Interview with NonY - “I'd just say I'm on a hiatus.”
Tyler "NonY" Wasieleski is a Protoss player from the United States. He is a former player for Team Liquid. Known in his days for crisp play but also for his voiced opinions about the game, the industry and the community, he nowadays rarely appears in the “digital public” (namely the Internet)
Although Tyler is not as active in SC2 anymore as he was, his fans still catch some glimpses of him here and there in the forums.
Especially his appearance at a DH Qualifier was a nice surprise for many of us. The fan club decided to reach out to Tyler and catch up a bit.
We did a written questionnaire and are very happy to present this to you, the fan club, and the TL Community in general. It is short and sweet, but hopefully it gives us and you an impression of where NonY is at the moment.
Hi NonY, thank you for agreeing to this! Here we go, fire away!
1. You parted ways with Liquid 2013. What have you been up too in the last years?
I've played SC2 occasionally and have gotten into a few other games. I played a lot of Heroes of the Storm in its beta and again during its first ladder season, reaching GM. I also played World of Warcraft and Wildstar. But I can't play team games too much before I get uncomfortable with my teammates being better or worse than me. I prefer solo games or playing team games without taking them very seriously.
2. How would you describe your current status regarding your gaming career (October 2016)? Professional, Semi-Pro, “Old Wise Man on the Mountain” or something completely different?
I'd just say I'm on a hiatus.
3. Is there a game that you are currently passionate about with SC1:BW – Passion?
No, there hasn't been a game that I've gotten to that level since BW. Before BW I was at that level with some other games: Halo 1 and some of the Westwood Studios RTS games (Red Alert games, Dune 2000). For these games I play now, I'll put a little effort into figuring things out but mostly I'll try to copy the best people and leave it at that. With BW and those other games, I was really interested in figuring out new things myself and learning to do things that no one else was doing.
4. What is it that you really love about gaming?
I like being in the zone, feeling like I'm playing well and everything is clicking. Playing well is more rewarding than getting a good result. I also like innovating and showing off the things I've discovered. But that's harder to do regularly and I haven't done it for a long time.
5. What do you love besides gaming?
Running, traveling. I do a lot of "runcations" (travel somewhere to run a race and have a short vacation) with my wife and friends.
6. In May this year (2016) you gave it a shot at the DH Qualifiers. How was that for you? (We think you looked sharp! )
Thank you! It was really fun with the stage match and everything. I was glad I was able to win some games and got to play one of the best players at the time (Harstem).
7. Your personal three highlights of the last years in gaming?
I haven't really been following gaming that much but I did read about Neeb winning a major tournament in Korea, beating some very good players. Congratulations to him. Unfortunately, all the Korean SC2 squads then disbanded out of shame, so I don't think it was good for the scene. But really, that was an awesome accomplishment.
8. Do you still keep tabs on the Broodwar scene?
No.
9. You revealed in your vlog from 2011 that you suffer from a form of depression. If you want, could you tell us how you are at the moment (October 2016)?
Nowadays the symptoms are pretty light. It's been a while since it has been really bad.
10. Over the years, you have been active in the Forums of TL and you still are. What section do you like most?
The sections I read change depending on what I'm into. When I was grinding Heroes of the Storm games, I was only reading and posting in that thread. Now I've only been in the World of Warcraft thread. Very occasionally I'll browse around random topics.
11. What has changed the most for you on TL since your beginnings there?
Well, TL has really changed a lot. It used to be more like everyone was on the same side as fans of BW. People would fight and argue, but it felt more like it was fighting amongst friends, not true animosity (most of the time). There were more personal relationships like in a small town where everyone knows each other. Now it's grown so much and covers so many topics that it inevitably lost some of its original identity, becoming more generic and less personal.
Three less serious ones:
12. On a scale from 1 (I hate these suckers) to 10 (They are the most beautiful and loyal of all) how do you see your Fans, especially in your TL-Fan Club?
My fans remind me that I accomplished some really cool things that impressed and inspired a lot of people and that is a great feeling. So when that feeling strikes me, you guys are a 10 all the way. But I've gotta say, and most of you guys probably aren't that surprised by this, there's something weird about it for me that prevents me from totally being at ease all of the time with fans. There are times when I'm happier alone and would like to forget that people are watching me and are interested in me. Still, I'd rather have fans and deal with some of the weird parts of that relationship than not have fans.
13. If you had to fight against one SC-Race for real, who would be the most easy to beat?
I think biological weapons would probably be effective against the Zerg. They've got no initial protection against them so we'd have a huge advantage at the start of the war before they evolve some defenses.
14. Do you still think that Arbiters are OP and that Horses have soulless murderous eyes?;-)
Arbiters are a really well-designed and strong unit. I wish they had made it into SC2. I feel like LotV design philosophy would have welcomed offensive recalls. Horses are scary. It's like letting a toddler drive a car. Something with that kind of personality and intelligence should not wield such power.
So far, dear readers and fans! Thank you Tyler / NonY for this, we as your fans and interested humans are happy that you took the time and gave us an update on you and your gaming life.
