On March 13th, some of the best StarCraft 2 players in the world will gather in Katowice, Poland for a shot at winning the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship and its $100,000 grand prize. Not just the grand prize, but only prize.
IEM's decision to make the World Championship winner-take-all has been controversial, with some fans eagerly anticipating the heightened stakes, and other fans angered by the inequitable distribution of prizes.
But what do the players think? We asked two of the Terran players competing in the main bracket, mYi.jjakji and Liquid`TaeJa, for their thoughts.
Interviews have been edited and condensed.
mYi.jjakji
"When I won the GSL it was during a period where Terran was strong, so my championship was under-appreciated. That fact has always stayed in my head, so I think this period where Terran is weak is actually an opportunity for me."
How are you feeling ahead of IEM? I got back from SeatStory Cup a few days ago, which only gave me about two days time before leaving to IEM. So instead of practicing, I've focused on getting rest and watching VODs. I think I'm at a level where I can win the tournament, and my physical condition should be good as well due to getting rest.
A lot of the players at SSC thought you would win the entire tournament. Where did things go wrong? My skill level and condition were alright so I went to the tournament thinking that I had the highest chance to win as well.
When I played HyuN in the semifinals, I lost in our first game which took an hour and 20 minutes. More than mentally, it taxed me a lot physically. Also, because HyuN's style is so unique, a lot of situations I hadn't encountered in practice came out, and I reacted to them very poorly.
It was a tournament that I had been confident going into, but losing 0-3 in the semis took a big toll on me. I had to play the 3rd/4th place match in that state, so it affected my play a lot.
You qualified for IEM at a time when Terrans were really struggling. The recent balance patch has made it easier to play against Protoss; are you confident against Protoss in this tournament? Yes, of the three things that were patched, two affected TvP. So MSC blink-stalker rushes are less common than before etc. I think now the better player wins in TvP.
I think my TvP is some of the best among all Terran players, so I'm confident. However, when I played at IEM Sao Paulo and IEM Cologne, I lost consecutively to Protoss players, so I did end up feeling that tournament games are different from practice.
When I won the GSL it was during a period where Terran was strong, so my championship was under-appreciated. That fact has always stayed in my head, so I think this period where Terran is weak is actually an opportunity for me.
This is probably the biggest tournament you've played in since then. Are you nervous about it? I think I can play up to the semifinals without being very nervous, but after that the difference between $100,000 and $0 is probably going to make me very nervous, lol.
What do you think about that format? The GSL has a big gap between #1 and #2, but IEM is another story altogether. I've talked to some pros about it, not all of them, but I don't think there's a single player out there who thinks it's good from a player's perspective. For the fans, I think it will be a very entertaining tournament. The format for this year is set, but I hope that next time they go back to their old format.
To bring up something a bit dated, you faced off against Leenock, your old GSL finals opponent, in the Ro8 of HomeStory Cup last year. How was it facing him again? Well, I had the experience of beating him on a big stage, and at that time Leenock's form wasn't that good, so I felt that I would be able to win.
He's playing in the open bracket at IEM as well. What if you played him again? He has a unique style so I think there will be some fun games, but of course I will win.
If you win IEM Katowice, it would be the second time in your career where you earn a ton of money at once. Any thoughts on where you'd spend it? I haven't thought about it yet, it would be like counting your chickens before they hatch. I think most of the money I make before I go to the military I will save, and buy nice meals for the people I know.
Anyone at the tournament you are worried about or would like to avoid? Looking at the list of players there's no one who's particularly difficult or I would like to avoid. I would like to meet players I've lost to in previous tournaments and get revenge on them, players like HyuN or Life.
Other players would lose confidence after a string of disappointing results. How do you manage to maintain your confidence? I tend to get discouraged if I don't get the results I expected in tournaments, but I'm also the kind of person who forgets about it after a good night's sleep.
Alright, any final comments? This is kind of out of nowhere - I planned to mention this in an interview after winning SSC.
On the train from the mYi house to Germany, there was a fan who recognized us so I took a picture with him and signed an autograph. As we were talking to him we came into our station, and we told him we were going to go to our hotel and have dinner. Suddenly, he told us that he wanted to pay for us and handed us 50 euros. Thanks to him we were able to have a tasty dinner, and I'm really thankful for that. It was also a new experience for me.
