EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/YDWo1So.png)
Hi iaguz, many people know you as the Gimli Terran. Have you ever considered moving to New Zealand to strengthen this bond with your dwarven kin?
iaguz: I think you're mistaken there. Whilst dwarves do prefer to live in mountainous areas and although New Zealand has it's fair share of mountains, hills, cliffs and even plateaus, we only like to live in mountains where there is Gold and other precious metals to be mined.
Incidentally have you seen the safety video they play for Air New Zealand? You should look it up, it's a real thing
For those of you who haven't seen it, the video link is:
Why do you think the hobbits simply didn't take Air New Zealand air planes to get around in Middle Earth? or the giant eagles?
iaguz: look, you can clearly tell that video is an amusing fake. I mean the Witch King is there, and he has his own winged steed. What need has he for jet planes?
As for the eagles, I dunno, a troubling question to be sure.
The new Hobbit movie came out recently. Why weren't you in it?
iaguz: In the timeline I wasn't born yet. My dad was in it though. Hi Dad!
Congratulations on finally making it to the ROOT House. I know the trip from Australia to USA is long, but this has taken much longer than normal. Can you tell us why that was?
iaguz: Catz asked me to join back in November. I applied for my visa but something weird happened and it ended up taking 2 months for them to process it. Guess I was just unlucky.
oh yea that's right, I remember, during my visa interview the person I was talking to said he wasn't sure if I should get a tourist visa, a work visa or an athletics visa. Note this was before Violet and Polt got theirs. He said he'd pass my application onto a different office that would answer complicated questions like that, and it took 2 months to come back "tourist/business visa"
With this visa, how long are you able to stay in NA for?
iaguz: I'm in the same boat as Petreaus, I can stay for 6 months but can apply for an extension immediately. I intend to stay for at least 12 months. I'm not sure if Pet's sorted his out yet. I hope so.
Wow that's #dedication right there. What kind of practice will you achieve in the ROOT House and how will it differ from what you experienced in Australia?
iaguz: Well I practiced pretty much all day back in Australia so it's not about how many hours spent playing. Having access to a lot of practice partners for when I have to prepare for tournament games (and me for them of course) is a boon for sure. And staying in a house of fellow nerds is definitely a good environment.
But really the most important thing is latency. Going from ~150-200 ping to some double digit number is incredibly empowering. Have you ever heard of this thing called micromanagement? Well I can actually do it now. It's amazing.
Finally, turning on a stream or vod and not have to worry about changing the resolution to 360p has not gotten old yet.
I'm sure all Aussies who read this will be extremely jealous now. Onto the house itself. The ROOT House is very large and has many rooms. Which one have you taken and why? Do you enjoy swimming in the pool and can you fit down their slide?
iaguz: It's winter currently so it's not really right for swimming just yet, and the pool is in pretty poor condition right now anyway. I haven't tested any of the equipment yet.
I've got a room downstairs near the studio. There's nothing particularly noteworthy about my room really other then like all the rooms here it's placed right next to a bathroom. The guy who made this room fucking loves plumbing, there's like 7 bathrooms.
What will be your first LAN representing ROOT?
iaguz: I'm not sure yet. I know there's a team league or two coming up (though for one of those I'm technically on Team WHO)
Why did you decide to play for the Team WHO (Australians + Blysk) instead of ROOT?
iaguz: Talked it with Pet and he thought it'd be cool to play for Team WHO. ROOT has a pretty deep line up so they'll be fine, I should think, without me and Pet playing for them. I'll also get to play in more games as part of Team WHO so that's also a plus.
On behalf of all of SEA, thank you, as you're the only Terran on the team!
What will you miss most about Australia and the SEA SC2 scene?
iaguz: My family mostly. My brothers are always fun to hang out with and my father can actually cook, a skill I've not yet picked up yet.
I'm going to miss Australian lans for sure. I made a lot of friends through those that I'll only get to talk through Skype windows now and that's a bit sad. Plus they were generally a much easier source of prize monies then I suspect American lans are going to be.
If you had $10 million, how would you improve the SC2 scene?
iaguz: I hate hypotheticals like that. If I had 10 million dollars I'd just buy a bunch of shit I like and roll around in it all day until either the money runs out or I die.
So if you had money you wouldn't play StarCraft?
iaguz: Well I might.
I'd have to do something.
Like I said I hate hypotheticals like that. I can't predict how I'd behave if I had 10 million dollars.
Buzzkill
iaguz: I suspect I'd turn to hedonism though. Wouldn't we all?
What if we take the money factor out?
iaguz: Well, using it to run events like 2012's WCS is the obvious thing. Other than that I wouldn't know. Any event that can get a lot of bums on seats with regularity is probably a good thing, and obviously the long term goal is to get a proper return on investment at some point down the line.
Okay last one! Thank you for answering questions today. You're a "newcomer" to the NA scene now. Do you have anything to say to the players and fans of your new home turf?
iaguz: Hi I'm Ethan 'iaguz' Zugai. I have come to take all your ladder points.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/lUGAw0D.png)
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Interview, editing: x5 Dot
Image: PiGMedia