We wish you all the best and obviously would be happy to see you again on some stage or another.
I joined TL relatively late, but I became a fan after watching you in some tournaments (IPL i think, or NASL). I used to have bouts of depression, where I felt I was never good enough. After reading your story, I felt a little better about myself. It's good to know you're still around.
I find your replies are well thought out, and I appreciate it when people take the time to think before they click on a piece of code that will forever display their stupidity to the Internet.
edit: I am being a douchebag. To the interviewer, thanks for doing this. I really appreciate you following up on some of the 'oldies' of SC2. Maybe next time you can see what Idra is up to?
As I posted in his fanclub I wish NonY would casually stream more. I mean, whatever game he plays a lot of fans would still tune in for the person more so than the content. Nice discussions with Tyler was a good highlight of me watching his stream.
Flash is back to dominating, Jaedong is "allegedly" returning. Bisu is still top dog. Come back and watch some of the next ASL
Also, start practicing and I'll let you be the first contender in my 2017's Fight Club. $50 for the winner and you get to compete the next week if you win. That's like free money right?
Always nice to catch up with the oldschoolers. Never forget the CC cancel courtesy of Nony. Glad he is doing well. Bit sad about the straight "no" in the BW question. Still hoping to see his name pop up on the stream list.
I remember him from the early Sc2 days, enjoyed watching some of his games. Was probably one of the first TL players to stop playing, but it's actually really cool to find out what progamers do with their lives after retiring.
I also really enjoy travelling, so it's cool to see he can afford to do that. Props and good luck!
Flash is back to dominating, Jaedong is "allegedly" returning. Bisu is still top dog. Come back and watch some of the next ASL
Also, start practicing and I'll let you be the first contender in my 2017's Fight Club. $50 for the winner and you get to compete the next week if you win. That's like free money right?
Flash is dominating? :D didnt he get trashed TvT in the last tournament
Thank you Nony for all your hilarious content, including the stuff you did on state of the game. Really sad that all the sc2 greats have moved on, but good to see this article!
Flash is back to dominating, Jaedong is "allegedly" returning. Bisu is still top dog. Come back and watch some of the next ASL
Also, start practicing and I'll let you be the first contender in my 2017's Fight Club. $50 for the winner and you get to compete the next week if you win. That's like free money right?
Flash is dominating? :D didnt he get trashed TvT in the last tournament
Flash is back to dominating, Jaedong is "allegedly" returning. Bisu is still top dog. Come back and watch some of the next ASL
Also, start practicing and I'll let you be the first contender in my 2017's Fight Club. $50 for the winner and you get to compete the next week if you win. That's like free money right?
Flash is dominating? :D didnt he get trashed TvT in the last tournament
I always deemed Nony (around the time he was in Korea) to be the best foreigner of all time, skill wise. Very clean, crisp mechanics, fantastic decision making. Too bad his prime fell on the darker period of foreign BW; He would have made much more of an impact otherwise.. Glad he's doing well!
Flash is back to dominating, Jaedong is "allegedly" returning. Bisu is still top dog. Come back and watch some of the next ASL
Also, start practicing and I'll let you be the first contender in my 2017's Fight Club. $50 for the winner and you get to compete the next week if you win. That's like free money right?
Flash is dominating? :D didnt he get trashed TvT in the last tournament
That is pretty respectable although from watching his stream religiously he makes some silly mistakes at times but I guess he is only human
Yeah, he's improving. I did however predict his 3-0 smashing handed to him by Last. I think he will make the finals or have an early exit due to cheese in the next ASL.
Thanks Guys Really happy you are enjoying it! Keep the love coming, hopefully Tyler / NonY enjoys it too Oh and wouldnt it be great if we could get hold of Mondragon or IdrA, for TSL Times sake? Battle of the Interviews! :-D
NonY participating in courage back a few years ago was the greatest thing. Anyone know if the scforall videos of Artosis documenting it are still around? It really was a different period in StarCraft. Shouldn't be forgotten about!
Nony is such a cool guy. I remember when I saw him watching one of the semifinals of BW at WCG 2008 (as he was knocked out in quarter finals). He was sitting alone, so I went ahead and sat next to him. We talked a bit and watched some of the game together. It was a cool conversation and he even gave me tips on my protoss. I was a fan from this day on. And I wasn't even very sad when he won TSL against Mondragon, because of that chat :D Glad to hear that you are doing good man, keep it up
On November 03 2016 16:40 Puosu wrote: NonY participating in courage back a few years ago was the greatest thing. Anyone know if the scforall videos of Artosis documenting it are still around? It really was a different period in StarCraft. Shouldn't be forgotten about!
First time I saw Nony in action, such a great Courage run!
Would love to see you stream HoTS if you ever decide to continue playing for fun! The community needs more attention and streamers and would greatly benefit from having you be a part of it!
I would love to see him get back into starcraft! Was a huuuge NonY fan back in the bw days, and still am. Hah, I just realized I still have my favorite NonY quote down below.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/idKGFLT.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/VNzvlUZ.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/IRPBgPz.jpg)