Even though I couldn't mention him in the champion's interview at SSC, I want to use this opportunity to say thank you Philip!
Also, I don't know if they'll see this interview, but I want to thank my girlfriend and family who are always on my side, and tell them I love them.
You're one of the two invited players at IEM Katowice alongside sOs. How do you feel about getting invited? I've never competed in an IEM before, so I'm glad I'm getting such a nice chance.
You're the king of $10,000 tournaments. Now you have a chance to make $100,000. Does that change the way you approach this tournament? No, it doesn't change it. I just want to take first place because that's the only placement that has prize money.
photo: 7mk
There's a lot of talk around that format. What do you think about it personally? I think second place will suffer a big blow.
So you want a better distribution? Yes.
Some people are worried about your form or your mentality these days. What do you think? I don't think I'm playing as well as I was before. Still, I'm trying to work hard.
What are your chances of winning then?
1 hour later
Are you alive?
20 minutes later
I think it's possible as long as I don't meet a Protoss in the early rounds.
Other players are doing pretty good in TvP due to the mine changes. It's still hard for you then? TvP does happen to be easier than TvZ. However, because the common opinion is that TvP is hard, it ends up feeling hard to me as well. I think it will be okay to face a Protoss player.
San says you're one of the championship candidates for this tournament. Your thoughts? The reason San says he can't win is because he actually does think he can win.
So who do you think are the top candidates to win? San? And Life.
And you? I don't know, I get nervous when I play these days.
So humble! Other players like PartinG and Life seem to get arrogant when they win. What do you think about that kind of attitude?
90 minutes later
It's good that they can be confident.
Good as in you're envious? Yes
Ugh, GG. Let's just wrap. Anything you want to say to end? I'll practice hard and try to win as many tournaments as I can in 2014.
On March 14 2014 00:22 sharkie wrote: more criticism for the prize money heh
I don't think there is ever going to be praise for this prize distribution lol. If salaries for the average progamer was high enough to actually live off then it would be a hell of a lot less ridiculous
On March 14 2014 00:51 MysterySC wrote: Honestly, liquid says they really like certain players... Taeja is the definition of faceless korean, like how can someone be more boring
I've seen much more boring interviews with Innovation.
On March 14 2014 00:51 MysterySC wrote: Honestly, liquid says they really like certain players... Taeja is the definition of faceless korean, like how can someone be more boring
The faceless korean is faceless not because of awful interviews but because they never really do them/they never get translated. These sorts of interviews are pretty funny, and the incredible confidence he displays and things like the taejaclap aren't "faceless korean" traits.
Jjakji seems pretty confident. I'm also a little surprised neither TaeJa or Jjakji didn't mention Rogue or sOs when talking about who they predicted to win the whole thing or who they wanted to avoid play against.
On March 14 2014 00:51 MysterySC wrote: Honestly, liquid says they really like certain players... Taeja is the definition of faceless korean, like how can someone be more boring
Plus he tends to come off arrogant from time to time. He is definitely sticking out a bit from the type of player Liquid usually recruits.
Fantastic interview with jjakji. I'm looking forward to watching him win $100K. Glad he has such confidence and has really been prepping himself for this tournament.
On March 14 2014 00:51 MysterySC wrote: Honestly, liquid says they really like certain players... Taeja is the definition of faceless korean, like how can someone be more boring
When you've had the sort of consistent, long-term success that he's had, it becomes sort of hard to ignore, boring or not. Besides, his terrible interviews are a storyline in themselves. It's sort of like Sniper's tendency to eliminate fan favorites - even a negative, consistently observed, becomes a positive for fans because it makes the players familiar and distinct. Plus, it gives people like Wax and Incontrol something to poke fun at, and exasperated humor is the best kind of humor.
That said, I still think it should be mandatory to include San in every Taeja interview henceforth. It makes him so much more personable.
On March 14 2014 00:51 MysterySC wrote: Honestly, liquid says they really like certain players... Taeja is the definition of faceless korean, like how can someone be more boring
On March 14 2014 00:22 sharkie wrote: more criticism for the prize money heh
I don't think there is ever going to be praise for this prize distribution lol. If salaries for the average progamer was high enough to actually live off then it would be a hell of a lot less ridiculous
So if they were to more evenly distribute the prize to the top 8, how much has the average top 8 candidate in this tournament won just from prize money in 2013?
