was going for them, and it turned out that way in reality. I thought I had lost and started preparing for the losers' match... but as you know if you saw the game, my opponent made a lot of mistakes, so I think I was a bit lucky too. That match helped me loosen up, so I was able to play well when I played TheStC.

Your PvT seems strong if we look at GSTL, beating players like YoDa and ByuN. Are you confident in the match-up?

PvT, it's a match-up my teammates keep telling me I'm good at to make me confident. I think the games went a bit better because I kept that in mind as I went into the match.

Terrans say that Protoss is actually even better in PvT in HotS. What do you think about it?

I think the better player wins. If you look at the ladder, Proleague, or GSTL, the good Terrans always beat Protoss and say it's a comfortable match-up. So I think the balance now is very good now, it's a matter of skill.

In the Ro8, who do you want to face? Or what race do you want to face?

I don't really care what race the player is as long as its a player from a different team, but it seems like I'll play against my teammate Alicia [Note: if WCS AM was identical to GSL format, that's how the bracket would have looked]. So my heart felt a bit heavy... Still, I'm happy to think I reached the Ro8, and thinking that at least one person from our team can reach the semis makes me feel better.

Axiom-Acer is #1 in the GSTL. You probably didn't expect it at first, but how do you feel now?

A lot of people – players, coaches, etc – thought we were an objectively weak team. So that helped us come together and prepare even harder. We didn't look at the big picture – we didn't think that we would be #1 when all the games ended. We just focused and prepared for the game in front of us, so I think we got good results from that. Even though we're #1 right now, we're more focused on winning the next match than thinking that we're #1 or getting overconfident.

A lot of people expected that Alicia would be the main Protoss on the team, but you've ended up playing a very important role instead. Is that planned, or is that just how the games have played out so far?

Sometimes it just happened that way because it's how the games ended up unfolding... But I've had a tendency to be placed later in the line-up than Alicia even when we were on SlayerS, because we felt that would help people with nerves.

You're doing really well in GSTL, but you're not doing good in the Acer TeamStory Cup. Axiom actually lost to Acer lately. How come you don't do as well in the ATC?

If I had to make an excuse, the GSTL is the tournament we spend the most time on and practice for the most. But teams like MVP are doing well in the ATC as well, so I don't think it's a real excuse. We've played poorly in the ATC, but there's still games left and we have a chance of making it to the playoffs. We need to prepare better from now on and win the rest of our games.

Miya retired, leaving Axiom without a Zerg. Are you looking to recruit a Zerg player, or are you not at that phase yet?

After Miya made up his mind to retire, all our players agreed that we should recruit a new Zerg player. We're looking for one now, and we've already asked other players and coaches. But it's not easy finding someone, since there's not many good Zergs who are teamless or looking for a move. We're looking, but it's hard.

Do you go back to Korea now, or are you here until the Ro8?

We're all staying in New York until the Ro8, and leaving after the tournament is complete.

You're staying in the MLG provided apartment then? Or somewhere else?

We don't know what's going to happen if we're eliminated, there's no guarantee everyone will get to the Ro8 so we don't have a set plan. We came here thinking that we'll figure it out after we all get out of our Ro16 groups, so I don't know yet.

Any words for Ryung, the only Axiom player who still has to play his match?

I've heard that viOLet, who's in Ryung's group, might not be able to come. So it would be a 3 player group, and it would be all Terrans, the race he's best against. I think he might feel pressure because Alicia and I have already made it to the Ro8, but I think if he just relaxes and tries to enjoy the games he will be able to play up to his ability. So I hope he'll be comfortable and enjoy, and the results will follow.

If you had to pick the most likely player to win of the ones remaining, who would you pick?

I've only looked at my group, so I don't really know who's left. I think if I beat Alicia, I will win.

Any last comments?

Against all expectations, we're getting good results in the GSTL. I hope our fans keep cheering us on, and we'll be able to continue at #1. I read TL lately, and all the predictions say I'll lose or get eliminated. I think my results are better because of that, so I want to thank TeamLiquid. *Handshake with Wax*

Finally, thanks to John, Olivia, Michael and Genna, our sponsors Planetside 2 and Sony, and SC2Links.com

Crank had played a few high profile games leading up to this group. Did you study them very carefully?

Yup, yup. I watched all his TeamStory Cup and GSTL games. I had a good idea of what he was gonna do, which is why I did the 10 pool speedling in game one. Though he didn't do the build I was expecting him to do, I thought he was going to do a 1-gate expand on that map, he loves that sort of stuff. It worked anyway.

