EPT
Hydra: “Facing off against Jaedong will be an uphill battle”![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/pdipP.jpg)
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Hydra has been gaining attention as an exceptional ZvZer. On the 29th, Hydra easily defeated STX’s Calm with a 3:0 record in the MSL Round of 8 Day 3 and has advanced to the Round of 4. His next opponent that awaits him in the Round of 4 is Hwaseung’s “Final Boss” Jaedong. [T/N: Uh, no, Flash is the “Final Boss”. Not Jaedong. And it’s not even the finals yet!!] Hydra, who had been defeated in the past MSL Round of 16 by Jaedong before, has promised to show us a changed self and amazing games in the Round of 4.Q: Your thoughts on advancing to the Round of 4
A: I’m really happy that I was able to make it this far, and it’s great to see that it seems like the results of my hard efforts are finally coming out.
Q: You’ve been getting many wins in this MSL and your momentum has been really good lately.
A: Since I’ve been adapting and getting more and more used to broadcasted games, it seems that my true potential has finally been coming out. Also, since I’ve been practicing in an enjoyable manner, I think that that’s why I’ve been displaying good results lately. [T/N: You hear that? Having fun = Success.]
Q: Your ZvZ results have been quite good, but has that been your most confident matchup since the beginning?
A: I did originally have confidence in ZvZ from the start, but when I first debuted, it was my worst matchup and there wasn’t really anything spectacular about it at first. But now, it seems that I’m getting a better know-how and understanding of it. That’s why I have confidence against whoever I face, and since my control has been good recently, my results have also been really good.
Q: This was your first Best of 5 series
A: Since the games were separated, the first match seemed to be the most important one. If you lose the first match and then play the other ones, a burden will be on you and your builds will also be half-hearted. Since I won the first match, my control went well because I had confidence in myself, and I also chose a build I had confidence in. That’s why it seemed like I beat
Calm more easily than thought.Q: Do you have any specific points in your play today?
A: Since I had already won the 1st game, I had a positive mindset and was confident that I could take the remaining games. In the last set, there was tension over if I would execute my build well, but when Zerglings came to my natural expansion, I knew then that I had won already, so I thought to play only safely from there on.
Q: Your next opponent is
Jaedong.A: Jaedong is a player that is very good at ZvZ, but since it’s only ZvZs all the way to the finals anyway, I’ll just have to face off another Zerg again. Since it’ll be an uphill battle to try to beat him, I’ll have to work hard and do my best to prepare myself. I want to advance from the Round of 4 and go all the way to the finals.
Q: You’ve been knocked out of the Round of 16 by
Jaedong before.A: That was when I first started losing many matches. Looking back at that time, that was when I was unmotivated and played half-heartedly. I remember that even though I had an advantage in 3 of the games, I still lost them all. I don’t think that I’ll make the same mistakes again since I have changed a lot now.
Q: You are not quite living up to your expectations in Winners’ League.
A: I’m not feeling disappointed about my performance there. My team winning comes before whether I win or lose. The fact that my team is performing worse than my overall record is extremely disappointing. Of course, since I know that I must win so that my team wins, there are many various things to be disappointed about. I will try my best to work even harder from now on.
Q: How do you plan to practice for the Round of 4?
A: I practiced with my teammates for the Round of 8, but for the Round of 4, STX’s
Modesty said that he would help me out as much as possible if I got to the Round of 4 on Battlenet yesterday and I thought, “This guy is a really great friend” (laughs). Whoever helps me to prepare for the Round of 4 will get a tasty treat in return, so I hope I get helped out a lot. [T/N: Ohoho, bribing others so that he can beat Jaedong! What a plan!]Q: Any last words you want to say?
A: I want to thank all my teammates who worked hard to help me out with my practice.
Welllll, I didn’t really want to translate this interview at first, but while I was reluctantly translating it, I found out that this turned out to be a really, really interesting interview after all…
great: “I will fight with pride and win if it gets to Hive tech”![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/1Uu3B.jpg)
On the 29th in the PDPop MSL Round of 8 Day 3, Samsung Khan’s
great pursued STX’s 
Kal all the way to the end and regained control, which led him to advance to the Round of 4 for the first time ever in his career. Great who has advanced, has allowed Samsung to advance two of their players into both individual leagues, with Stork also going to the Bacchus Starleague 2010 finals. Great has declared war against Woongjin’s ZerO in the Round of 4 and made his resolution, “I’ll prove to everyone that my Hive tech macro is not to be taken lightly.”Q: Your thoughts on advancing to the Round of 4 for the first time ever?
