EPT
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mensrea: I was wondering if you caught the KPGA 3rd Season finals between [Oops]Reach and [Red]Nada?
ElkY: No, I didn't, but I heard a bit about it. I was pretty surprised because Reach was really on fire. On the other hand, I've considered Nada to be the best for some months already. He's just so good.
mensrea: Yes, Nada, along with Xellos[yG], look to be among the most dangerous of the new generation of Starcarft players in Korea. I find it very scary that Xellos isn't really even a pro yet. He's yet to graduate from high school and has already refused a potentially lucrative sponsorship offer by Korea Telecom ("KT"). Says he wants to finish school before turning pro.
ElkY: Yeah, but Nada's so good, even Xellos, as skilled as he is, isn't at Nada's level yet, I think...
mensrea: Yes, the "Tornado Terran" tag for Nada is very fitting.
ElkY: Yeah, I think so, too. I feel bad losing that Starleague now that I know that Nada will most likely be in the next one.
mensrea: Well, who knows? Maybe Nada's begging Boxer for pointers on you right now: "tell me what to do, damn it!" But, speaking of our boy Lim and Starleague, I'd like to hear your thoughts on your recent semi-final game v SlayerS_`BoxeR. Many want to hear your take on things...
ElkY: Well, I practiced really hard with almost everybody [including, ChRH, V_Gundam and Xellos[yG]] and I felt pretty ready, but first game I played really badly on Neo Bifrost, Boxer showing great control and game. It turned out not to be much of a fight. Then in my second game on Gaema Gowon I knew something was wrong when I saw so many vultures and the mines weren't popping out. On the other hand, I didn't know about the OnGameNet rules against "ally mines" either, so I was wondering why they stopped the game after that incident. And in the regame, I think I played pretty well, just making the mistake of not sending some scvs to repair at his cliff when I got it, but Boxer really read through my game so well, and as smart a player as he is, he adapted perfectly to my moves. Regarding the 3rd game on Neo Forbidden Zone, Boxer's build was really good and even after hurting his expo early on I couldn't manage to defend his first 2 dropships well enough and that's where the game turned. I tried to come back, but against a player like him it's not really possible. I think Boxer was really on his game that day and to be honest I don't think having a win for the ally mine thing would have mattered so much. Except the 1st game, I don't think I could have played that much better. Boxer just deserved to win this time. He's not known as the best Starcraft player in the world for nothing...
mensrea: A Korean fan from Kimchun (a town in southeastern Korea) named rohtty wants to know specifically if the ally mine incident affected your play in any way after it happened? I think he feels that the incident may have thrown you off your game somehow...
ElkY: Frankly it didn't really. I don't want to use the ally mine incident as an excuse: Yo-hwan was just better than me that day, nothing else to say.
mensrea: What is your personal opinion of the "ally mine?" Should it be banned in tournaments?
ElkY: Yeah, I think it should be. It's not something that the game is designed for. It's just abusing the ally feature of the software in my opinion. But, really, if it was a matter of me losing to someone not so skilled because he abused the "ally mine," then of course I would have been mad. But, I know Boxer is just the greatest player, and it wouldn't have made a difference in the end cuz it was best of 5 anyways.
mensrea: There is a rumor (and I stress that it's ONLY A RUMOR) that Boxer actually knew about the "ally mine" policy of OGN and that he did it anyway in protest against the ban. The rumor says he actually spoke out against the OGN policy some time ago in his "TPZ" show on Gembc prior to his match with you, so he must have known about the ban, at least according to the rumor. Unfortunately, I almost never watch that show, so I can't confirm this...
ElkY: Well, I don't know so much about it either, but that would have been strange of him using it knowing he might have been disqualified or something else.
mensrea: Exactly. That's why I don't quite believe it myself: why risk forfeiting a match for something so trivial? Ok, how about the 3rd/4th place match v [NC]..Yellow? What happened there? Many (including myself) thought you had a good shot at winning it, especially given the way you've dominated Zerg players for so long. Instead, it turned into a rout, a nearly complete collapse on your part.
ElkY: I don't know what happened, I couldn't focus on the games. I had my mind somewhere else for some reason and I ended up playing the worst games I've ever played on OnGameNet. And playing like that against someone like Yellow of course I didn't stand a chance. I was really disappointed in my game that day.
mensrea: Well, Mr. Eum Jae-gyung (OGN commentator) mentioned at the end that he was very surprised to see you making such very "ungosu-like" mistakes, especially in the second game on Neo Vertigo, with the misplaced bunker, turrets, etc...
ElkY: Yeah, I know. It was really bad form for me.
mensrea: Perhaps you couldn't focus because it was only the 3rd/4th place game and not the finals...? I mean, I heard one fan say he thought maybe you were drunk or something. Couldn't believe it was you playing...
ElkY: Well, even if it was for 3rd/4th it was pretty important and I was prepared for it but, I frankly don't know what happened. I wasn't believing it either that I could be playing so badly. I had some personal problems and I guess that loss vs Lim Yo-hwan was still in my head.
mensrea: Speaking of Lim being in your head - I've always felt that Lim's had your number since that memorable WCG finals in December last year, like he knows how to play v you, regardless of the strats you use and regardless of any advantage you may have during the game. I think competition in anything at a world class level (and SC certainly is that) always involves a psychological element. What do you think? Do you have a "mental block" when it comes to playing Lim?
