[Interview] SPL Woongjin vs. MBCGame HERO Winners

I feel really sorry for the MBC fans out there… But fear not MBC fans, for there is a translator out there who knows of all your pain and suffering! To make up for that, here’s ZerG[kaL]’s first ever interview!

ZerG[kaL] – HyuN: “Please pay more attention to ZerG[kaL]”

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MBC Game HERO has successfully defeated Woongjin Stars and jumped back again into the competition to advance to the post-season. On the 7th at Seoul Yeongdeungpo Mullaedong LOOX HERO center Shinhan Bank Proleague 10-11 season Round 5 Week 3 with their match against Woongjin Stars, ace player Sea, captain Jaehoon, HyuN, and ZerG[kaL] each pulled out wins and ended their 3 loss losing streak in Proleague. MBC Game’s ZerG[kaL] started off with a win and HyuN ended the match with a win as well. ZerG[kaL] has now been fielded out 3 times as a rookie, while HyuN is the oldest player with the most seniority on his team. To HyuN’s eyes, ZerG[kaL] had magnificently defeated Flying, and kept on saying that ZerG[kaL] had played amazingly. HyuN did not hold back on praising ZerG[kaL] throughout the whole interview, making ZerG[kaL] hang his head in embarrassment hearing his senior’s praise for him. [T/N: Cue the “Awww”’s~]

Q: Your thoughts on winning?
ZerG[kaL]: I’ve been practicing really hard, but because I haven’t been able to win lately it’s regrettable. But since I won this time, it seems that I’ve been able to seize my chance well.
HyuN: When (Z)

ZerG[kaL] earned his first broadcasted win, our team had lost. Our team absolutely needs our rookies to play active roles, and ZerG[kaL] is playing that part well. ZerG[kaL]’s active participation is pumping more strength into our team.

Q: (To ZerG[kaL]) This is your first victory against a Protoss. If you could evaluate that game?
ZerG[kaL]: I had a moment where I could have ended the game, but since I couldn’t it was quite regrettable. By having more self-confidence in myself, I think that I’ll be able to do better next time.

Q: (To ZerG[kaL]) You’ve been given a lot of opportunities to participate lately. Is there a reason for that?
ZerG[kaL]: I think it’s because having a good record of 2:1 so far helps me get more opportunities to be sent out, isn’t that right.

Q: (To HyuN) What are ZerG[kaL]’s strong points as a player?
HyuN: His skill shown today was better than mine (laughs). It’s hard for rookies to make their broadcasted games replicate their play in practice, but compared to the typical rookie, ZerG[kaL] played his game calmly with composure and did well. I also must work hard like him.

Q: (To ZerG[kaL]) What do you think are your strong points as a player are?
ZerG[kaL]: The matchup I have most confidence in is ZvT. Looking at my opponent’s strategy and reacting well to what they do is a strong point of mine. Playing mind games with my opponent and macro games are things that I am still lacking in though. [T/N: He really sort of said “throwing off my opponent/confusing them” instead of mind games, but I think mind games fit in more in this context…]

Q: (To HyuN) You finished the match with a win.
HyuN: Personally, I felt like I finished the match with an unsatisfactory ending. There was a dangerous timing when I was thrown off by (P)

free’s feint, but I overcame that critical moment well, which was the driving force behind my victory. Our team has ended our 3 loss losing streak, and will turn it into a winning streak from now on.

Q: (To HyuN) Was your strategy you used one that was already prepared in advance?
HyuN: Yes. However, I was shaken up by my opponent’s feint. After I kept on just blocking his attacks, I was able to win.

Q: (To HyuN) Giving your juniors advice before the match gave off an impressive feeling from you.
HyuN: I’m the oldest hyung on the team. Even in this MSL’s group selection ceremony I was the oldest one out of all the players there. That’s why I now have a sense of responsibility and want to help my team achieve their goal for this season.

Q: (To HyuN) When were you sure that you had won your game?
HyuN: I knew that I had won when my first drop was successful. At that time, the Protoss army was at the center, so I destroyed my opponent’s tech tree by dropping in his base and seized victory.

