INnoVation interview @IEM: It's everything you expected

A conversation with INnoVation is like talking to an amazing deadpan comedian, if the setup continued forever with no actual punchline. I hope you enjoy this interview with one of StarCraft II's all time great players just as much as I enjoyed conducting it.

*This interview has been edited and rearranged for clarity.
**This interview was conducted between the semifinals and grand finals of IEM Gyeonggi.



Waxangel: What have you been up to? It’s been a while since you were in a major tournament.

INnoVation: There weren’t many big tournaments, but there were some online tournaments to play in, and I did some streaming. Doing that, time passed pretty easily.

Have you gone over the WCS 2017 plan in detail?

I haven’t read it carefully.

It’s not of much interest to you?

Well… I don’t have a personal opinion on it.

Is it because you’re such a great player, and you’re confident that you’ll make it far anyway?

It’s not quite like that. I just heard that the number of games won’t be small, and BlizzCon is my goal anyway. I don’t really know; I don’t have any opinions on it.

Toward the end of the 2016 season, thinking about your career going forward, you didn’t consider next year’s plan?

No, I just thought that with my skill, it would have been a shame if I retired, so I decided to continue on.

Looking back at your 2016 season, how do you rate it?

I was pretty bad in ‘16. I didn’t achieve much; I just consider it a year taken off.

Were your results bad compared to your skill level, or did you perform about as well as you practiced?

I didn’t practice much, I goofed off some, so I didn’t get good results.

Why didn’t you practice hard?

I played a lot of LoL, I fell deep into LoL, so I slacked off on StarCraft II practice.

Did you start playing LoL for the first time this year?

A new LoL season just started, yeah? The season before that, that was the first season I played.

So you got hooked because you were playing it for the first time?

Yeah.

Don’t KeSPA teams regulate that kind of thing well? I heard that early on, there was even a blanket ban on LoL.

There’s some of that, but it’s something I played after practice hours. The team doesn’t interfere that far.

So all the players who are working hard, they keep practicing StarCraft even after practice hours?

There are players like that, but some try to rest and regulate their condition. But playing LoL, it was hard to maintain my condition and focus on just StarCraft.

Is there anyone who plays well while playing other games as well?

Maybe there could be, but I think most people slump.

When was the time you practiced the hardest?

When I was a practice partner/trainee during StarCraft: Brood War, that’s when I worked the hardest.

What about StarCraft II? What about during 2012-2013, which is considered your prime by a lot of people.

I did practice hard during that time, but I practiced harder when I was a trainee. You have to fight your way up, so I worked very hard.

As long as we’re talking about Brood War… The pro scene for BW ended pretty abruptly. You had a promising career at the time. If the scene kept going, do you think you could have risen to a higher level?

If it kept going… I think I would have done well. I had some talent, and always did consistently well inside the team. I think I would have done well.

A lot of players are looking for foreign teams right now. You said you haven’t received any contact.

I haven’t received any contact, and I haven’t reached out either.

Why aren’t you looking?

I think even if I look, there aren’t any teams to join. There’s a region lock, so even if you join a foreign team, you can’t compete in foreign tournaments.

What about players like Solar, who got signed to a big foreign team? Does that make you think there might be an opportunity?

That’s true, but there are a lot of things you have to do if you join a foreign team. Also my memories from Acer aren’t all great. I haven’t given foreign teams much thought.

What was tough about being on a foreign team? When you were on Acer, they wanted you to go to a lot of foreign tournaments.

I don’t really like going to foreign tournaments, I don’t think they fit me. I didn’t actually have to go to many tournaments when I was on Acer. I’m just really bad at English, and I think those things… I felt like I was a burden to the team, being bad at English. From the team’s perspective, I think it was difficult to use me as a player. Personally, I’ve always felt a bit sorry toward Acer.

Still, you got good results on Acer, didn’t you?

I think I was pretty bad on Acer.

By your high standards?

No, no matter who looks at it.

So, have you worked LoL out of your system?

Yes, I’m not playing any other games right now. I played enough LoL to get tired of it.

Well, you could look at it as a good break, I guess…

No, I don’t think it was a good break. I just threw a year away.

Still, if you’re always working so hard, maybe it’s good to rest and recharge…

If you rest, you just want to rest more. I don’t think people think “that was a good break,” you just want to take even more time off. I think it’s just better to work hard.

When would you say you came to your senses, then?

I went to BlizzCon to play special event matches. Watching players win championships and all, it made me wake up a bit.

You’re still confident in your skill, right?

I’m confident right now, yes.

If you keep at it, you’ll be able to become the best again?

Right now, if I keep practicing, I think I can be better than other players. I’m confident.

What do you think of the players who have come up in the meanwhile? What about ByuN, the new #1 Terran?

I think he’s good.

Just good?

Well, he works really hard. He’s good.

What are your thoughts headed into the finals of IEM?

Vs Protoss is a bit tough, personally, and Stats is good as well. I’m not overflowing with confidence.

You were once a really overwhelmingly strong player. Do you think you’ll be able to reach that level again?

At the time, Terran was pretty favored in terms of balance. If the balance favors Terran again, I can reach that level. But right now it’s not good for Terran, so I think doing this well right now is already good.

Was Terran really that good back then? Pros never admit their race is good.

At that time, Hellbats were quite good, and Terran was the best.

So you’re the one objective progamer when it comes to rating balance.

I think Zergs in particular whine a lot. Everyone else seems fine.

Do you pay attention to the foreign community?

I’m streaming regularly on twitch, and a lot of foreign fans watch me. So I’m thankful for that.

How does that attention from the foreign community reach a Korean pro? How do you experience it, considering the language barrier?

I think foreign fans like me more than Korean fans, and I’m thankful. When I go to a foreign tournament, or stream on Twitch, there are a lot of fans who come to watch. If I was good at English, I’d really like to communicate with the fans.

But you don’t even communicate that much in Korean.

No, but I’m just so bad at English.

You have the image of being a robotic, stoic player among foreign fans. What do you think about that?

I don’t think it’s incorrect.

Do you like it?

I can’t say I do.

Shouldn’t you change something then?

Even when I try to change, I can’t.

Wouldn’t it be fun to just embrace that then?

Hmm, well I don’t really care about my image that much. It’s not like I dislike it. But I don’t think being called a machine is positive.

Alright, any final word for the foreign fans?

Thanks for appreciating the little things I do, even though I’m bad at communication. I’m really thankful that people like me so much, and I want to play great for everyone in foreign tournaments.

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Make sure to check out INnoVation's stream on Twitch.TV.