[Interview] MSL Ro32 Group A Winners

JD: "It was shocking news for me that Flash was eliminated."

- Any thoughts about qualifying to Ro 16 for 5 seasons in a row?
* I don't feel anything special because I thought that I should make it to Ro 16 anyway. I think I still have a long way to go, however.

- Your rival, Flash, got eliminated in Group A.
* As I watched the Group A matches, I imagined that such a thing could happen to me. Even just imagining it was horrifying. It was shocking for me to see Flash eliminated, but due to that, I was able to focus fully on my matches.

- It might be a little bit of "great relief" and "disappointed" with rival being eliminated so early.
* With the opponent that I've always faced in the finals gone, instead of being disappointed, I feel a little weird. But, I only made it to Ro 16, and I still got a long way to go. I must climb much higher. Therefore, it is little too early to think about who I will face in the finals.

- Preparation should have been easier due to there being 3 Protoss in your group.
* While I feel I had some advantage with me being Zerg, I certainly can't think of this being very easy, because all the opponents are well-known, strong Protoss players. Thankfully, with many Proleague maps being used, the preparation was certainly smoother.

- Did you have the confidence to be the 1st place in your group?
* I expected that I would make it 2-0, and I had confidence matching that expectation. I've prepared for this for a long time. Although, I had a full schedule and with the team having a bad record, I wasn't able to invest much time in the MSL preparation recently. Despite that, I think all the practice I did prior has shown itself to be fruitful. I hope that remains the case for the remaining MSL matches.

- You said you wanted to show vs. Protoss, are you satisfied with today's plays?
* I think I have shown that well with my style today. I have shown some improvisations here and there as usual, and I have played with the same mindset that I had when I practiced. Instead of any special preparation, I played according to what the opponent played. So, I have the desire to show more plays -- especially vs. Protoss.

- What do you think of the new map, Dante's Peak?
* I got used to the map pretty fast, and it seems it is just a normal army strength oriented map. I like it.

- Is your goal this season, winning, as usual?
* Of course, but I believe it's important that I do my very best every match to win. I think I won't regret later if I do my very best every match instead of just thinking about being the winner of this MSL.

- Who do you want to face in Ro 16, out of fOrGG, PerfectMan, HoGiL, and Midas?
* In any case, I do want to avoid PerfectMan since he's my teammate, and as for the rest, it doesn't really matter to me whom I face. I do think it might be a good chance to close in the win-loss ratio between fOrGG and me though (laugh).

- Any last comments?
* I have a full schedule still. The Starleague match tomorrow is very important, and I also have to do well in the Proleague due to our team's records, so I will have to prepare diligently. For the fans who come to cheer for me even though it's freezing out there, I will do my best to show only the great plays from me. I want to say thanks to them, and that they don't catch cold.

Snow: "I will give a proper signed T-Shirt"

- This is your first time making it to Ro 16. Any comments?
* It feels really great, and I will put forth more effort so I can achieve even more.

- How did you prepare for today's matches?
* I prepared around vs. Protoss because I didn't get to practice much for vs. Zerg. So, I focused more on the first match rather than thinking about the final matches.

- You lost to Jaedong in the winner's match. Was it disappointing?
* It really was, because I lost without being able to do anything. I had to sit down and think a lot about vs. Zerg plays after the game.

- With your recent records being poor, you must have gone to "do or die" mode today.
* I really wanted to win badly nowadays, so I practice a lot right now. While I practice, I think back to the days when I used to win a lot more.

- What do you think is different compared to the days when you used to do well?
* I'm pretty sure something has changed for me to lose like this, but right now, I'm not quite sure what's wrong. I think I should try to find out what as quickly as possible.

- Do you think you'll still have the same confidence when facing free?
* I used to be very afraid of free. I did few games with him, and I lost all of them. But, I managed to win today, so I guess it has improved a bit at least.

- You showed continued harassment while keeping up your defenses in the first match.
* The basis of my play is made around harassment rather than brute force. So, I played as I normally did, and it worked out pretty well. That's why I made speed boosted shuttles in the last match. While harassment didn't work out so well, luckily, I was able to make a good push. I feel that it was a good choice.

- Who do you wish to challenge in Ro 16?
* I want to do some vs. Terran. I am hungry for them, in fact! (laugh) I feel that I haven't been doing my best, so I really want to meet a Terran.

- Any last comments?
* I have to say this. After winning, I gave away t-shirts, but I wasn't so sure what to do. Everybody wanted one but there are only two shirts. I am sorry for those who didn't get them, and that they will be understanding because I didn't do a proper signing because I don't have one yet. I just wrote down my ID (Snow) based on how Movie does his signature. I did that because I was too nervous. To those who got the shirts today, if they bring them next time, I will do a proper sign on them for sure (laugh).