Q: Any last words you want to say?
ZerG[kaL]: Although it hasn’t been that long since my debut, if you include the time when I was a semi-progamer, I played Starcraft for quite a considerably long time. I think that I’ve accumulated more skill for my fundamentals, so I want to grow as a player quickly in the future. I will do my best to show better performances in the future, so please support me and cheer me on a lot.
HyuN: It feels great that our team has ended our 3 loss losing streak, so now we’ll work hard to go into a winning streak. We’ll work even harder to rise to the upper rankings. Also, Saint has been feeling down recently, so it would be great if he could cheer up and overcome his slump. Please cheer us on.

Sea – Jaehoon: “From now on, we’ll start to go on a winning streak”

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Ooh, that is one unflattering pic of Jaehoon right there.

MBC Game HERO has recently suffered from a 3 loss losing streak and was in a situation where they have taken a step back in the competition to advance to the post-season. In order for MBC to end their losing streak and jump back into the competition to advance to the post-season, today’s match was an important one to them. The team’s ace players Sea and Jaehoon knew that well. The two players who ended their team’s losing streak and carried out their critical roles kept on repeating the words, “From now on” throughout their interview. Those words are a request to watch over them as from now on, they will start to go on a winning streak.

Q: Your thoughts on ending your team’s 3 loss losing streak?
(T)

Sea: Both the team and I were on a 3 loss losing streak. I thought that I definitely had to win today, and since I won I’m really happy about it.
(P)

Jaehoon: I didn’t give that much thought to our team’s 3 loss losing streak. Woongjin’s players are really strong, but since we won against them, I’m really happy.

Q: (To Sea) You faced off against your former teammate Light.
(T)

Sea: I thought that (T)

Light had prepared for TvZ and would come out against a Zerg. But then he was sent out on Beltway, so I was bewildered. I was told that if I was sent out on Beltway and faced off against a Terran, I was told to go 8rax against them, but since my opponent was Light, I felt a bit sorry towards him. [T/N: Oh, one can almost cry from reading this statement…] I never use that kind of strategy during practice. It was a strategy I had studied in the past, but had many worries about its effectiveness. Even Light seemed to be confused about the 8rax strategy. Thanks to things going unexpectedly like that, the game went surprisingly easily for me.

Q: (To Sea) You said a lot of times in the past that you didn’t want to play against Light. Did Light say anything about that?
(T)

Sea: Before our game started, we only exchanged greetings in the chat lobby. We usually don’t talk that much to each other, so we just concentrated on our game.

Q: (To Sea) What is the reason why you decided to use the 8rax strategy?
(T)

Sea: TvT is really difficult on Beltway, so I thought about using 8rax for once.

Q: (To Jaehoon) Recently, a lot of Protosses use the strategy of squeezing out as many Gateways as possible.
(P)

Jaehoon: I usually don’t use strategies where you build a lot of Gateways. But then I watched (P)

Horang2’s VODs and saw that he wins with only Zealots and Dragoons. Trying it out seemed like a good idea. That’s why I seized timings of increasing the amount of Gateways I had and practiced attacking with their large number, and that strategy worked well. I thought that Horang2’s strategy was pointless, but I came to understand that that’s not the case, and Commentator (Z)

Shark also helped me out and told me that it’s quite a good strategy. [T/N: LOL Horang2… Influencing fellow Protosses with his over 98473294832 Gateway and 4 Forge build revolution!]

Q: (To Jaehoon) Your winning percentage against Zergs hasn’t been that good, but you were sent out anyway.
(P)

Jaehoon: I wanted to play PvZ, so I was sent out. Since I have confidence in PvP, I worked hard to complement it by improving my PvZ. I thought that I had confidence in PvZ in itself, but in reality, that’s not the case. I have acknowledged that fact, and have worked hard to prepare more strategies instead of trying to rely on only my skill alone. Because I had a sure-kill build that would be able to make me win today, I was waiting to be sent out against a Zerg.

Q: (To Jaehoon) When were you sure that you had seized victory in your game?
(P)

Jaehoon: When I attacked my opponent’s expansion at the 12 o’clock position. I thought that I would be able to win with only Zealots and Dragoons.

Q: (To Jaehoon) You’ve been in a slump recently, but do you think that today’s win will help you break out of it?
(P)

Jaehoon: I had confidence that I would do better starting from the beginning of Round 5. Because I believed that I would do better, it seems that things are really going better for me.