You said you got that 10 pool build from the GSL series between Losira and sOs. Do you watch a lot of GSL to prepare?

I do a lot of laddering, and I watch every GSL. Anything Zerg is involved in, in the GSL and other regions too. It's usually a lot of studying, a lot of laddering. Maybe 10% of my games are custom games, focusing on a match-up.

You had a huge lead against Crank on Bel'Shir, but let it slip away. Could you explain how it happened?

It was just really bad thinking about what I was doing. I completely countered his build and I was in a sweet, sweet position. I was like, really ahead if I took advantage of it, but I didn't get all my gasses, I didn't switch to mutas, I didn't do anything intelligent really. I just massed roach-ling and tried to kill him, which could have worked, but it didn't, so...

Then I was really behind and had a massive mineral bank I couldn't really spend, so it was just really, really bad on my behalf. I think I just kinda freaked out, I was like "oh my god I can win" and just went for it.

You were very late in going over to hive or getting vipers, preferring corruptors. Is that how you usually play, or is that just how those games played out?

It's kinda just how the games played out. Like game two, I was hoping he was going to go just straight sky-toss, trying to get late colossus. I kept scouting him and I didn't see any colossus, I just saw void rays, so I thought maybe a hydra push would work. Obviously that didn't really pan out so my back-up was to go corruptors. Usually I prefer vipers a whole great deal more.

You won two ZvT series so you must feel pretty confident in that match-up.

Yeah, it's definitely the one I focused on coming into this group, and it's always been a favorite match-up of mine. I did play a lot of custom games for it.

A lot of the foreigners had been having success against the Koreans using early roach-bane attacks in ZvT. You played mostly a macro style, are you more comfortable playing that way?

Yeah, against Terran I do like playing big fights with good engagements, good positions and micro. It's something I can do pretty well against Terran. I'm not really a fan of the two-base all-ins and all that. Especially because it's been used so much in recent times, and they're kind of expecting it. So I do enjoy a good macro game.

The last game against TheStC was very very close, it swung back and forth a few times. Did you think you were losing the match, that you might be eliminated?

Defintely there were some very close shaves. He took out a lot of my bases, and I was taking out his, but all it takes for Terran to catch up in economy is like ten seconds on a mineral patch with mass mules, so... I really had to stay on the ball and not let get hidden bases, dropping mules. Even that very last fight, it was so close. If he had a base somewhere, I woulda been in trouble. It was a pretty good back and forth game.

You could have made brood lords faster in the last game, but decided to delay them. Why was that?

I mis-hotkeyed by corruptors, first off. I had five corruptors and they were down in the bottom left of the map, and I was wondering where they went 'did they die?' I kind of just went back into ultras after that, just to have a powerful ground army. I think I coulda done well either way, ultras or broods, just a matter of engagements.

So overall, you think you played well today? Did you play up to your ability in practice?

I'm pretty satisfied with how I played, especially ZvT. Obviously I got some work to do with ZvP, but I got some time now to practice and touch it up, I feel good.

Looking ahead to the Ro8, any players you want to face, or any race?

Terran would be nice, I'd like to play another Terran. Failing that, Zerg or Protoss I don't mind. I have a lot of time to prepare for whoever it is.

In a lot of SEA/Australian tournaments, you've had some trouble against Zergs, getting upset frequently in the mirror but not so much in the other match-ups. How do you feel about ZvZ?

I don't know why, sometimes randomly I just become bad at ZvZ, even though my region is nothing but Zergs, pretty much. I don't know, it's this weird thing. I have really big ups and downs in ZvZ. Obviously leading up to this, I put no effort into practicing ZvZ because I had two terrans and a Protoss. But it's something I need to work on.

You're staying here until the Ro8 matches, right?

That's right, after today I'll be moving from the MLG apartment to the Clarity Gaming house to do my practice there.

That's cool. How's the MLG place? We haven't got a look at it.

It's huge, it's like a whole level of a hotel kind of thing. It's got six rooms and plenty of space. It's really, really nice, in a really nice area.

Anything you want to say to end? To your fans in Australia?

Thanks for watching. I know all you guys did, I saw it all over Twitter after I finished the series. Shoutout to my team, team Nv, and shoutout to Rossi, for all the custom games – he's my Terran practice partner. Shoutout to my sponsors, Plantronics, Fraglabs, Horize, and shoutout to everyone that watched!