MMA comeback interview: "StarCraft will be something that’…

On October 24th, 2017, legendary StarCraft II progamer Mun "MMA" Seongwon completed his compulsory 22-month military service. Within hours, he announced his return to progaming. I had a chance to talk to MMA about his time in the military, his first month back as a progamer, his remaining goals in StarCraft II, and what he's grateful for as Thanksgiving approaches.



Wax: Before you left for military service, you did an interview with theScore saying you’d come back to StarCraft, even giving the exact date of your return. While you were doing your service, did you waver about whether or not you should return as a progamer?

MMA: Honestly, when you’re in the military, you end up thinking that you could do anything you want once you get out.

I was able to watch stuff like Starleague while I was in the military. Watching that, the younger players seemed really good. So I did wonder for a moment, ‘once I get out, can I really keep up with these kids in competition?’

But when I went out on leave toward the end of my service, I tried practicing a bit, and I thought ‘oh, this isn’t so bad!’ I was losing, but I was losing in way where I had a fighting chance. In my view, I felt if practiced hard for two to three months, I could reach a similar level as the others. Starting then, I made up my mind and began practicing hard.

How was military service for you in general?

I was lucky, so I went to a unit that didn’t drill much. Foreign fans might think of the military as a place where you shoot guns and drill hard, but our unit did a lot of landscaping—waking up and pulling weeds, pulling weeds in the afternoon, pulling weeds in the evening, that’s what we did mostly. *Laughs* So, there wasn’t anything difficult.

So when Starleague came on, you had free time to watch?

When I was a lower rank, I couldn’t watch TV in the evenings. But once I reached a higher rank, I was able to take command of the remote control. After that, I started keeping up with Starleague. Early on, my superiors put on a lot of girl group stuff, so that’s all I could watch.

The younger soldiers would have been part of the generation that’s more familiar with League of Legends than StarCraft. What did they think of it watching it?

There were a lot of guys who played LoL, but there were also a lot of guys who really liked StarCraft II. One of the higher-ups was even a big fan of StarCraft II, and he took good care of me while I was doing my service. I’m grateful for that.

A lot of people recognized you?

Yes, because there was someone who recognized me from the moment I arrived, saying “this guy, Moon Sung Won is the man” and spreading the word everywhere. Everyone knew about me right as I got there; my superiors thought it was really interesting, with some even adding me on Facebook, saying we should keep in touch.

What about the younger people?

No, the guys below me… they came in playing Overwatch and things like that, so they weren’t that familiar with StarCraft II. They had to look me up on the internet.


If you talk to other progamers, almost all of them look at military service as retirement, the end of their career. Why do you think they feel that way?

It’s an environment where you can’t play the game for two years. In the case of StarCraft, your hands stop moving the way you want them even if you stop playing for just a week. If you take a break for two years, it’s hard to catch up. So I think it’s hard for players who go to the military to come back.

Could the other pros be wrong in their thinking? There are guys like Flash who took several years off of Brood War while they played StarCraft II, and he was back on top in about half a year. Maybe it’s more about your head than your hands?

Your mind is important, of course. But Flash didn’t go to the army. He went back to Brood War from playing StarCraft II, so he couldn't help but be good. And he had already reached the top of Brood War in the past. I think that’s different, someone who returns from the military, and someone who returns from playing another game.

Looking at your pro career, you’ve achieved nearly everything, winning major championships all around the world. There’s almost nothing left. What kind of goals do you have in returning?

I’ve come back with the goal of winning BlizzCon next year. Watching BlizzCon this year, I had a lot of thoughts of 'I really want to be on that stage.’ I’m practicing with next year’s BlizzCon as my goal.

Has that been a regret for you? Your performance at BlizzCon where… was that top four you got?

I was the runner-up. Losing to Life.

So that’s been a lingering regret?

Of course! That bastard, he didn’t match-fix when he was playing against me, but match-fixed against other players! *Laughs* That’s a joke, of course. Yeah, it was unfortunate, I wasn’t able to practice much against Zerg at that time.

How was Homestory Cup? How much practice did you have going in?

I had about two weeks of practice for Homestory Cup. I played better in practice, but playing at the event… It was my first tournament in two years, so things didn’t go as well. But even though I didn't play as well as in practice, I thought I did alright. It was a good experience, even though I was eliminated in the Ro32.

It was actually a big dilemma for me, whether or not to go to Homestory Cup, when the invite first came. I didn’t have enough time to practice, and it was going to be difficult to go and get good results. Going to Germany, without time to prepare, just a week out of the military… I thought about it a lot.

But it wasn’t like this tournament was the end all; winning BlizzCon is my goal. So I went thinking to use it as experience.

What did you think of the foreign players’ skill? Had they improved from two years ago?

They really improved a lot. I was really surprised! When I was watching games in the military, I heard that Korean players were losing to foreigners, losing frequently. I scolded the Korean players, saying “Hey! Why aren’t you guys practicing?!” But after playing them myself, the foreigners have really improved. I was surprised, thinking 'wow, how did they get so much better?'


Anyone you were particularly glad to meet at Homestory Cup? It’s been two years, but there are a lot of players who have hung around.

Scarlett and Harstem—I lived with Harstem at the SBENU house before, and we played a lot of soccer together. Scarlett, Snute, TLO, who else… I was just happy to see everyone. TLO was someone I even met in Korea, doing an escape room together with him and Jinro when I was on leave.

