DES Interview with Stork and Flash

Daily e-Sports special: Why did Stork and Flash perform ceremony?

Back in BroodWar, there were the 4 Dae Chun Wang (4 Great Heavenly Kings (lol literal translation)): BoxeR, YellOw, Reach, and NaDa. They pioneered the 1st generation of StarCraft players, as they helped BroodWar gain immense popularity due to their looks and talents as well as their ability to entertain the fans. Essentially, they built the framework.

If those 4 players built the basis for the building called ‘BroodWar’, then ‘Taek Bang Lee Ssang’ took care of the interior and exterior looks. Towards the end of BroodWar, Bisu, Stork, FlaSh, and JaeDong showed amazing matches to give great finish to the BroodWar era. Now, only Stork and Flash remains in Korean leagues as Bisu has retired and JaeDong has transferred to EG, a foreign team.

Stork is 27, an age that’s considered very old for a StarCraft progamer. In fact, he is the oldest StarCraft progamer in South Korea. FlaSh is younger than Stork, 23, but he is the oldest within KT Rolster.

These players are spending some time doing ceremonies after their win. During the 2nd round, Stork brought out his gear and sniped FlaSh with his ruler + toilet paper + scope sniper. Following this, FlaSh dressed Action up in a dianosaur costume and slashed him with his ruler during Round 3. (T/N: The actual translation says ‘shot the dinosaur’. Even FlaSh mentions this. However, after checking the original video, FlaSh used the ruler to slash Action, not shoot him. Thus, I’ll be using the term ‘slash’ instead of ‘shoot’ in this translation)

To the StarCraft 2 fans, they brought out something new. To the BW fans, it was sensational. Back during BW days, both players did not perform ceremony; they only focused on winning the game.

Why did they do this? Daily e-Sports asked the questions to the players.

-Start of Interview-

Q Both of you did a ceremony after your win, and fans really loved it. Why did you do it in the first place?

A Stork = I put on a mask and used a custom gun made out of ruler to perform the ceremony. Fans even called it ‘Za-niper’ (자 (Za) means ruler in Korean). I used FlaSh’s main weapon, the 50cm ruler, to create the sniper. It took me even longer to create this weapon than to practice for the match. Why did I do this? Because I was desperate.

Most players in Proleague these days were only focusing on practicing and winning. It seemed that they were ignoring the fan service. Back in round 1, Parting did so many ceremonies but reactions from the fans weren’t as great. When a player does a ceremony, the fans need to enjoy and have fun while watching it. But since only Parting was doing such things, fans thought ‘Of course, Parting was always like that.’

To popularize SC2 more and to make Proleague more ‘active’ amongst the fans, KeSPA rewarded players with best ceremony through ‘The Best Ceremony Award’ and wanted players to participate when 2014 season came. Thus, I decided to man up and be one of the very first. Of course, I’m an anti-KeSPA. If there was something wrong with the system, I was the one to snipe them by being the first one to talk against their system. However, looking at the plans and the intent of this award, it seemed like a good initiative. That’s why I decided to do the ceremony.

Q This ‘Za-niper’ ceremony was probably shocking to you, FlaSh. Did you feel that you need to take revenge against Stork?

A FlaSh = I was already in panic mode after I lost the match. The panic doubled, even tripled, when I saw the ceremony. But I think it wasn’t as bad because it was Stork who did such ceremony. If it were someone else, I would’ve been really angry. Stork’s initiative was both fresh and entertaining at the same time, so I just laughed it off. And then, during the interview, he mentioned “When I meet FlaSh next time, I hope he does entertaining, yet fresh, ceremony.”

Surprisingly, I was scheduled to face Stork once again in Round 3. It’s like KT and Samsung planned this to happen. This time, I really wanted revenge against Stork and show him what I’m capable of, so I practiced really hard. HOTForever (current head coach of KT Rolster) came up to me the day before the match and asked “Did you prepare something for your ceremony after the match?” and I replied “I don’t have any.” He said “Ok, we’ll prepare something for you instead.”

