[Spoilers] IdrA on TSL - Page 5

Artosis: Alright well, here I am with the ex-favorite of the Team Liquid Starleague, IdrA. Oh IdrA, I'm sorry but we do have to do an interview with you on the TSL

IdrA: of course

Artosis: Everyone is wondering what's going on here. So let's just go over this. You played NonY, someone who you completely crushed last time you played him, 3-1, this time he said he was gonna win, you thought you'd take him down 3 to 0. You had some good strategies planned. Let's talk about it:
Game 1 - you did the vulture drop and completely crushed him. Was that what you were expecting or were you thinking it was kind of a toss up game because it was Andromeda.

IdrA: I completely expected to win but I didn't think it would be that easy. What I figured was well just given everything leading up to it - well first off the maps, are heavily Protoss favored, like long macro games because they're all big maps, they're all easy economy; very good for Protoss. He said that he felt he was more confident in beating me with long macro games - he was surprised at how well he did in the first ones. I should've known it was my games at that point cause he got raped in the long games in the first one. And I said that the only way I was going to lose was cheese. So I figured all that leading together and he would choose to play long abusive macro games - double nexus, one gate triple nexus, that kind of stuff. So I prepared builds that would counter that. And so the first game went exactly as I expected, he even played greedier than I thought, triple nexus dt drop off of 4 goons. So it was a pure build order win for me. And then the other games, well --

Artosis: Game 2, lets talk about game 2

IdrA: that was just a mis-click

Artosis: You cancelled your command center and insta left. Some people question that I mean it was obvious --

IdrA: They're stupid

Artosis: -- you cancel that command, you can't win against a player of NonY's caliber. What went thorough your mind when you cancelled that nexus

Hwanni (I think?): Commmand center

IdrA: It was just a haze. I still expect to win so obviously I was pissed off but it was like whatever go on to the next one.

Artosis: So you didn't have tears in your eyes, red ears, you weren't --

IdrA: No, a few expletives or whatever but that was about it.

Artosis: -- couldn't cook an egg on your head?

IdrA: No, I wasnt that.. I wasn't tilted or whatever I don't think.
Artosis: How loud were the expletives that you mutter under your breath cause I've seen you do this before

IdrA: It was actually quite loud cause I'm alone in the CJ house right now everyones off for the new years vacation.

Artosis: How loud was it? Can you show us here? (Note: they're inside a coffee shop)

IdrA: I'll scare all the other people .

Artosis: You don't have to swear just say something loud. Just say Greg loud.

IdrA: I don't know.

Artosis: You don't know?

IdrA: No. I'm like blacking out the memories. It's too painful.

Artosis: I see. Ok, game 3, that was the Outsider game, right?

IdrA: Yeah, that one I deserved to lose. I was scouting his main, and it didn't register fast enough cause I was dealing with harass. It's actually kind of funny, he beat me with a Much build, cause I practice with Much a lot. I even played him a lot on Outsider before his MSL game with ForGG. Never saw him do anything like that though.

Artosis: Yeah just, I dunno man, NonY just executed well but it felt to me like you just, you microed quite poorly there. You did not make the right decisions.

IdrA: I thought my 3 tanks were moving backwards when the scarab hit. I can't bring myself to watch the replays so maybe not.

Artosis: No I thought they were too. I was actually surprised.

IdrA: Yeah they all took at least 80 damage, so after that I was kinda dead.

Artosis: Yeah, they took a lot more damage than I expected. Well yeah, that's too bad. Alright game 4 on Destination, I actually thought he could've taken this, if he had gone speed zealots cause he had just shown you the citadel, which obviously you're going to make turrets, along with your tank marine, and that's not a good counter to speed zealots.

IdrA: Speedlots after that kind of opening, they're not good at all. If you get SCVs in front the games over. And he was already on such a weak economy. I guess anything he does is going to be all-in, but..

Artosis: Yeah, it was quite all-in.

