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For the 12th SGL Player interview, SGL]Jinn sits down with FnaticMSI's Gretorp to talk about his casting, his feelings about the upcoming NASL, as well as some fun stories with the Fnatic team. Enjoy the interview!
SGL: Hello Gretorp, thank you so much accepting this interview with us today. For those of us who have never met you, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your history in e-sports?
Gretorp:
Hello! My name is Andre Hengchua and I go by the name of 'Gretorp' in Starcraft II. I've been playing the StarCraft series since the begining, and I'm now a professional Starcraft 2 player and caster! I guess I'm most known for my stream and my casts throughout Starcraft 1 and Starcraft 2, but recently I've been able to cast a lot more which I really enjoy doing. :D I've somehow been able to manage my gaming and my casting together so it's a really great life!
SGL: As we all know you are one of the lead casters selected to commentate the NASL. How do you feel about getting the opportunity to be part of such an extraordinary event?
Gretorp:
The opportunity is more than I could have ever dreamed. Since I was in my young tween age (at the time they weren't called tweens
), my hobby was always strategy games. I loved applying strategy to everything I did including soccer, sailing, chess, but most importantly video games. As I grew up, I've become attached to e-Sports, StarCraft in particular, but at the same time, I've grown as an adult and have realized the state of e-Sports in the western hemisphere. I see the lack of e-Sports in the west, and it has been quite disheartening at times. But now, I have the capabilities of assisting in change. When it comes down to it, I'm doing my dream 'job'. I have had so much passion for StarCraft and e-sports, and now I have the privilege of having it called my work. To be able to say I'm doing something that will assist its presence in the e-Sports scene is a true honor and I'm humbled at the opportunity.SGL: Do you have any personal predictions of who's going to win the event? Or maybe some of your favorites?
Gretorp:
Oh man what a tough question! I don't think I have any person that I think is going to win for sure, or is favored. The game is still extremely raw, and I think there's a lot of room for variance in outcomes. There are of course people I would love to win but I conveniently forget their names every time I'm asked that question. :D We'll definitely see a lot of epicness in the matches though so I'll just say I'll be looking forward to that .
SGL: How are things at Fnatic? Is there anyone you would like to see on the team?
Gretorp:
Fnatic has been doing very well. The StarCraft 2 team managed to grab a very nice season in 2010 and we've been making huge strides in our development. We recently took on a League of Legends team, and that looks really exciting! I'm very happy with some of the success Fnatic has been having. I'm not sure who I would want on the team, but I think we need a zerg player from Europe in our team haha. Would be nice to train with a Z as we only have 1! Hopefully we'll be able to fill that gap soon though.
SGL: The Fnatic team must have traveled a lot together for LANs and tournaments, do you have any interesting experiences to share? Crazy LAN stories?
Gretorp:
!!! Hahaha well I wouldn't say crazy LAN stories, but I'll tell you a story about Adrian Kwong aka KawaiiRice. Me and him shared a bed at MLG DC and I'm a person known for sleepwalking and sleep talking. They however did not know this. I woke up the next morning. Adrian has zero blankets on him. The room was set to 62 degrees Fahrenheit because TT1 is from canada and needs his body temperature to be as cold as his heart. Adrian was bundled up like an Eskimo. I looked down and saw that I had all the blankets, when I turned to him he said, "I never want to sleep with you again." Apparently, I took all of Adrian's blankets, kicked him repeatedly in the middle of the night, and did not share anything with him for the rest of it. Because of TT1's frigid personality affecting the air, Adrian was forced to bundle up and unfortunately did not sleep well. I can officially state that I have made KawaiiRice's LAN records worse than they ought be.
SGL: Speaking of tournaments, are you excited to cast the SGL finals between ROOT and ONE this weekend? What's your prediction for the finale?
Gretorp:
Of course! SGL has been here since the release, and I could never have seen that I would be working with them. On top of that, I get to cast with them for some epic clan wars — the pot sweetens even more! The finals are going to be so sick. There are of course overall fan favorites, but as a caster I just want amazing games.