Who did you meet up with in Korea when you got out of the military?

Ryung, Patience, Impact—they’re living together now. I visit them sometimes, to watch their games and say stuff like “Is that the best you can do? I could do better than that.”

Have you gotten used to ordinary life already?

It’s not so much a return to ‘ordinary’ life as it is to being a progamer. I’m living the life of a gamer right now. Wake up and practice, sleep, wake up and practice, watch replays, watch VODs. It’s the same as the old days.

Don’t a lot of people feel like taking a break once they’re back from the military?

I felt that a lot—I wanted to go on vacation, I wanted to play other games. But if I take it easy now… there are a lot of tournaments in February and March. IEM, WESG, GSL, SSL, everything. If I slack off now, I know for certain that I will regret it two, three months later. I think that I have to practice now in order for my skills to come out in two to three months. So I’m practicing hard right now.

Are you planning to participate in GSL in 2018? The WCS Circuit is still an option, even if the process is harder.

TRUE told me that competing in the US is okay, it’s not that hard a process. But from the moment I knew I was coming back, I planned to compete in Korea. I had only just returned to progaming, and I thought if I practiced abroad… Honestly, the Korean ladder is stronger than the NA or EU ladders, and you know even foreign players come to Korea to practice. I have to beat the Korean players to win BlizzCon anyway, so I picked Korea thinking 'I’ll compete here and work my way up.'

Any surprising results you noticed during your time in the military?

First, Ryung reaching the semi-finals. I wasn’t really surprised; I felt proud. Also, Gumiho winning a championship. For a long time I thought he was really good—he was good at making builds and played Terran with style, not imitating others but playing his own way. He finally won a championship. But looking at his opponent, it was soO. So it was pretty winnable. *Laughs*

Now that you’ve returned, is there anyone you want to face?

I want to play against soO in a final. *Laughs*

Are there any players you were sad to see retire?

MC. He’s someone who I’ve played with from so long ago. He’s a League of Legends head coach now. I see him occasionally, get a meal together and such. Still, I guess it's worked out for him.

When he was a player, being a head coach seemed so easy, but now that he’s in that position, he has to listen to this guy and then hear out another guy—he says that’s difficult.

How’s Legacy of the Void?

I went to the military after playing at the very start of LotV. At the time, people didn’t use Liberators or Cyclones as much as they do now. But now, I feel like the game is more demanding on your hands. You have to move Liberators around and activate defender mode, use abilities on your Cyclones—your hands are very busy.

Does that fit your style?

Yes, for sure. I like moving my hands around. But micro is harder for me than before. I’ll be playing and think ‘I should split off one medivac here and go for a drop,’ but I just can’t do it, even though I know what I need to do. My hands are stiff, but I think it will get better if I practice a lot.

You talked about having wrist problems before you went to the military. How are you now?

After such a long break from gaming, they’re healthy again. Before, my index finger and wrist were in bad shape, but they’re fine now. They might act up again in the future, but they’re fine for now.

Soularion wanted me to ask a somewhat obscure question: A long time ago, just before you switched to WCS Europe, you said the game you wanted a do-over on was game four against DongRaeGu on Dual Sight in Blizzard Cup 2011. Has your answer changed?

I answered that way because during that series, I felt like I aged ten years. I thought I had the series won, but that’s where the comeback started [Video: highly recommended series for anyone who hasn’t seen it]. But looking at it now, I think that made the series more fun for StarCraft II fans, and I think I got more fans out of it. So I’m thankful for it. Thanks, DRG! I won money and got fans thanks to you.

What’s your answer now?

The Super Tournament I played against Polt. It was a tournament for 100,000,000 won [around $90,000 USD]. The build orders I used at that time, instead of using builds I was confident in, I used builds the fans liked. I don’t think I’ve told this story before, but I used Ghost builds in that series. At the time, if you looked at community sites, there was a lot of talk about how cool it is to use Ghosts. I thought if I used Ghosts, the fans would be really entertained because it would be the first time someone pulled Ghosts out in TvT. Also, if I used it in a final, I felt like I’d get a lot fans, and StarCraft II would be more fun to watch.

So I started practicing it for the final. But as I practiced, using it, it felt just a little bit lacking. I ended up practicing even more trying to make up for its weaknesses, all the way up to the day before the finals. By then, it was too late to change my builds. That led to my first, painful loss in the finals. It taught me a lesson: Use builds that you think are good, not builds that the fans recommend. *Laughs* Just use them for reference. *Laughs*

Let’s start wrapping up. What does StarCraft II mean to you?

StarCraft II is something I can’t do without in my life. It’s hard for me to talk about as just a game. No matter where I go or live, StarCraft will be something that’s always with me. It’s not just a game. It’s a part of my life.

Thanksgiving is coming up in the United States. I think it’s a holiday where we think about what we’re thankful for, or something like that. What are you thankful for?

Back when things weren’t going well for me—there were some tough times for me and the Axiom players as we played StarCraft II. At that time, John and Genna gave us a team house and a ton of support. They helped us with a really big, nice team house. As a progamer, I’m most thankful for that. I didn’t have a place to stay at the time, and I wasn’t even on Axiom, I was on Acer. But they still let me stay there for free. If it wasn’t for that, I might not have been able to play the game. Playing now, I’m still thankful for what they did for me back then.

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