During our team’s ride to the studio, we started talking about the ceremony. Every staff member said that everything has been prepared; we just needed to decide who will wear the dinosaur costume. The recommendations were either Action or Ty, and eventually Action decided to wear the costume. He decided to do so after we convinced him that it was time for him to move away from his ‘Guldo’ image. After that I won the match and did the ceremony. I slashed and stepped on the dinosaur.

Q I wonder how Stork felt after the ceremony

A Stork = To be honest, I didn’t know what happened inside the studio. When fans were cheering, I thought ‘oh he did something’. Nothing more. On the ride back to our practice house, the players were watching something on their phone and started chatting about it. I asked them to see the video. It was FlaSh’s dinosaur ceremony after our match that day. It was a new experience. I laughed so hard at the video as FlaSh performed the ceremony. But I was also surprised at the fact that the VOD of the game was uploaded so quickly to the web. I have to say, the ceremony did really receive the spotlight today, along with the whole idea of ‘ceremony’ itself within Proleague (T/N I stretched this part. But because I’m not sure if the idea that he was referring to was the ceremony that FlaSh performed, or the ceremony ‘itself’. Usually, I would go with the former but given that it’s Stork, I’m not sure which one he’s trying to highlight here)

A FlaSh = Personally, I’m still a bit disappointed. I felt that my acting was horrible. Since they only told me broad explanation of the ceremony, I didn’t have time to practice. If I do retire from progaming, I don’t think I can become an actor.

Q During the BW days, we rarely saw ceremonies from you. This was as shocking as the FireBatHero’s ceremony; I just didn’t expect it from you two (T/N Please, Stork and FlaSh has miles to go. First up: Swimming in the beach after your win.)

A Stork = Even I didn’t know that I would do this ‘Za-niper’ ceremony. Going back 2~3 years, I was more focused on the important matter and took things more seriously. I wanted to take a heavy stance. That’s what I wanted. If there was something wrong with the KeSPA or the Proleague system, I was the ‘Representative of Progamers’. Due to this, I could not ease up.

Recently, I started to look at things differently. Someone had to step up to lighten up the StarCraft 2 scene, which has been stagnated. If someone didn’t step up, nothing was going to change . Although I am the oldest player, if I’m taking a heavy stance and being too serious, who would do the fan service? Even if it was only me, I had to step up and show something to gather more fans to the Proleague studio.

A FlaSh = During my days as a rookie, I was too embarrassed to do ceremonies. I lost my chances after I started performing really well in tournaments. Personally, I regret this a bit. Since the team league and the individual league in Korea are being held at different broadcasting stations, there is no connection between the two (T/N Remember that the casters in Korea only work for one or the other unlike some English casters). During the days of OnGameNet and MBCGame, where both the team league and inidividual leagues were being held at the same station, I (and many others) did try to carry over the drama and the storyline from the individual leagues to the Proleague, and vice versa. But it feels different now. It feels that Proleague is Proleague, and GSL is GSL. There is no connection. Thus, the storylines aren’t developing. At least for both Stork and I, there was the “Taek Bang Lee Ssang” from the BW era. That’s why it still works, at least for both of us.

Q Are you trying to say that there is correlation between ceremonies and storylines?

A Stork = Of course. The younger players are working very hard and have their own playstyles, but it never became a ‘story’. There were days where each player had their own nickname, was stronger/weaker than player X, and so forth. There were many things to talk about. But today, we are not seeing anything new other than ‘Relationship between Players’.

A FlaSh = I was an heir to the naturally-collapsed Terran line during the BW days. When I was a rookie, my former teammate, Garimto, gave me the nickname ‘The Ultimate Weapon’. To this day, my nickname defines who I am. There hasn’t been many things going on in SC2 scene as a whole. Since no stories are developing, fans are naturally losing interest. The reason why I, or even Stork, did the ceremony is that if fans lose more interest in the scene, we won’t have a stage to play on in the near future.

