[Int] GSL Super Ro16 D2

Alicia –‘I don’t care who my next opponent is.’

- You are the only protoss in the round of 8, your thoughts?
This doesn’t feel real yet. It was such a tough victory.

- Did you come into the match thinking that it would be easy?
I wanted to end it with a 2:0. But I took a lot of damage in the early game from roach pressure.

- Is How did you prepare for Leenock?
He was a player I have faced on ladder, so I looked back on those replays. I was prepared for his aggression, but he broke through. It was very difficult.

- It looked like your loss in the 2nd set had a big effect on your games today, what was the problem that caused your loss?
I built 2 robotics in order to pump out colossus, but right at that moment, his attack commenced. Since I was saving up money to afford the colossi, I did not have much of a standing army. I was in a favorable position before that, but I think I got too greedy. I was planning to get a faster colossi count to try to counter the use of infestors. And the loss really came down to me not continuously reinforcing my army.

- In the 3rd set, you were thrown for a loop by burrowed roaches.
I was frustrated. I never had such a situation in practice. I just felt like I was always in a losing situation because I was being attacked at my rear. But the brood lord and the ground forces have different movement speeds so when he made the brood lords, I took that opportunity to take the advantage. My teammate Min gave me a good advice about trying to split up the zerg army when there are brood lords in play.

- You are the last protoss remaining, how do you feel?
I feel both anticipation and pressure. It may be because I knocked out MC…(laugh)

- Your next opponent will be a terran, who do you want to face?
I don’t care who I have to face. Both of them are about the same.

- Your teammate MMA came back from MLG with a victory.
I didn’t have any big feelings about it. Since he’s my teammate I congratulated him on his victory. But I guess it is about time for a protoss to win a championship.

- You could have a SlayerS team final?
We always joke about stuff like that as a team. We don’t think that’s impossible but, it definitely isn’t easy.

- Your teammates MMA and Ryung will be facing each other in the round of 8, who do you think will win?
MMA. I just feel that way. (laugh) I can’t really say who is better, but I think that’s what will happen.

- Do you want to say anything to your fans?
I want to thank them for their support. And I hope that you can continue to watch me with more interest.

- Any last comments?
I want to thank Ga-yeon who always helps me a lot and BoxeR. I also want to congratulate MMA for his victory. I know that for some fans it may seem like our team likes to mess with each other, but I hope they realize that we do this in jest.

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Polt – ‘The match against Alicia will be tough.’

- Congratulations on your first round of 8.
It may be because this is my first time, but it definitely feels different. It feels like a completely new challenge.

- Were you under any pressure, as this was a team kill?
It was hard both during practice, and in the real match. But I have had experience in doing a team kill before. You can only say sorry once you win. So I focused on trying to win.

- Before and after the match, you look friendly with Maka. How is the real relationship like?
I consider him as a kind friend. He has a “odd” side to him, so we have a fun time hanging out together.

- Were you under any pressure because he is so “odd”?
I think I was under enough pressure because we are on the same team. (laugh)

- Maka beat sC in the round of 32 and it looked like his demeanor changed a bit. How were the games today?
He is great at using banshees. I thought that as long as I can minimize that damage, I could pull something out. Also, when I looked at his ladder record, it looked like he favored using 2 rax play. I thought about that, but I wasn’t able to block it well. I tried to block off my entrance and buy time to build a bunker, but my hellion control was bad and so I lost pretty quickly after that.

- These games looked like your play has gained more confidence.
Ever since the May season, I have been able to play my matches as I would at the teamhouse. I have gotten used to the mouse to hand feeling (in the stadium) so I am able to play comfortably now. I have also figured out the optimal settings for these competitions. I think now, it only takes me around 5 minutes to get my settings perfect.

- Your previous TvP record is very strong. It looks like the match against Alicia in the round of 8 will also be doable (for you).
I think he likes to use all-in tactics. He isn’t someone who likes to stick with just straight macro so it will be a tough match. I will need to prepare accordingly. On crevasse, at first it was hard to get used to the fast expand into 7 gate aggression. But after playing against Huk several times, I feel like I have gotten used to that. I feel like he will trying to bring something new to the table this time.

- Your round of 8 match will be a best 3 out of 5. This will be your first best of 5 match, do you have any specific plans?
I think I will need to put some thought into it. I have not planned out a best of 5 match before. Marineking has a lot of experience in such matches, so I will definitely get some help from him.

- You must be anticipating a finals with Marineking.
He is the one opponent I want to face the most. The condition is that I have to make it that far.. and of course, I care about myself more (laugh). But among the 4 terrans on the other side of the bracket, I believe Marineking is the best. As for me, I am still a bit worried. The road is still long for me.

