Solar Interview at MSI Beat IT

DarkLordOlli sat down with Solar after his 3-1 win over Rogue in the semifinals of the MSI Beat IT tournament. This interview was done without a translator because Solar's English is amazing and he doesn't need one.



OLLI: You just beat Rogue in the Ro4 and have not lost a series yet. Do you feel like you're in particularly good shape at the moment?

      SOLAR: Yeah, I'm in good shape. I practiced hard for this tournament, so I was really confident. And I think it shows.

How do you think zerg is doing overall at the moment? Because it seems like it's only you and soO doing very well.

      SOLAR: I think zerg is really bad, honestly. You watched Blizzcon before my Ro4 match, right? All the zergs lost, except for Life, so there is only one zerg at Blizzcon. What great balance! (laughs)

Why do you think zerg is doing poorly?

      SOLAR: I think the Thor buff was big... and the Widow Mine buff too. Maybe it was too many buffs at once. And the maps don't really help either I think.

We're going to have crazy maps next season. What do you think about that idea, do you like it?

      SOLAR: (laughs.) Ohana and Daybreak are well balanced but some strange old maps made it in. I think it will confuse a lot of players.

So you think it's bad for everyone then?

      SOLAR: I think mostly for protoss and zerg. The maps are good for terran. (laughs.)

Ah, but do you think a ladder season with crazy old maps is bad for all pro-gamers?

      SOLAR: Oh... yeah, it's really bad for practice because there will be a lot of crazy weird builds that probably won't be viable the season after that.

Blizzard has announced big changes to the WCS system for 2015. What do you think about those?

      SOLAR: Hmm, I think they're really good for KR players overall. I think Blizzard has done a good job analyzing what Korea needs. With two tournaments, there's a lot more opportunities for us to earn WCS points. It's very motivating! It really strengthened my passion!

There will be one combined WCS Premier League for the foreign regions. Do you think that's good as well?

      SOLAR: Hmm, I think it's good. Maybe it hurts EU and NA players, because they don't get as many spots anymore? But I think overall it's not bad. It's definitely much better for Koreans now.

Blizzard is also hinting that they will release some information about Legacy of the Void at Blizzcon, and maybe announce a beta. Do you think transitioning from HotS to a new expansion will be hard for you (and other players)?

      SOLAR: Hmmm, hard to say. Most good Wings of Liberty players are still really good at HotS. I think good players in HotS will still be good in LotV. Especially because it won't be a completely new game, the mechanics will still be the same. It will probably just take some time to incorporate new units and strategies.

I see! So since you've made it to the MSI Beat IT Finals now, who would you rather play there? PartinG or YoDa?

      SOLAR: Definitely PartinG, because I beat him 2-0 two weeks ago and my ZvP is really good. I think I will win if he advances.

I talked to PartinG earlier and he said he will definitely do a ceremony if he wins. He said he hates it when players show no emotions. Are you thinking of doing a ceremony too?

      SOLAR: Ah, no... I have no idea how to do a good ceremony and I don't want to do something half-prepared, so I'll just make sure I beat him. Maybe next time I can have one prepared (laughs).

You've had a string of really impressive results recently and it seems like you're only improving. Did you change anything about your practice?

      SOLAR: Oh, I'm glad you noticed! I did change my practice schedule. In the past I practiced maybe 20-30 games a day, but I improved my practice a lot. Now I play like 40-50 games a day. That's around 12 hours. I think it's showing in my games and results.

You've also been attending a lot of international tournaments. A lot of KeSPA teams focus purely on Proleague and Korean tournaments. Why is it that you can go to foreign tournaments this frequently, while a lot of other players can't?

      SOLAR: It's because Samsung is a big international company, so they actually want us to go and compete abroad. But when Proleague starts I probably can't go this frequently anymore.

When you went to those events, a lot of viewers were surprised that your English is really good. It's very impressive that I can have a full interview in English with you. Why is your English this good, are you putting extra effort into learning the language?

      SOLAR: Ah, that's just because I studied it a lot when I was younger. But I also still take some time to keep improving my english. I have to think about my future too, and English is a really important part of it for me. My dream is to be a diplomat one day.

Oh wow! Where do you want to go?

      SOLAR: I'd like to live in the US and some other NA countries one day. And maybe France!

That's a really cool plan, good luck with that! I have one last question for you, and it's not a serious one. Imagine this: the president's daughter is abducted and he only trusts you to save her. You can pick three pro-gamers to help you. Who do you pick?

      SOLAR: (laughs.) The first one would be Shine, because he's really big and strong. I think we need him for fights. The second would be PartinG, because he talks really fast and that would confuse the kidnappers. The third one I choose is Stork, because he's got a really scary aura. His authority would scare everybody.

Thank you for the interview and good luck in the tournament!