Q Can players become a star only if they play well, just like BW days?

A Stork = I don’t think there’s a relationship between popularity and their record. I started receiving spotlight in the scene thanks to FlaSh. After losing to FlaSh at the OSL finals, there was a weird rivalry forming between us. This rivalry became a storyline. When we faced each other, the media and the broadcasting companies always talked about the day where FlaSh defeated Stork, and started talking about our storyline. That caused more fans to visit the studio and cheer on for us. And to repay for the fans who were visiting, we had to take responsibility and practice a lot harder to show the fans entertaining and great games.

A Flash = If the player has talent or has good record, they will advance to the top in tournaments. These players will meet each other, and storyline will be formed between the two. However, you also have to remember that there were players who received the spotlight only through ceremony. IrOn (MC) is an example. If I think about MC right now, fan service takes courage.

The thing that I learned through the recent ceremony is the greatness of FireBatHero (T/N YES PLEASE). I think he’s really something. I can say that he’s a ‘Distinguished Person’ after thinking about his ceremony at the Gwangahnri Beach during Proleague Finals (where he jumped into the sea after taking off his clothes), or running around the studio after winning against a certain player. Initially, fans cursed at FireBatHero’s ceremony, stating that ‘FBH lacks sportsmanship’, ‘It’s very annoying’. However, after some time, the reaction changed as FBH started to excel other players not only in ceremony but also at the game itself. This is a case where fan’s reactions went from bad to good.

A Stork = Is ceremony more important or is skill more important? It doesn’t matter what’s more important. It’s good to show entertaining ceremonies to let the fans know who you are and then start getting better at the game. It’s also good to perform well and then do a shocking ceremony to gain more popularity. What’s most important is that the players need to know the importance of the stage that we’re playing on.

A FlaSh = I completely agree with Stork. If there are no fans, we will not exist. I was seriously worried when I played my Proleague games at Sindorim Studio. ‘How much longer should I play before I retire?’. Only few fans showed up to Sindorim. In addition, the facility wasn’t great and fans didn’t have much area to sit comfortably to watch the game. I couldn’t even tell my fans to come and support me due to the environment.

Q Bigfile Miracle, the team that FBH is coaching, gained tons of spotlight during their LoL Champions debut. It seems that ‘ceremony’ is FBH’s motto.

A Stork = Things like that are FBH’s way towards popularity and stardom. Fans do consider players ‘stars’ not only through their skills and talents in game, but also through their fan service.

A FlaSh = I think it’s really up to the players. If a player taunts their opponent and performs a ceremony for no reason, fans would not agree to the player’s actions. That’s why there was group selection ceremony back in BW. It was a great place for the players to explain the relationship between the players, the reason why they made such decisions in group selection, and why they had to win. But now even that is gone. Today, fans do not have a chance to learn about stories between players.

Q It must be also disappointing that Bisu retired and JD moved to a foreign team.

A Stork = I’m more saddened at the fact that I’m getting older rather than losing my rivals. RorO is the second oldest player in Samsung, but there’s a 3 year gap between us. It’s not a small one. I miss the days where I had more friends around my age.

A FlaSh = It’s been a while since I’ve seen Bisu and JD. I really miss them. Before, I had three consecutive finals against JD and I got tired of playing against him. I even thought ‘JD again?’. It’s going to be hard for Bisu to come out of retirement, but I would like it if JD came to Korea to play in a Korea tournament. I think all of the BW fans will come back if we meet in the finals. Then, we can hold the finals outdoors in front of large number of fans. I think there’s still hope for SC2 scene to thrive, as we have been gaining fans recently.

A Stork = The players need to make the fans come back through ceremonies and other fan services. Only then they can take responsibility in their games and make rivals, storylines, etc. It is important for the players to notice that if the scene thrives, they will receive spolight along with the scene.