A: I’ve always watched others advance to the Round of 4 on TV. I was really jealous of them, and thought when would I ever get the chance to advance up that far, but now that I have finally been given that chance, I’m really happy.
Q: You had already won the 1st set, but you seemed a little unprepared for your remaining matches.
A: I did quite lose a lot today, but I came with the confidence that I would lose only 1 set. However for some strange reason, the games didn’t go the way I prepared for them to go, and
Kal took that opportunity to overwhelm me. That’s why I abandoned what I had originally planned in the 4th and 5th sets and changed my gameplan to try to do whatever I could to gain the upper hand again.Q: In the last set, you made a comeback by doing a han-bang rush. [T/N: “Han-bang” means something along the lines of “one shot”, or depending on the context, “final desperate attack”, so if that rush had failed, than Kal could have won the last set.]
A: I thought that I had the advantage and seemed to have lost my mind there (laughs). I felt a lot moments where I was in danger, but it’s a huge relief that I won in the end, so I’m really happy.
Q: Your Mutalisks kept on directly confronting Corsairs today; was that a special concept of yours or anything like that?
A: Today’s concept was after the 2nd set,
Kal seemed to have the intention of trying to gain the upper hand over me. Since it looked like he was trying to take the lead, I produced a lot of Mutalisks and used them to combat his Corsairs. Even though I couldn’t do a lot of damage with them, since it seemed that I had gained the upper hand later on, I was okay with them not being very effective. [T/N: great calls Kal “Goohyunnie”… He must be close friends with Kal, I assume.]Q: There are 4 Zergs in the Round of 4. What do you think are the strengths of Zerg?
A: Rather than Zergs seeming to do well recently, there has been a trend of other skilled players being eliminated quickly [T/N: Backhanded reference to Flash, Bisu, and Stork getting eliminated! Oh, and other various players too, of course.], and I also think that luck for Zergs has been kicking in lately. If you look at what’s written in the community, there is a lot of talk over 4 Zergs being in the Round of 4, but my thoughts are that even though there are 4 Zergs, the games won’t end quickly or anything like that. Even though it seems like there is less interest in ZvZ compared to any of the other matchups, I will try to do my best to bring it to a Hive tech game, so please watch over me. [T/N: I think that I see approval of great going up, up, and up out there…]
Q: Are you comfortable with the fact that all of your opponents will be Zergs?
A: I think that the 4 Zergs who advanced to the Round of 4 are all very skilled Zergs. It will be a fight over who the most confidence over the other. Since all of the 4 players are their team’s aces, it will not be easy to beat them.
Q: Your opponent in the Round of 4 is
ZerO, who also has pride in his Hive tech play.A: The Zerg players from Woongjin claim that they were the ones that did Hive tech macro play first, but from my viewpoint, I don’t think that that’s true at all. It seems that
GGPlay was the first one to do Hive tech macro on broadcasted matches, but our team had been already doing Hive tech macro play in practice for a long time even before that. If a game gets taken all the way to Hive tech, then of course I will win. [T/N: Smacktalk at its finest. So this is what oov would’ve been like if he had played Zerg…]Q: Both you and
Stork as teammates have advanced to the Round of 4 [Stork already passing through the Round of 4 in the OSL].A: Seeing that
Stork hyung has advanced all the way to the finals in one individual league made me, in a position where I still haven’t reached the finals in another individual league, quite envious and amazed at his performance. It’s only natural that Stork hyung would go all the way to the finals because he’s been doing so well lately, so I think that he can also take the championship in the OSL today.Q: How will you practice for the Round of 4?
A: Since I’m in a situation where I have to focus on practicing my Hive tech play, I want to crush
ZerO’s pride in his Hive tech play. My teammates are also good at dragging out a game all the way to Hive tech. We will help each other out with practice. [T/N: Looks like great’s going to practice with his teammates, while Hydra’s getting out-of-team help with bribery… Which will win? Team loyalty, or bribery?]Q: Any last words you want to say?
A: After losing the 3rd set, I went to the bathroom for a moment and bumped into commentator Yoo Dehyun, who calmly went over my play with me. I was in a situation where I was losing, but after hearing his words, I cheered up and realized I was playing too frantically all along. Thanks to his words, I was able to get a hold of myself and regain my proper mindset. I want to thank him and tell him that I am in deep gratitude to him.
Source: Hydra's interview: http://esports.dailygame.co.kr/news/read.php?id=39428
great's interview: http://esports.dailygame.co.kr/news/read.php?id=39441
If there's any errors/typos/mistakes, do please point them out!
Congratulations on Hydra and great on advancing to the Round of 4, and no congratulations to the MSL to have an all Zerg semis and finals. *Sadface*