He has a personality, it's just... very dry and very Taeja. He does give a lot of interviews, he streams a lot, and he's pretty active on twitter.
Ultimately if you win enough tournaments people will recognize your face, regardless of how boring you are!
I think the 'faceless' Korean term is more suitable to the kind of guys who you don't really hear much about until they come around and knock your favorite player out of a bracket and dive back into darkness. Alive is the perfect faceless Terran to me. He is very good, but his playstyle is really generic, he doesn't really do many interviews (at least on TL) and a lot of people just don't really care about him (sorry Alive!).
I like reading about all these progamers and I really appreciate interviews that give you a look into their personality. Questions like, "do you think you're going to win" don't really do much to help me like a player like Alive, IMO.
On March 14 2014 00:51 MysterySC wrote: Honestly, liquid says they really like certain players... Taeja is the definition of faceless korean, like how can someone be more boring
We call Koreans that are extremely successful and well-known faceless now? What the fuck is wrong with you people?
On March 14 2014 04:54 Popkiller wrote: what I don't understand is why Taeja wouldn't even give a good interview for Team Liquid.
What I don't understand is why Taeja doesn't breakdance after a tournament win. My guess is he can't. Some people aren't good at talking, or dancing, or playing games, or giving interviews.
On March 14 2014 04:03 DinoMight wrote: Lol Taeja is not a 'faceless Korean."
He has a personality, it's just... very dry and very Taeja. He does give a lot of interviews, he streams a lot, and he's pretty active on twitter.
Ultimately if you win enough tournaments people will recognize your face, regardless of how boring you are!
I think the 'faceless' Korean term is more suitable to the kind of guys who you don't really hear much about until they come around and knock your favorite player out of a bracket and dive back into darkness. Alive is the perfect faceless Terran to me. He is very good, but his playstyle is really generic, he doesn't really do many interviews (at least on TL) and a lot of people just don't really care about him (sorry Alive!).
I like reading about all these progamers and I really appreciate interviews that give you a look into their personality. Questions like, "do you think you're going to win" don't really do much to help me like a player like Alive, IMO.
Alive is not faceless. He has produced many exciting games and is relevant for so long.
Sorry if my "faceless" comment offended anyone. All I'm trying to say is that he gets flown to so many more tournaments than any other koreans. Sure he's really great, no one would ever deny that but is he really that many championships better than soO, Innovation Soulkey... I don't think anybody would say that. I'm all for giving players opportunity but as a independent observer of the game, is giving one player a million opportunities to shine when that player cares so little about the struggling scene to say 2 words in an interview then I would say its really not the best investment.
On March 14 2014 05:57 MysterySC wrote: Sorry if my "faceless" comment offended anyone. All I'm trying to say is that he gets flown to so many more tournaments than any other koreans. Sure he's really great, no one would ever deny that but is he really that many championships better than soO, Innovation Soulkey... I don't think anybody would say that. I'm all for giving players opportunity but as a independent observer of the game, is giving one player a million opportunities to shine when that player cares so little about the struggling scene to say 2 words in an interview then I would say its really not the best investment.
the best investments are the best players. what kind of fairy tale world do you live in where people have to have esports passion in order to provide quality entertainment with high level play
I find his games boring, his personality more boring and his seeming lack of care when he wins things just baffling. I understand that some people find him entertaining, I don't.
Thanks for these interviews! jjakji's is nice; I feel bad that his 3rd place match in SSC was affected by his match with Hyun, but oh well, it is what it is. Best of luck to jjakji!
Someone gives him an opportunity to speak with his fans and he just wastes their time ? I've been a fan of his since the esl days but that seems dodgy to me.
On March 14 2014 05:57 MysterySC wrote: Sorry if my "faceless" comment offended anyone. All I'm trying to say is that he gets flown to so many more tournaments than any other koreans. Sure he's really great, no one would ever deny that but is he really that many championships better than soO, Innovation Soulkey... I don't think anybody would say that. I'm all for giving players opportunity but as a independent observer of the game, is giving one player a million opportunities to shine when that player cares so little about the struggling scene to say 2 words in an interview then I would say its really not the best investment.
With that logic so many players would be dropped. Just take a look at most teams, they are filled with dead weight.
EPT
mYi.jjakji and ![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/iem/wc2014/jjakjismall.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/asusrog/summer12/taejasmall.jpg)
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