ElkY: Well, I'm not sure about Lim Yo-hwan, it's always hard to play against him, especially when it comes to important games like the finals of the WCG or the semis of OnGameNet. Lim's just such a great player, and of course I have so much respect for him. I think I felt a lot of extra pressure at the WCG finals, tho not so much in the OngameNet semis. But regardless, I do hope to have the opportunity to get some revenge some day soon.
mensrea: You know, looking again at the five games total you played v Lim and Yellow, it seems to me that they both came at you with similar game plans: early strikes to cripple you, fast-and-furious expansions, not so much for their own use, but to take away your resource chain, and going for the finish in under 15-20mins. Did they consult each other? They are, after all, both on the same IS team...
ElkY: Yes, it's really strong vs my kind of play style yeah, but I just think they're both excellent players and they studied my games.
mensrea: I see. So, it's more a matter of them both individually adapting to your style. Well, if anyone could, I guess they'd be the ones to do it.
...
mensrea: Ok, so I guess the next thing for you is the OGN Duel Tournament. Do you know yet who you will face there?
ElkY: I will face Park Sang-ik [TheWind(Z)] first game, then either [[Kor]Oddysay(T)] Han Woong-yeul (SIGH!) or Park Hyun-jun [GGMAN]. I truly hope and think Oddysay and me are gonna advance from this group.
[NOTE: ElkY informs me that because of scheduling conflicts, the Duel Tournament match among himself, TheWind, GGMAN and [Kor]Oddysay will be held this Sunday, October 13, 2002. Presumably, it will be delayed-broadcast on the show's usual Tuesday evening time slot on OnGameNet next week.]
mensrea: Yes, your main competition should come from Oddy. TheWind is untested and GGMAN? - well, I have no idea how he made it out of the Challenge League and advanced this far.
ElkY: Yeah, but even so I still have to prepare well and try not to be overconfident. And Oddy is a hell of a competition - beating Nada at WCG Korea is scary. He's a really good friend of mine tho and fortunately 2 people get to advance from the group: I think that would be us.
...
mensrea: What are your thoughts on race imbalance? Does it exist? For which races?
ElkY: I think it's more about maps than really races, even if some say protoss seems a little weaker. PvZ does look very hard, but I think TvZ and TvP are fine in most of the cases. Changing anything now would affect so much the whole balance, so it's hard to say really...
mensrea: If it were up to you, what sorts of changes would you introduce in the next patch (assuming, of course, there ever is one...)?
ElkY: I think doing something about Scouts, Dark Archons and other underused units would be best. Overall, tho I like the game the way it is now and do not feel many changes are necessary.
mensrea:Hmm, how about Turrets? My pet peeve. Man, I hate them -_-; - blazing fast rate-of-fire, cheap as hell, especially after the 1.08 patch and relatively fast build times.
ElkY: Oh. Yeah, Turrets are really good against Protoss, but I don't think overpowered against Zerg.
mensrea: I'm always amazed how none of the gosu toss users have really come up with an effective counter to the mine/siege/turret slow advance. Xellos did it v IntoTheRain in the Challenge League final in all three games he won [Xellos won 3-1: the only loss coming on Neo Forbidden Zone, which doesn't allow Turrets to be built on most of the map area]. [Red]Nada also did it to [Oops]Reach recently in the KPGA 3rd Season finals and won 3-0.
ElkY: I think Nal_Ra is pretty good against it, isnt he? I remember his game vs Nada [in the 2nd Challenge League] and thought he would have won, but he made some mistakes with his Carriers and played too safe. Was scared of Nada, I guess, altho he was pretty right to be. And on many maps u can't build [Turrets] on the ground, because of the floor tileset.
mensrea: But, for the majority of the OGN and KPGA maps you can, can't you?
ElkY: OnGameNet u can on most yes [except Neo Forbidden Zone], and with KPGA it depends.
mensrea: Anyway, yes, I agree that Nal_Ra should have beaten Nada once he had jumped to mass Carriers. So, the best counter then is to simply go mass Carriers...?
ElkY: I think expanding far from his push while gaining time with Dragoons and speed-upgraded Zealots then going for mass Carriers.
mensrea: ... which is kinda what Nal_Ra did I guess v Nada...
ElkY: Yeah, it was pretty good from him. With a few storms at the end I think he would have done much better.
mensrea: Beginning to wonder if Nal_Ra will EVER make an appearance on OnGameNet... Besides [pG]Liquid`Nazgul, maybe the best of the "unknown" Protoss users.
ElkY: T_T I truly hope he will, as long as it's not against me! ;0
mensrea: lol Yeah, Nal_Ra's good.
ElkY: Especially vs Terran.
Part II Preview: In the next part of the interview, Elky talks about the upcoming WCG, life as a professional gamer in Korea, the all-important "who has the fastest hands in SC?" question, and much more. He'll even reveal who he'd select to play for him if his life depended on it. Hint: it ain't HOT Forever. Don't miss it. It'll be good!
[SPECIAL NOTE: Oops. Guess the cat's out of the proverbial bag now on how ElkY feels about HOT Forever. So, the winner of this week's mensrea No-Prize is ToKoreaWithLove for correctly guessing the mystery player mentioned in my report on ElkY's recent battle with Yellow. You're in Norway, so it may take a while, but it'll get there eventually. Treasure it for the rest of your life - it's worth it. Honorable mentions to InToTheWannaB for being so enthusiastic about the No-Prize and Cyrax just for starting a whole thread on the subject (They incorrectly guessed Jinnam and Oddysay, respectively). Nazgul goes into the dog pound for being so late to guess (tho he did get it right). Congratulations to all.]
mensrea himself, Everybody knows that, except a fool.
virgin to rape kids).
) he's the worst low korean as i've met.
