The 2011 Dreamhack Stockholm Invitational gets underway in Sweden today and TLAF-Liquid`Jinro, TLAF-Liquid`TLO and TLAF-Liquid`HuK are there representing us there. The Liquidians arrived in the city over the weekend, with Jinro and HuK flying in from Korea with Liquid-partner team member oGsMC. This is the moment of their arrival, courtesy of the fine folks at Rakaka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snkGx0uK7xE
Run, TLO, run!
Run, TLO, run!
Terranical.
Being a son of the soil, Jinro's arrival in particular was much anticipated, and apart from being ambushed by TLO, he was greeted by fans and of course his mom and dad. Rakaka has full coverage of the event.
Proud parents, and rightly so!
Though always one to downplay himself, Jinro's arrival in Sweden has caused somewhat of a stir. With several newspaper articles written already and one even translated here on TL (thanks, TheSilverfox!), The Gorilla Terran was also on P3 Radio today as well, and we hope some of you Swedes caught it.
Finally, and here's the awesome news (not that the news so far wasn't awesome, this is just awesomer) Jinro is set to appear on TV4 Sweden on Wednesday the 13th at 9.15am. While we're all used to seeing SC2 progamers on the Internets, seeing them on national television is something else, huh? If you're in Sweden or otherwise have access to Swedish television (it turns out that TV4 may stream online), this is an event you simply do not want to miss. Not only will our home grown Terran destroyer be interviewed but he will also play SC2 on air! Woot!
Meanwhile, TLO sat down and had a quick chat with us about an announcement he is making along with Morrow, Sjow, Bischu and Maven later today at Dreamhack. This piece of news finally puts to rest the rumours that have been circulating for weeks now. Yes, TLO will be moving into a joint team house in Europe. Yes, it's going to be awesome and yes, we'll be providing coverage all the way. Enjoy!
Make no mistake, TLO loves Stockholm. (Picture by Dreamhack)
Hi, TLO! You join us just two days before Dreamhack from Stockholm. What's going on in Sweden?
Hey, just chilling at Inferno Online and practicing some with Chris, MC is here too and a crowd of fans behind us. ^^
Inferno Online?
Inferno Online is a REALLY awesome PC-Bang in Stockholm. It's like 400 PCs, super clean and you always meet a lot of sc2 fans here. Plus it's in the center of Stockholm, perfect location really. ^^
You've been talking about Stockholm quite a bit lately, and we hear you've got some news for us along those lines. Do tell!
Haha, I kinda fell in love with the city I guess. It's such a good place for a gamer to be. SO MANY things happening. And SC2 is really big here, people recognize me on the street every day. There are a lot of talented progamers based in Stockholm and I like the whole vibe of the city and know a lot of cool people here. Lately I have really been missing the Korean practice experience with having other pros around 24/7, so I decided to ask Sjow, Morrow, Bischu and Maven if they are interested in moving together to create a joint venture pro-gamer house in this city. So yeah, we're going to do that!
Wow! That's certainly big news. There were rumblings of this around for a while now, but now it's finally official! When will you guys move in?
We can start moving in on the 15th, so we will set up the place in the next few days/weeks. Not everyone will be living there right away and it's gonna take some time and effort to set everything up but when it's ready it's gonna be great. In future I hope that other progamers will come and visit, so we will definitely have two extra pcs so we can have guests over too.
Will all of you be around more in Swedish/European live events from now on?
Well I will obviously be attending all the big Swedish events, especially Dreamhack. But I will be going to America a lot so I got to see how much time I will have to travel in Europe. I dont want only to travel and not get the chance to practice, that would make having a practice house kinda useless.
What do you think makes Sweden a leading E-Sports destination in the world and arguably one of the most E-Sports conscious countries outside of Korea?
Probably the dark long COLD winter. ;D
How do you see the SC2 scene developing over there? Regular events? Leagues?
Well first of all Dreamhack is huge. Then there are occasionally SC2 tours in Stockholm and we have Inferno Online which wants to get more and more involved with the scene and is willing to invest. The mainstream media is starting to take interest in sc2 over here as well and there are plenty of people who are open to putting money in the scene. The fan base is big and there money is here so I think there will be a lot of good things happening here. The money is certainly here.
Do Swedish SC2 names get their share of attention in Stockholm? Jinro is coming home after a while and with some big wins under his belt to boot - what sort of reception did he get?
There was a greeting party at the Airport awaiting him, lots of people showed up and he finally got to see his parents again which was heart warming. I think he is gonna do some interviews with the Swedish media as well. So yeah, progamers are being treated well here and everyone is happy to have Jinro back even if its just for a few days.
If you learnt one thing from The Gorilla Terran during your time with him Korea, what would it be? In fact, tell us one SC2 related thing and one IRL thing.
He is stubborn and relentless, he will practice a build until perfection. Which is good in most cases but can also make him invest a lot of time in dead ends. Hmm real life? He can be a little clumsy from time to time, he lost wallet once in Korea and stuff like that happens to him quite often ;D
As a Terran again now, what do you like most about his play, both past and present?
I am always baffled by his marine spread, I don't know how he can do it that fast. I wanna learn that ;D
Speaking of which, how has Terran been so far? You enjoyed some success at MLG, but what are your goals for the next few months? Which parts of your play are your focusing on and what are you enjoying the most?
I love it, so much fun. I wanna see if I can create some new styles with Terran again and refine my mechanics. I think there is still a lot of undiscovered territory for Terrans, especially nukes. I wanna try to strongly implement them in standard game situations and make it a solid play.
All right then, good luck with that, Dario. Looking forward to seeing you on stream at Dreamhack and then talking to you again from your new home. Any final words for the fans?
Keep cheering for me, guys! I will see a lot of you in Stockholm I guess hanging out at Inferno Online and stuff. But much love to all the non-Swedes too you, are all awesome. I hope living in a practice house again will help me return to my old strength.
TLO fighting!
That's about all for now, but do get ready for DH, because it's going to awesome. Here's some HuK goodness to tide you over till the games start.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMiW0y1_ogE
HuK recommends Turkish Airlines.
HuK recommends Turkish Airlines.