IdrA: He didn't have a good option.

Artosis: You did stop the zealot rush pretty well. I mean he did a lot more damage to your zealots than I was expecting

IdrA: Yeah, I've seen some people talking about how he out-microed me and stuff

Artosis: No, that's ridiculous. He didn't out-micro you at all. But, you know, he kind of threw away all his units in that natural, what did you think of that?

IdrA: Well, after I killed the gateway and scouted what he was doing the game was pretty much over. So that was just a last-ditch attempt and it wasn't a very good one.

Artosis: No, not very good at all. And then he comes in again and you already have scanners so that was pretty easy. Now Game 4, I actually talked to him a lot about this game in particular.

IdrA: Game 5?

Artosis: Yeah, game 5, on Fighting Spirit. He saw you do that, the Sea.Really gasless expand, we saw GosI[Terran] do that quite a bit against Infernal as well. And, I was talking to him about that, and his strategy actually he did it, and he never lost a game on ICCUP doing this against that strategy against high-level Korean players.

IdrA: It's not a good build. Um --

Artosis: Well of course the build isn't good --

IdrA: No no, rax cc isn't a good build.

Artosis: Oh okay.

IdrA: But, if he goes double nexus on there, that map is so big and open and spread out, the expos are so far apart that if he goes double nexus, you don't win a macro game. He's good enough, that I can't win a macro game if he goes double nexus and get it for free there. So I was going rax cc expecting him to do an econ build, and just hoping I could deal with cheese. Cause you can hold cheeses like that, I've played against center gate all-ins, proxy robos and stuff like that, it's just really really hard.

Artosis: Here's his take on it, cause I spoke to him actually quite in-depth about this afterwards and in the interview. And he actually wanted to play a macro game on Fighting Spirit, cause he feels the same way as you that Protoss is ahead in a long macro game after a 12 nexus there or whatever. But he wasn't planning on 12 nexus obviously. Instead, he played a lot of games on ICCUP against that build, not a whole lot, but enough that he realized that if he proxies 3 gates, stops probe production, that what is terran gonna do? I mean only goon is not going to bust you. But the fact that he makes the zealots means you can't repair

IdrA: I think it is the extra zealots, but like I said I played against that before, and really I was like a second before siege mode, the bunker died before that and if he doesn't have the extra zealots then I just keep spamming repair and then I'd hold it off.

Artosis: Oh of course, that would kill infinity goons but its the zealots.

IdrA: Usually people don't make that many zealots, that was smart of him.

Artosis: Yeah, that was kinda like a build order win for him with those zealots.

IdrA: Yeah, kinda.

Artosis: But at the same time you almost held it off, you almost you know if you had just-- Do you think if you had re walled-in? You know he had stopped probe production for a long long time he was quite all-in. You lost a lot of SCVs, yeah --

IdrA: Looking back, what I should've done was the moment I see the extra units coming in, lift my command center and pull most of the SCVs in, and rewall with the command center and spam repair on the depots, that's the only real option I can see.

Artosis: Alright, so once you lost, sorry I have to ask this, but what went through your head?

IdrA: I was just mad, it was almost shock at first. But yeah, nothing specific.

Artosis: Nothing specific. So this is actually quite surprising, you and ret, both losing in the round of 8, when actually, you two were the favorites to make it to the final, and have another epic IdrA ret match.

IdrA: Yeah.

Artosis: So, what do you think about that? You and ret both out?

IdrA: Well, as long as NonY or Sen wins it I'll still be kinda ok. Obviously it sucks that I don't win and it sucks ret doesn't win. But, as long as Mondragon or JF doesn't win.

Artosis: Do you feel -- (laughs) We'll get to that statement in a moment -- Do you feel that you and ret still are the best players from this tournament?

IdrA: Obviously, yeah.

Artosis: Obviously?

IdrA: Yeah.

Artosis: I agree with you, I'm just asking.

IdrA: Oh okay.

