EPT
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ShoWTimE qualified for the group stages of IEM Katowice as Europe's #5 seed by making a clutch run through the final weeks of the ESL Open Cups, clinching his spot at the last moment. Well, that's how it seemed until MaxPax took all the drama out of the moment by forfeiting his spot.TL.net talked to ShoWTimE about his almost-epic qualification run, how it feels to return to offline competition, his thoughts on all three match-ups, his chances of advancing to the playoffs, and all sorts of other topics ahead of IEM Katowice 2022.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
TL (Waxangel): How are you feeling headed into Katowice?
ShoWTimE: I'm feeling... kinda nervous but also excited, I guess.
It's been such a long time since we've had offline events so I'm not really sure how it's going to be for me. Like, I feel like this is the longest time I've gone without offline events since I started becoming a progamer.
So it's gonna be interesting...? You know, how I perform in general. But like overall, in terms of my level and stuff, I feel pretty good. I mean, it could always be better, of course, you know. I'm not quite Serral-level, but when it comes to my overall level, I feel like I'm close to where I want to be, I would say.
Q: Speaking of the return to an offline environment—do you feel like you had an advantage in that setting due to your experience?
Yeah, I've been going to offline events since like… I don't even know, 2013 or so? So especially compared to some of the newer players, I must have more experience.
I'm not sure if I was necessarily better at offline events than online, because I do sometimes have trouble with like… …just traveling, being tired, sleeping well and all the stuff that comes with offline events—like different tables, different chairs and all that stuff. But I think over years I kind of got a good plan going into offline events, and how I can perform well and stuff.
So yeah, I guess it's generally a bit of an advantage compared to the players coming up in the past couple of years or so who didn't really have a chance to get to go to a lot of offline events so far.
Q: Only a small portion of the Katowice games are actually played in front of an audience until the playoffs—is it the crowd that makes the competition different, or is it all the other things?
I think it's just being there in person. You know, like seeing the other players and… You just having to deal with so much stuff that you don't have to worry too much about at home. Like how is the travel gonna go—I mean as a European it's probably not going to be as big a deal for Katowice—but if you travel longer that might be an issue, and then the hotel might be loud, you might not sleep as usual, you might not eat as usual.
There's like so many things you have to consider and get used to.
Q: You had an epic "qualifying" run to earn a direct seed into the group stage, which ended up not mattering because MaxPax dropped out. Was it really nerve-wracking at the time, or did you kind of have an idea that MaxPax would be out like Lambo?
Yeah I didn't know actually. Like, I didn't know who told Lambo [note: find out about this in yet another upcoming interview!], but when I realized when Lambo said on his stream that he knew all along, I was kind of surprised and a bit pissed to be honest [note: joking tone throughout this entire answer].
Like I was giving it my all in all of these events, playing EU and NA through the whole night, and then it didn't really matter. I mean, it was still good practice and stuff, but I wish someone told me, you know? It would have made it so much… so much more relaxing. I would have known even if Lambo was going to get ahead of me, I wasn't necessarily going to have to go through the open bracket and stuff. It would have been nice if I actually had known.
But yeah, I still liked—in general I like playing the EPT Cups anyway, and I think Lambo doesn't like it too much. So in the end it all worked out. If someone told me, it would have been nice I guess.
Q: Still, maybe it was a good experience playing a bunch of important games ahead of Katowice?
Yeah, usually when I play the EPT cups I'm not nervous at all. But during the couple of cups I actually—it almost felt like a big tournament, you know? I was getting a bit nervous here and there in some series, so it was definitely a bit different.
Q: You weren't getting such great results during the online era, even though most players would have said you were still playing at a really high level on the ladder. What was the reason for that?
I think I just wasn't playing my best at all. Like, during all the DreamHack events, I usually felt super stressed out. The events go for a long time, and you pretty much play one day, and then you have an off day, and then you play again. Like, it kind of keeps going and going—you never really have time to properly relax.
So, I just felt like I never played my best at all. I had series where I played pretty well, but then I had series where I played pretty bad, and...I'm not really sure, I just never got into it properly.