Did you enjoy reading about Stork and Flash’s talk on ceremony? I’ve heard that many people agreed to their thoughts. It also made the fans think again about their views and thoughts on SC2.

Stork pretty much set the fuse and FlaSh lit it. I hope someone keeps the flame alive as long as possible. Stork and FlaSh can’t be the only ones performing ceremoies forever. I hope more players perform ceremonies that will not only spotlight the league that they’re playing in, but also spotlight themselves.

This interview is about Stork and FlaSh’s thoughts on StarCraft 2 tournaments. Since they have tons of experience in tournaments, dating back to BW era, we need to listen to their thoughts carefully and take them seriously.

Q I think we talked enough about ceremonies. I completely agree to both of your thoughts and worries about the scene. Now, from both of you, I want to hear about your thoughts on the StarCraft 2 itself, as well as the SC2 leagues.

A Stork = SC2 is as fun as BW. There was a period of time when I was depressed during transition from BW to SC2, but the game itself is really fun.

Q There were times where someone like you were depressed?

A Stork = It’s gotten a lot better now. But last season, I thought about retiring multiple times during the day. After LoL became popular in Korea, everyone was talking about LoL. Nobody even cared about StarCraft 2, the game that I practiced really hard for. When Special Force Proleague was being held, plays from teams that both run BW team and SF team said that they went through a hard time. I think I became one of the SF players. There was a period of time where I needed some attention and love from the community and fans.

Q We wouldn’t have seen you in 2014 season if you went to army, right? I think you need to go soon. Any plans?

A Stork = When the time comes, my mind and my heart will say that I have to let go of the game. But for now, I’m trying to delay my army service as much as possible. The hard times have passed, and currently my mind is set.

Q Maybe that’s why you looked more desperate during your 7 game winning streak, compared to your 13 game losing streak where you looked lethargic inside the game.

A Stork = Really? I guess my feelings and thoughts were shown through my matches.

A FlaSh = Even I thought that Stork was trying to send us a message through his matches. I think it was his game against ByuL (T/N Wait why do people say I (snm) look like byul?). It seemed that every individual unit of Stork was thinking ‘we have to win’ and moved accordingly as they were racing for elimination.

A Stork = Hearing such words from the ‘Final Boss’ makes me feel great. I’m honored.

Q I think disbandment of AirForce ACE was a huge disappointment to the older players.

A Stork = Maybe I should’ve applied for it 3 years ago. I do regret a little. AirForce used to have the e-Sport soldier policy. If I went to AirForce during my prime days, I could’ve improved AirForce ACE’s record. I also thought multiple times that I could have easily continued my progamer life after finishing my army duties. But what can I do? It’s too late, and the system is gone.

A FlaSh = The disbandment was a huge disappoint to progamers, especially StarCraft progamers. When players like Reach and YellOw went to AirForce, I didn’t think about it as much. In fact, since I was just becoming an adult by legal standards, I didn’t think about army at all. After turning 23, the pressure is finally starting to build up.

A Stork = I think it’s a good idea for FlaSh to apply for Joongang University as e-Sports specialist. I heard that KeSPA and Joongang University made a treaty and heard that they were selecting about 2 people. You can play and study at a 4-year University while naturally delaying your army duties.

Q Stork’s WCS Ro16 matches became a hot issue to many fans. There were rumors about your tears after the match and you also earned the nick name ‘God-Goo’ (T/N Stork’s real name is Song Byung Goo. So they just replaced Byung with ‘God’. Another example is Lee Young Ho -> God Young Ho)

A FlaSh = Even I was touched by Stork’s WCS games. It feels like he’s doing well for me, someone who’s currently not performing well in WCS. I didn’t think about it as much during Ro32, but my hands were sweating while cheering on for Stork during his Ro16 matches. Since he’s been doing well since BW and the oldest SC2 progamer in Korea, I think I was more passionate and emotional about his games.