Artosis: You don't want to see JF or Mondragon win, why?

IdrA: JF is the epitome of everything that's wrong with Starcraft, especially Protoss. He does not deserve to win a game ever. I hope NonY crushes him.

Artosis: Why is that exactly?

IdrA: He's nothing except cheese and gay builds, and coin flips, and abusive shit.

Artosis: So he's like G5 or..

IdrA: What it is is, legit players, like NonY can do abusive builds, but he has real skill to back it up. NonY is Stork, and JF is Backho.

Artosis: No one is as bad as Backho, take that back.

IdrA: That's how I see it.

Artosis: Take it back.

IdrA: No. I stand by my opinion.

Artosis: This is disgusting to me that you just said that

Hwanni: Mister Lee (??) is worse than Backho.

Artosis: No, no ones worse than Backho, alright? Okay, and what about Mondragon, you don't want to see him as the winner of this event either?

IdrA: Not really. He had his prime, he was the dominant player and he deserved his wins then. He's past his prime, he's not as good as the top players right now. I don't think he should win. I think Sen and NonY are more deserving, more skilled.

Artosis: The same can be said for Sen man, he was dominating the same time as Mondragon, he's an old old school player.

IdrA: That's true but he's always felt more skilled cause he actually knew how to ZvT back then when I was playing with him. It's just bias, personal preference, Sen seems like the better player to me.

Artosis: Alright, well I guess we'll see that this weekend.

IdrA: No we won't, it's ZvZ

Artosis: That's true. Who do you think will end up winning the tournament out of the 4 players that are left?

IdrA: Unfortunately I think it's going to be one of the Zergs. I dunno if NonY's PvZ is going to be good enough.

Artosis: Really? NonY told me that he cannot wait to show off his PvZ.

IdrA: I really, really hope NonY wins, but I'm not too confident.

Artosis: Is that just cause NonY's your friend, or American pride or because he knocked you out?

IdrA: He's a friend, American, a combination of all of them. And I think he's the most skilled player left.

Artosis: I like your shirt by the way. (IdrA is wearing the "Born to fast expand" shirt from thehandsomenerd.com)

IdrA: Yeah, it is pretty handsome. If I had followed this advice I would've won 3 to 1.

Artosis: Born to fast expand.

IdrA: All the people bitching about diversity -- (adjusts shirt to make it more visible) -- all the people bitching about diversity, if I had just gone fact cc ebay I woulda won.

Artosis: Well, you know actually NonY was kind of prepared for that he actually told me this morning on MSN that --

IdrA: If I go fact cc ebay, I lose on Andromeda, and win the next three.

Artosis: He switched his builds up, when he saw what you were doing, because he actually was thinking that you were going to be the robot that a lot of people accuse you of being.

IdrA: Well I won on desti with the proxy gateway. I would've done the same thing no matter what cause proxy gateway, you react to that, you're not the one controlling the game. On Outsider, if I go fact cc ebay, his shuttle is so late because he was pressuring with the goons and he doesn't get in, I have turrets up and I already have siege mode done anyway. Then on Tornado, that's a Terran favored map and he went gate first so fact cc, I'll win that game. I'll outmacro him. So I win 3-1.

Artosis: I see. Fair enough. Sorry you didn't win. But you won a lot of tournaments this year, so you have a lot of accomplishments anyways. And, you did better than last TSL. Last time you got top 16, this time you got top 8. Maybe next time top 4?

IdrA: Yeah, we just need 3 more tournaments and I'll be good.

Artosis: Yeah, you'll start winning. Well, at least you didn't lose to special tactics. Well, thanks for the interview --

IdrA: Special tactics would've been better than a command cancel.

Artosis: Yeah, that's quite true. What a dissapointing game. Alright well, thank you very much for the interview. Anything to say to all the haters out there and the fans?

IdrA: I thank my fans for the support.

Artosis: Haters gonna keep on hatin.

IdrA: Yeah.