However, judging by both of their lineups, that's exactly what we're going to be expecting so I guess i don't have to hope for anything like that !SGL: With all the casting you've been doing lately, do you ever worry you might start to be considered more of a caster rather than a professional gamer?
Gretorp:
Not at all. I actually wouldn't mind giving up gaming for casting! Right now I offer a really nice skillset, being a strong gamer and being a caster. I can transfer tons of information between each other, but my casting is greatly increased from my gaming. I have so much passion in both of these fields, and I'm not worried for a second that one label gets put on me more than another.
SGL: Do you ever tune in to State of the Game? What are your current thoughts on SC2 balance right now?
Gretorp:
Occasionally I tune into State of the Game but it's not something I constantly follow. It's a funny program and I enjoy it when I do. SC2 game balance is pretty good right now but I don't think it's quite yet there. Some notable things i want to have changed are:
1. Tanks overkill - This would help ZvT a lot, It'd made TvT more complex, and wouldn't really change a ton to TvP.
2. Protoss colossus tech gets fixed (I have no clue how this will happen).
3. Mothership gets nerfed.
Otherwise, for the units that exist, I think that Blizzard has done a fantastic job.
SGL: Indeed, it's such a great game isn't it! We have a few questions from fans on TeamLiquid.net that we hope you can answer, hope that's okay.
Gretorp:
Of course!!
Jouu: How do you plan to work on improving your game and being a caster at the same time?
Gretorp:
The best part about being a professional in both areas is that there is a tremendous overlap in the skill sets. For instance, if I learn something in gaming, I will be able to have more content in casting. If I cast games, I'll be able to see more games, look at them analytically, and be able to apply them to my gaming. They compliment each other very well. I have and will be continuing my regular training with my gaming, however my casting training has been a huge focus for me recently. I've put a lot of time, thought, and practice into becoming a better caster, and I think people will realize that very soon come NASL time.
kommunalka: How do you see your casting evolving as you get more experience. Are there areas you feel strong in or need improvement?
Gretorp:
Just like everything that we do, there are two sides of this. There's the theory of casting and the execution of casting. Addressing the theory first, I think the ability to recognize the flow and progression of a cast is the one I need to evolve most and one that will evolve greatly over time. It's really amazing how I'm starting to see the styles of casting, and how people paint a story with the development of their words. I think that's going to be my hardest area that i need to improve and will only come with time. Concerning the execution of casts, I've been working on the basics. Not stuttering, not saying Uhms and filler words, talking in sentences, and not being redundant. I actually went through one of my old casts and just timed when I said a filler word or phrase. It came out to something like almost 2 minutes! That was 2 minutes of talking that the audience could've used to understand the game better! Thankfully, I've gotten much better and that number has reduced dramatically
Still, my execution can get better and there's a lot of things i have to work on. That can only come with time and practice SGL: Could you elaborate on what you mean by "how people paint a story with the development of their words"?
Gretorp:
Sure, well I'll show you --
So I went to MLG DC with KawaiiRice and TT1. TT1 loves the cold, so he set the room to 62 degrees. I was sleeping with KawaiiRice, and in the middle of the night I started kicking him and i took his blankets. He didn't sleep much and it might have effected his performance. See the difference? :D
SGL: Haha certainly!! Well this marks the end of our interview, thank you so much once again for accepting this interview with us. We would like to thank our head sponsor, Bigfoot Networks for supporting the SGL. Do you have any shout outs or words for your fans?
Gretorp:
I want to say a huge thank you to my fans!
Thank you for supporting me and I won't let you down! A big shoutout to my team, Fnatic and their sponsors, Steel Series, Bigfoot Networks, MSI, and Raidcall. My family in there specifically, being Duran, Adrian and Payam. Want to also say thank you to my actual family who have been really supportive of me through this endeavor, and for being there for me. Last but not least, I want to give a huge shout out/thank you/you're awesome to totalbiscuit, as he has been instrumental in shaping me as a caster. Oh and thank you as well !Be sure to go vote for Gretorp in the NASL at www.NASL.tv, also be sure to tune in to him when he casts the SGL Finals: ROOT vs. ONE Sunday at 7:00 PM EST!