Q: Your team’s ranking is still in the lower ranks.
(T)

Sea: If I do well, then I think our team’s results will improve. Our team’s victory is my highest priority.
(P)

Jaehoon: I believed that starting from Round 5, our team’s atmosphere would improve. If we keep on racking up wins like this, I believe that we’ll advance into the upper rankings.

Q: ZerG[kaL] has been doing well recently. Do you think that he will be able to place as MBC’s 6th main force player? [T/N: The 5 main force players of MBC are Sea, Tyson, Jaehoon, HyuN, and Saint I believe… It would be great if ZerG[kaL] and the other MBC rookies joined them!]
(T)

Sea: When a chance comes to you, you have to seize it, but since (Z)

ZerG[kaL] has been doing well recently, so I think ZerG[kaL] will become one. I should watch the other rookies’ games, but for ZerG[kaL] who seizes opportunities well, the truth is that his participation stands out the most to me.

Q: Any last words you want to say?
(T)

Sea: I haven’t been doing that well recently, so I’m sorry to all my fans out there. I will do better in the remaining games in Rounds 5 and 6 so that we will advance to the upper rankings.
(P)

Jaehoon: Recently, Zergs now are using a Hydralisk Den build that (Z)

Shark hyung used years ago before he became a commentator. At that time when he was using it, results weren’t really coming out from it so I disregarded it, but thinking about it now, I think that Shark was years ahead before his time as a commentator. Because he’s a commentator, he watches a lot of matches and notices the trends in the metagame, which expands his horizons and is a huge help to our team. Even in the past, he recommended the mass gateway build to me, but I had completely ignored him. But then what he had recommended to me before has now become the current trend. Even my skill seems to be better now compared to the past. I want to tell Shark hyung that I’m really thankful to him. [T/N: Shark… What a genius that guy is! Knowing the future trends years before the metagame even shifts!]

Source: ZerG[kaL] + HyuN's interview: http://esports.dailygame.co.kr/news/read.php?id=43795
Sea + Jaehoon's interview: http://esports.dailygame.co.kr/news/read.php?id=43791
+ some Fomos here and there

Congrats to MBC for breaking their losing streak, and I hope to see them go on a winning streak! I hope to see MBC's rookies do better in the future too! MBC fighting!

I think that MBC deserves a picspam as well! I mean come on. It's MBC.

+ Show Spoiler +

You know you're doing more than well when Jaehoon is clapping for you!
Jaehoon: "Bravo, bravo ZerG[kaL], that's the way to do it!"

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Yeeeeeahhh, ZerG[kaL] with his 2nd official broadcasted victory! Check must be pissed though, poor guy.

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Light vs. Sea - the matchup of a lifetime. Why, oh why must former friends be pitted against each other? The world is so cruel~~~
Sea: "LOLOL LIGHT IMMA PROXY 8RAX U"

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Saint: "Gather 'round rookies, I'll show you how to win a game properly today!"

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MBC rookies: *Watches as Saint's base gets wrecked by Neo.G_Soukey's lings* "...so this is how our veteran Zerg player plays, huh......"

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Flying: "What's this? ZerO's losing to Jaehoon? Why, I bet even I could take out that scrub! Wth is ZerO doing?!??"
G-Chizzle: "Well Flying, this is the guy also lost to Soo the other day..."

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Lol look at Jaehoon, didn't even break a sweat beating ZerO.

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Jaehoon: "Heh heh, I eat Zergs like ZerO for breakfast! Not even Bisu can do that!"
wOw: "Wow hyung, you're so cool! You're even better than Saint hyung today!"
Jaehoon: "I know, right?"
wOw: *Thinking* "It's not really that much when you're regarded as better than Saint..."

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G-Chizzle: "So my Zerg underlings, how do you feel about your victories today?"
Neo.G_Soulkey: "Well even though I won against Saint today, at least I didn't get beat by Jaehoon! That's something to say!"
ZerO: "........."

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*Woongjin, after losing their match*
ZerO: "Damn you Soulkey, although you may have gotten a win today, at least I'm still in the MSL! Hah, how 'bout THAT!"
Soulkey: *Lower lip trembles* "I... I didn't mean for you to get that hurt about me rubbing in my win today hyung...."
ZerO: "Bah."

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