And also, I think Europe is just super difficult. Like, we have four spots for the Season Finals, which kinda sounds like a lot, but if you take Serral, Reynor, Clem, and HeroMarine, then all of a sudden, it's not that easy anymore to actually get the spot.
I don't know, something just didn't work for me. I think like, after a while it also gets a bit into your head and you feel like you can't do it anymore. Yeah, I don't know, it's just something about my mental state and just Europe being pretty difficult—I think that's what made it so tough for me.
Q: So Katowice might be better for you? Starting in the group stage, it's basically a three day run, similar to the old WCS Circuit live events. Do you prefer that?
Yeah, I like the kind of weekend tournaments and stuff where you have to stress for like three to four days, but then you're done for a while instead of having an event for two weeks or whatever.
Q: You said you were feeling good about your form but not quite Serral level—any particular reason you brought him up there?
Well I can't really judge the Koreans too well, but in the foreign scene… I mean he seems to be the best right now, I think. Like, Reynor is getting there as well. I think he had kind of a "meh" year—like he had a pretty good start and then he was not quite the Reynor that we're used to—but recently I think he's getting pretty good again. Then of course Clem is pretty consistently good I think, but I just feel like Serral out of all the foreign players is by far the strongest going into Katowice.
Q: How do you feel about PvZ? I'm pretty interested in seeing you go up against some of the Koreans, since your late-game play gets a lot of praise but you don't actually play that much PvZ against Koreans in big tournaments. How do you see that going?
Well, I did play Dark in one of the TSL's I believe, and I played Rogue in what was it, King of Battles a while ago? So I've had some series against them, and I think I beat Rogue a few times? I don't remember about Dark, I think Dark beat me, barely always.
I'm not really sure, I think Dark and Rogue are… I would put them slightly lower than Serral. Like it might just be stylistic, but they feel... just more comfortable for me to play against, even though they are almost the same as Serral? So, I don't really know…
Usually out of all the different races, if I play against Korean Zergs I feel the most comfortable.
I think I'm just confident in my PvZ. So, yeah, I have Dark in my group, and he made what, the final of the last GSL Super Tournament? So he's looking in good shape. I don't know, I think I can take him out though.
Q: How do you feel about the state of PvZ in general, it being the least popular match-up and all?
I think it's mostly boring because of the Void Ray play style, right? Personally I don't even play the Void Ray stuff that much—I do mix it in because it's just a good opening, even if it's boring.
But I prefer other playstyles in general. And I mean, late game is just kind of super boring and... I don't know, not much happens in the late game.
Especially if you play Void Ray stuff—very little happens early on, and then you go into late game and even less happens you know? So you're just sitting there for thirty minutes a lot of the time. And there some run-bys and a Viper picks off a Tempest, a Tempest shoots at a Viper, and whatever, it goes on forever. It's pretty boring to play.
Q: But you seem to be pretty good at it.
Honestly, I think I'm not bad. But also when I play Serral for example, I never win the late game, so it's sometimes a bit depressing.
But usually against most other Zergs, other than Serral, I feel pretty decent in late game.
Q: From my perspective, it feels like a number of Terrans have really improved their TvP in the last few months, flipping their best match-ups from TvZ to TvP. Off the top of my head, I could say TIME, Clem, and SpeCial… What do you think happened? The map pool change was that big?
I'm not exactly sure. The map pool right now is kind of strange for PvT because I feel like there are some maps that are very good for Protoss, some that are very good for Terran, and there are very few in the middle.
So, I feel like if you play a best of five, you kind of have two maps that are very good for Protoss, two for Terran, and there's one that's in the middle. It makes it kind of weird to play, because you always… one race always struggles, I feel like. So I'm not really sure.
The meta has gone a bit toward proxies and stuff lately because Maru keeps going for the proxy-Barracks and Bunker at the natural and stuff, and that's become quite popular. But other than that, I don't think the meta changed a whole lot recently. So I guess it has to be something with the maps?