A Stork = I really didn’t cry. It only seemed like that because of the camera angle. Honestly, I didn’t have too much time to practice for the Ro16 matches due to personal reasons. Since I couldn’t practice much, I couldn’t play as well and that’s why I think I got knocked out at Ro16.

Q Speaking of the amount of practice, people have been saying that the reason why older progamers have worse record is because they don’t practice enough. I want to hear your thoughts on this statement Stork, because you’re the oldest SC2 progamer in Korea.

A Stork = The amount of practice is not the source of annoyance for the older players. There are actually many distractions that keeps us from focusing on practicing. The army issue is one example. Tons of mail arrives at our practice house. It’s the notice of enlistment for the army. To delay my retirement and to join the army at a later date, the company, coaches, staff members, and I discuss and fill out requested forms, acquire required documents, and other required materials. It’s very troublesome because it takes an entire day. This means I just missed a day of practice. Around this time of the year a year ago, something big happened. Due to this, I was thinking about retiring and becoming a coach for a year before joining the army.

Q FlaSh, you had a surgery on your arm. From all the progamers that I’ve met, you had the biggest injury thus far. How’s your arm these days?

A FlaSh = It was better right after the surgery, but the pain is coming back. I think this is going to continue while I’m a progamer. I just have to endure it. I thought it was going to be okay when I transitioned to SC2 due to MBS (Multiple Building Selection), but after preparing for tournaments and practicing rigorously, I think my arm is getting worse once again. The key to success as Terran is the Marine and Marauder split army control. It’s same for TvZ and TvP. At least when I’m playing mech in TvT, my arm hurts less. I did talk to KT’s basketball team before and most players on that team had injuries yet they endured it and continued their profession as professional basketball player. I’m just going to do the same.

Q How would you feel if, all of a sudden, you didn’t have to go to army?

A Stork = I think I’ll continue my life as a progamer, no matter how old I am. Even if I get married and have a son/daughter, I don’t think I can quit being a gamer. I’ll probably set a practice schedule and go back and forth from the practice house while spending time with my family at home. If another team like AirForce ACE forms again, I’ll join as soon as possible. However, I don’t think that’s realistic. It’s disappointing, but right now I’m debating when to join the army.

A FlaSh = Since I was born in 1992, my non-progamer friends either all finished their military duties or are close to finishing. When I see them these days I think they’re the ‘winners’. But I have no regrets. I’m doing what I like, and I’m getting rewarded for it. I’ll continue my life as a progamer until I reach my goals.

Q Tons of StarCraft 2 players are attending foreign tournaments. Aren’t you guys also thinking about going to foreign tournaments? Given that all circumstances are met, are you willing to focus mostly on foreign tournaments or move to a foreign team?

A Stork = If my army issues are all solved, then of course I’ll try to attend as many foreign touranments as possible. Since I still have time, I want to attend as many tournaments as possible so I’m playing in most qualifiers. My company also promised to support me for attending foreign tournaments. That’s why I was able to attend Homestory Cup. I also wanted to attend MLG this year but I couldn’t go because I have a single passport (T/N meaning, his passport expires after he travels to another country once). It was also a period of time where Proleague was important.

A FlaSh = Due to scheduling issues with Proleague, there are many cases where I can’t attend foreign tournaments. I’m currently focusing on Proleague first because the company’s main focus is on Proleague, and I agree to a certain extent. After 2014 season is over, I’m going to actively seek chances to attend a foreign tournament. I really want to hear the low-to-mid pitched ‘FlaSh’ from the foreign fans.

I did attend foeign touranments couple of times, but its hard to adjust after attending only one or two tournaments. I barely learned how to maintain good condition when I was attending one of the tournaments, but after about 3 or 4 months of not attending foreign tournaments (and then attending one), I forget how to maintain good composure once again.

