The qualification process for GSL Open #2 was full of upsets and surprises. Many had hopes not only for their boys in blue Haypro, TLO, and Jinro, but also for last season’s stars and old legends looking to make a name for themselves. Come day 3 of qualifications, fans were already hit with many surprises, including the loss of two team liquid hopefuls, July, as well as a fair amount of foreigners. Monday was no different, and it was up to the skill and luck of TLO to assure that TL fans were provided for in the coming GSL season.

The atmosphere was very quiet, and the administrative staff were making sure that players were comfortable and not bothered. Spectating a player was allowed, but large crowds would be broken up if they were getting to disruptive levels.

After watching many matches, I had the pleasure of meeting cArn, the French player who unfortunately couldn't qualify for this season. He has a break from his university studies, and revealed that he will be taking a year off to pursue pro gaming in Korea. So, expect to see him at the qualifiers and hopefully some GSLs in the coming months.

Before long, Team Liquid had arrived in advance of the group D stage. The team was again in high spirits, talking about the previous days’ upsets and various strategies. Once TLO was set up, it was time to wait for the group to start. Both Haypro and Jinro took advantage of the free time to watch some of the qualifying matches.

TLO was lucky to land two byes at the beggining of his bracket. While this was obviously advantagous, this irked TLO just slightly: "I hate waiting" he reveals, after chatting with the team and refreshing the bracket. Showing up to an event ready to rock, only to be thrown into a holding pattern must be frustrating. Luckily, when TLO's games started, he seemed to turn that frustration into aggression. Every game against his all-protoss opponents were filled with extremely rush based play, which threw them off guard. Apart from a base trade that also eventually landed in TLO's favor in his 2nd game, the matches were mostly a breeze. It's worthwhile to note that TLO's manual skill is in very good shape, with a high APM that was being utilized throughout the matches with high micro-intensive play. Congratulations to TLO, you have all our best wishes for success in the Ro64!

Hwang "Spunky" Kyu Hoon needs no introduction here on TL. Manager of our partner team oGs and above all, a friend of Liquid, Spunky is our closest link to Korean E-Sports and in this interview, he delivers. Read on to see what we mean.

Hi, Spunky! We're talking to you hot on the heels of a fantastic performance by oGs at the GSL Open #2 quals. How do you feel about 9/10 your players qualifying?

Well, I'm kinda sad that oGsTOP didn't make it. He is indeed one of our best players. Unfortunately his condition on his qualification day was pretty bad and he took a bad beating during the final round of the qualifications. Still, it’s pretty much a new record in E-sports to have 9/10 players of a team qualifying in the biggest tourney in the world! I am very proud of my players. We made it clear that we were the best team. We had the most players qualify for GSL. Second place was WeRRa with 8 players but they had like maybe 3-4x more players than us participating lol.


Yes, that's quite an achievement. Ensnare just missed out on the finals last time. How ready is he to try and make amends in this GSL Open?

Well in my perspective, everyone in oGs has a chance in taking the title for GSL2. Ensnare of course is one of the favourites to take GSL2 and he is VERY ready for it.


The GSL is now in full swing, so let's talk again about something we touched on in our last interview - Starcraft 2. How do you think the scene is shaping up in Korea, and more importantly, where is it headed?

Well from what it seems like, SC1 is not looking so good at the moment and all the big namers are coming into SC2 pretty fast and the SC2 scene seems like its absorbing a lot of SC1. I think this will continue for the next few months and A LOT will change starting 2011. Boxer and Nada coming over to SC2 made a pretty big difference too .


Indeed. It's funny we made it this far without talking about the Genius Terran. The announcement of him joining oGs was huge in the foreign scene, and many long time Broodwar fans are still in disbelief. Amazing stuff, but I think what everyone wants to know is - how did this happen?

Well in player skill wise, oGs has created and still has the best SC2 players at the moment. However, I felt that we were lacking a little bit when it came to having old famous gamers who are good and are capable of leading others and helping their team members to get to the next level. Immediately Boxer and Nada came to mind, and having known Nada for a long time made me approach him first. And yes it was also a big issue here in Korea that he joined oGs. It got us lots more fans and attention as well.


What was the team's reaction when they first heard the news?
Haha, of course everyone was amazed and happy, and probably had similar feelings as the fans. Most of our oGs team members are 20~21 years old so they had been watching nada play on TV since they were 10 years old lol. It’s great to have him here and I’m pretty sure the Team Liquid guys love it as well.


Yeah it's no secret that they do, haha. Now with Nada qualified for this upcoming GSL Open, what sort of role do you see him playing on the team?

Right now, Nada is still learning a lot of SC2. Of course, he has natural talent for the game but is still lacking a bit in experience. With the best Terrans around him here, I'm very sure he'll catch up really fast and get up to a level where our players start learning from him.


Having dominated Broodwar for many years, and by all accounts being the most successful player the game ever had, how do you think his years of experience will help him and his teammates? Are there any specific areas of SC2 you expect him to excel in?

Well after having some long talks with NaDa, we both felt that SC2 is very different from SC1 and micro/macro is not everything here. Just thinking a lot and coming up with new strategies is key and the psychological part of the game is much more important in SC2 compared to SC1. After a period of time, people will have similar micro/macro in SC2 since the game itself is much easier to play compared to Broodwar. Therefore, it seems like in the long run, the smarter player who puts more thought into the game instead of mechanics will do much better


Some people even go to the extent of saying that SC2's 'easier' mechanics are reminiscent of Broodwar's early days when players like Boxer could execute the craziest strategies and still come out on top while entertaining fans through and through. What do you have to say about this? Are we entering a period where smart/creative plays will be more and more common?

Well, first of all this is what the Koreans are saying - Boxer is the master of Dropships and Bunkers and now Dropships heal and you can get money back from bunkers, so how can he ever lose in SC2? lol


Mechanics are yes much easier, however the game itself is much, much faster than SC1 so you can't really say it’s the same at all. In another point of view, it’s completely a different game.
And yes, smart/creative players will do really well in SC2. As I said it’s really a "thinking game". I always enjoy watching Dario trying to scheme a brand new strategy to make the fans go "wow". Koreans will do the same in upcoming GSL games.


So Boxer and Nada - outside oGs and Liquid, what is the general feeling about them switching to SC2? Are people super excited? Their fans must be ecstatic to see them back in action.

The fans are going really crazy about this, everyone is excited and people who had stopped watching SC1 are coming back to watch the game again just to watch these guys play on TV again. Boxer needed to bring body guards to the GSL qualifications because of so many fans and members of the press following him and I had to protect Nada as well because of everyone trying to get a word with him.


Hahaha, that is off the hook. Since the question is on everyone's mind, let me just come out and ask it - do you know of Boxer's plans, especially team wise? What do you know of his long term plans in general?

I know that he mentioned in his interview that he wants to join a team but I'm not sure if he’s decided on one yet. People have been asking me about him a lot since I recruited Nada but I don't have any plans for now either. But I know that he will do whatever it takes to get his crown back as the champion of the game.


You're currently leading one of the most successful teams in the business. If there is one thing you have learnt these past few months, what would it be?

It takes a lot of work and time just to manage a team. I think people underestimate how hard it is to manage 10+ talented players with different personalities under one roof. I personally underestimated this and had a lot of trouble managing at first, though I’m very used to it now. Things are looking better and I will do whatever I can to make sure our team oGs keeps its top spot for the future as well.

Go for it! TL wishes you the best of luck, and look forward to seeing many oGs players advance in the GSL. Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to us, Spunky, and we look forward to having a chat again soon. oGs fighting!