I think also just Protoss in general, since the map pool changed, performed a bit worse. Like if you watch all the tournaments since the map pool changed, I feel like a lot of tournaments had no Protoss in the top four, maybe one Protoss in the top eight and stuff like that.
It's a bit strange, because when I look at the map pool I feel like there are some good maps for Protoss, and there are some good maps for Zerg and Terran as well, so it shouldn't be that bad. But somehow the map pool change made Protoss underperform a bit, and then I guess the Terrans all got a little bit better.
Q: How's PvP been? I feel like that's another match-up where there could be some big stylistic difference between the Koreans and foreigners.
I've played Zest a couple of times in the weeklies and herO as well—herO is *laughs* he makes me pretty mad, he has such a crazy playstyle. And I think in general, the Koreans play a bit more aggressive than the foreigners, and maybe with the exception of someone like MaxPax or so.
Q: Speaking of stylistic differences, Koreans still seem convinced they'll beat MaxPax's fast expansion as long as they execute their Stalker all-in well, whereas foreigners seem to have given up on that a long time ago.
I'm not sure.. I feel like there are some Korean Protosses who believe they can just all-in and win. I don't think it's the case necessarily, but you also see some of them kind of started going away from the all-ins.
Like, for example,I think it was maybe Classic or Zest recently? I don't know, but usually they always opened 2-gate, or almost always. And MaxPax always goes for his 1-gate expand, and as a 2-gate player you're kind of forced to either all-in or kind of accept that you're behind a little bit. And lately, some of the Korean Protoss, they opt to stay on one gate—like they don't have the gate on the low-ground—but they kind of just mirror what MaxPax does, because they're like 'I don't want to all-in this guy, it doesn't really work that well' and they just go for the same, and it leads into the Phoenix vs Phoenix wax.
I don't know, I feel like some definitely want to all-in always, and some kind of started to realize it might not be the best way of going about it.
Q: What do you think about your RO24 group at Katowice with Serral, Dark, TIME, and SpeCial?
I like it a lot. Like last year, I think I got very unlucky, I was by far in the hardest group I think [note: vs TY, Maru, Clem, Solar, ByuN], and now I think I'm in probably the easiest group. If I had to switch with any other fifth seed, I don't think I would switch my group—I'm pretty happy with it.
Q: Realistically speaking, what kind of goals do you have in this tournament?
Well, I think looking at the group, I have Serral and Dark which… I mean they are like two of the tournament favorites, so they might be difficult, especially Serral. But then TIME and SpeCial, I think both are beatable, and then whoever makes it from the open bracket I don't think there's anyone that I'm super afraid of. So I feel like just making it out of the group, whether it's like… I mean first place is unlikely I think, I would have to take out Serral somehow—but like second or third place in the group, I think that's what I'm aiming for, and then from there it just depends on who I get.
You know if I get like Maru in my first playoff match, it might just end there. I mean I would need a very, very good day to take someone like that out. But, yeah. I think just getting through the group, and it just depends on who I get.
Q: So besides Serral and Maru, do you think you have a reasonable chance against anyone else? Anyone else you're worried about in particular?
I think Zest could be very difficult. I think Rogue, if he brings his usual form to Katowice he should also be very difficult, but other than that I'm not too worried I guess?
I mean there's like so many good players like Clem, Reynor, Trap—I'm not saying I'm favored or anything against them but I think I have a reasonable shot against anyone else.
Q: If you had to predict the winner, who would it be?
I kind of want to say Serral, but he's never done it so far. I want to pick a Zerg just because they always win.
Like, I think if I had to give a top three, it would probably be like Rogue, Serral, and Maru. But Maru, I don't know, recently Maru has probably been the best player. But he's also never won a Katowice or a World Championship in general. So I'm not really sure.
I think it's between those three, and then fourth put maybe Zest? I think Zest has been looking super good as well.
Q: Any final comments or shoutouts?
Just, wanna thank my team BIG. And all my fans—shoutout to my discord channel, always nice to read all the messages there, all the support. And, yeah, just thanks to all the fans.
You can follow ShoWTimE on Twitch at Twitch.tv/sc2showtime and on Twitter at @ShoWTimESC2.