Q Recently KeSPA announced the revival of KeSPA cup and said they will hold a global SC2 tournament. Are you greedy for these upcoming tournaments?

A Stork = Of course, I’m excited. Progamer’s goal is to win as much as possible, especially if new tournaments are made. But it seems near impossible to qualify for that tournament if you don’t get the Ro16 seed. Qualifying through Korean qualifyers is similar to a camel passing through the eye of the needle (T/N wow, this previous sentence probably doesn’t make sense. All he’s trying to say is that its really hard). All the good players will try to qualify….(sigh…)

A FlaSh = The reason why so many players were trying to get the most wins is because of KeSPA Cup. After learning about the seeding system (players with most and second most wins in Proleague are seeded), every single player solely focused on Proleague, or all-in’d. I did also all-in for Proleague, but my records aren’t as good. I’m getting worried.

Q Protoss is doing really well these days. There have been rumors about you (FlaSh) switching to Protoss; have you ever considered or have decided to switch races?

A FlaSh = It feels too late. I did seriously consider switching to Protoss at one point. But I decided against it. I don’t know how other Terran think about myself, but personally I think that one day, the ‘FlaSh’ style Terran is going to gain spotlight and become popoular. My record during team evaluation (friendlies) is great. If there are 10 of those friendlies within the team, I place 1st in 9 of the 10 evaluations. I’ve been doing well since the beginning of SC2 and have been consistent. Thus, I always have confidence in myself. I’m always looking towards the long run. It was same back in BW. I did have about two slumps during my career. During those slumps, I looked towards the long term goals and took things slowly. The result was great, as I did really well towards the end of BW. If I’m doing well at the practice house, then I believe that someday, I’ll also do well on the broadcasted matches and official tournaments.

A Stork = Although I think I’m doing well because I’m a Protoss user, I think games are just working out really well for me these days. When I lost to Dream after my 7 game winning streak, it just seemed like a natural pattern for me. When I lose in PvT, I always lose like that. If they add in widow mines, I surrender even faster. Personally, PvT is hard. I’m confident in other matchups. Unlike FlaSh who says that he’s always at top during the friendlies and in-house ranking matches, I usually stay in the middle. When I’m do well in PvP (T/N apparently Stork describes this day as the day he won the lottery), I do place well, sometimes even 1st. But no matter the results, I’m having fun with the game and enjoying my practice sessions.

Q You did mention that SC2 is getting the SF treatment after being pushed off the spotlight by LoL. What can people do, or what should we do, to revive SC2?

A Stork = That’s the thing that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. I have tons of ideas. We need more informational programs that utilizes StarCraft 2. And while it’s okay for game casters/commentators to come out on the show, we need to start using female entertainers, such as K-Pop girl group members. The ones that people know about. The core SC2 players are males. If you can bring in the girl group fans, then it will become a huge issue and bring in more players. Think about this: A live game show where you get to play with girl groups. If you advertise that well, I think it’s going to be a huge success.

Q I think it will be very expensive, and might be a huge burden from the broadcasting station’s point of view.

A Stork = Of course it will be expensive. But they will need to tolerate such burden if SC2 were to revive (T/N The original translation here is ‘if SC2 revives’ but that didn’t make sense to me. I’m leaving the original translation as a note just in case). I thought MBCGame always made the right choices. They received good reviews when they used idol members such as Han Seung Yeon (Kara) (T/N I MIGHT HAVE THE NAME WRONG, DONT KILL ME PLZ) and IU. Rather than inviting these idol members for other information shows, I wish they were invited to help reviving the SC2 scene.

Another way to increase popularity is for Blizzard to make SC2 fre to play. You can’t play SC2 without buying the CD (T/N or buying it digitally =X). The good players receive more spotlight if there are more players in the scene, regardless of the game. To be honest, it is hard to find SC2 practice partners and/or trainees these days. Progamers are at the top, but that’s it. There’s no middle. I even have a feeling that we won’t have tournaments after current players retire because we don’t have any new players.