- Any last comments?
I want to thank sC, Nuclear, and Puma for helping me practice. I also want to thank Terious who introduced me to them.
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Line – ‘My focus was on countering what my opponent was doing.’

- You just beat Nada, how do you feel?.
It is just good. I said before that I was confident, but to be honest, I lost a lost during practice and it was very difficult.

- You said before you were “confident in your next match”, then your opponent was decided as Nada, honestly, how did you feel after that?
I thought to myself, the ‘person that I thought would advance, advanced.’ In my head, I also had a quick thought, ‘damn! I wish he had lost’ (laugh). But it was an opportunity to gain a lot in one fell swoop. Even as I won that 2nd game, I just thought to myself, ‘at least I didn’t lose 2:0.’

- Nada has been play well recently. What did you focus on to practice against him?
I took note of his match against CoCa. As far as I can look at it, it seemed like the match turned out that way because he (Nada) was correctly accounting for CoCa’s play. So this time, I had to focus on being patient and countering my opponent.
- Did that work out well for you?
I had the greatest focus on that in the 1st set, but I was taken aback because I lost big.

- It seemed like the 3rd set went the best for you. Your zergling and mutalisk use was very good, is that your usual style?
On dual sight, my strategy was to let them spread out to secure the gold, while I counter into their main.

- People are saying that your potential suddenly exploded during this Super Tournament.
Until the round of 32, my goal was to ‘not make any mistakes’. Now, since I have won a few games, for this match, my thought was to play a straight up game. I just thought that I was in a good position where I could also show off my skills.

- Who do you want to face in the round of 8?
I think it would definitely be more comfortable to face a terran. It’s not just because my opponent could be Nestea, but I don’t really like ZvZ in general.

- You will soon have to play in the upcoming GSL preliminaries, are you under any pressure?
I can’t really afford to think about the preliminaries right now. I guess I will just need to cram my practice for it later. I have had thoughts about if I win this season, it wouldn’t matter to me to take a break for the next season (laugh).

- Any last comments?
I want to continue thanking Issue. He needs to focus on his own preliminary practice, but he continues to help me in many ways. Before the round of 32 match, I practice by borrowing Puzzle’s PC, I am sorry that I didn’t mention it during the last interview.
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TOP – ‘This victory goes to my coach’s help with my mind control (**staying calm)’

- You just beat the best zerg, Nestea. How do you feel?
I didn’t think I could be this happy. I was feeling nervous because I let go of such a good position in the 2nd set. But I am glad it turned out ok.

- You said in your last interview, that you had found Nestea’s weakness. Can you tell us?
That was supposed to psyche him out. I know that Nestea recognizes me as macro style player, so I just said that to throw him off.

- Does it mean you consider Nestea to be so strong that you had to resort to mind games during interviews?
I think Nestea has said to other people that I would be more difficult to face than Nada so I flipped that on him by doing things like that.

- So how were the games when you actually played him?
In the 1st set, Nestea did not defend as well as I thought he would. Then I began to think I would win easily, but I quickly changed my mind after the 2nd set.

- It looked like you gave up an already won game, how did you feel going into the 3rd set?
The coach came into the booth right away to help calm me down (**Koreans like to call this “Mind Control”) so I was able to play like usual.

- If you were to pick one critical mistake?
Had I just attacked the expansion and came back during my last attack, I could have just held onto the lead, but my continuous attack was a mistake.

- Did you not make a thor in the 2nd set? It seemed like you tried to build one.
I was a bit panicked because I definitely thought I had built one and nothing came out. I bet I canceled it by accident.

- The 3rd set looked pretty tough. Were you feeling the pressure?
After I was dealt with the baneling landmines, I was reeling. But I think I was able to win today because I planned out the sets very well.

- Your best record is the round of 8, it seems like this is your chance to make it even further.
Since my opponent is a zerg, I am really confident. I want to advance at least once more this time. I will practice hard to make sure to win.

- You said you wanted to face Nada in the round of 8, but it that is impossible now.
I have mixed feelings about it because Nada is such a good player. It would have definitely made for some entertaining games, but on the other hand, I am glad that I don’t have to face him.

- Your next opponent will be Line. Do you have any information on him?
He played against my teammates Jinro and Nada, so I think I will have enough information on him.

- Any last words?
The schedule is pretty packed so it has been difficult, but I will continue to try my best, so I hope the fans can keep cheering me on. I want to thank everyone who helped me practice, and I want to thank the coach and manager for helping me stay calm.
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Ro16
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Ro32
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Ro64
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