A FlaSh = I completely agree with Stork

A Stork = You agree with my girl group + StarCraft 2 information show idea?

A FlaSh = Yeah. I didn’t think about that before

A Stork = I agreed with KeSPA hiring cheerleaders for Proleague. It cheered up the place (T/N OMG THAT WAS SUCH A BAD TRANSLATION BUT W.E.). While it’s important to have fun while watching the game at the venue, its also good to have fun while cheering for the players. If you look at baseball games (T/N in Korea), the cheerleaders control the atmosphere.

A FlaSh = I think Stork is full of ideas. After he retires, I think it might be a good idea for him to join KeSPA and become an administrator.

A Stork = I also feel that Blizzard doesn’t care about SC2. There were many things announced such as level up system and unit skins at the launch of Heart of the Swarm, but they haven’t developed anything new since then, or haven’t added much to the original system. Shortly after the release of Heart of the Swarm, Heroes of the Storm was announced and Hearthstone came out. I think SC2 is the only game that’s been pushed announced. I heard that the CEO’s most favorite game is StarCraft, but the treatment that it is currently receiving is the worst.

Q I feel that the star-making in Korean tournaments aren’t happening. There also has been some controversy about the location of this year’s GSL finals (T/N their own studio). What do you think?

A FlaSh = I just think that we can’t blame GOMexp for holding the finals at their own studio. I believe they made that choice not only because of the financial issues but also their lack of confidence in drawing in many fans for the finals. Maybe its my fault, or even Stork’s, but just because the players are skills does not mean that they can hold the finals at a huge venue, without making them a star first. It’s hard to gather the fans that way. First, they have to make storylines and form rivalries.

In that note, I think GOMexp wasn’t as good at making these storylines, and when they made one they reacted slowly and missed out on the good ones. Honestly, the hottest issue in GSL Season 2 was Stork. If they saw Stork’s run through Ro32 and Ro16, they should’ve kept the focus on him. To me, it feels that they’re using same amount of focus and energy for every single match. I can still recall the days when Reach made it back in to Starleague. When fans started going ‘It’s the return of the Hero’, OGN used Reach as the main model for their intro video. When fans saw the video of reach wearing his headset, that resembled himself back in 2002 when he won the OSL, they went nuts. That’s how you create a star. That’s how star-making should be done.

A Stork = Although soO got second place, the fact that he made it into the finals 3 times in a row is a great achievement. But it seemed to the fans that soO was losing his strength when the broadcasters were putting heavy emphasis on 3 second place finishes in a row. Rather than emphasizing on his second place finishes and making it sound really grim for soO, I would like it if they praise him for his success.

Q When I throw one question at you guys, you guys just keep on talking and talking. I’m happy yet flustered at the same time. We’ll pull an all nighter at this rate. Let’s meet in the future and continue your thoughts and stories. For now, however, we’ll finish the interview with one final statement from both of you.

A Stork = Being a progamer for a long time can be intrepreted as an opportunity for others to create tons of story about you. In this case, I guess both FlaSh and I are included. I really wanted FlaSh to do well this season, but he was playing against Shine. It was a bit awkward for me to cheer for FlaSh. I hope he doesn’t face Samsung players starting from now on, so that I can cheer for him. While it feels good to face FlaSh in Proleague, in the future I want to face him in later stages of GSL. Until that day, both of us will need to perform well and raise fan’s expectations.

A FlaSh = Stork is back in shape, both in Proleague and individual league. Although he is the oldest SC2 progamer in Korea, he is working really hard to achieve goals. That’s something that I should learn from him, and I respect him for that. I really want to see him win another tournament. I would like it more if I’m not his opponent in the finals when he wins. I hope can continue practicing hard until the day where Stork and FlaSh meets in the finals.