[Int] GSL July Code S Ro8 D2

LosirA
‘I want to get to the championship stage.’

- How does it feel to make the semifinals?
My goal was to make the semifinals, and so I am happy that I was able to accomplish that feat. My goal now is to make it to the finals.

- Nestea already got to the semifinals yesterday.
I thought that was an obvious result. In my mind, Nestea is the best zerg right now. But I want both of us to try our best to reach the finals together. I want to learn from him on that stage.

- What kind of games did you predict for today?
I knew that today’s games would not be easy. And recently, I had something come up so I wasn’t able to practice as much. I never thought they would be easy, and the games overall were difficult today.

- I heard that you were having wrist problems recently.
I have a bad habit of sleeping on my arms. And I don’t know if it is because of that, but I have been told that I have a stretched ligament. I guess I have not been taking care of myself very well.

- Did that have any effect on the games today?
I wasn’t able to concentrate too well. I also had many moments where I was floating a lot of minerals. I think it is unfair that I am hurting right now, when each little thing is so important. On the other hand, getting beyond the pain will allow me to train myself to have greater mind control.

- Is the injury serious?
It is not serious, but I keep playing on it, so it hasn’t gotten a chance to heal. I am continuing to play while getting treatment.

- During which game did you have the most problems?
I knew that the game on crossfire would be hard, but in addition to that, my opponent played extremely well on it. I tried to play a bit different than what I practiced, and thought that I could still pull out the win but I felt like my opponent was too overwhelming on that map. After I lost that, I began to feel nervous because one more loss meant that I was out.

- There was a base trade in the 4th set.
When I saw my opponent’s forces I saw that rather than going for macro, he was going for the kill, so I countered into his empty base.

- In a direct engagement it seems like mutalisk is a bad choice.
At first, I thought about fighting his forces directly, but it felt like my forces were melting away too quickly. I was caught a bit off guard but then I chose to counter instead. I think that was the correct decision.

- It looked like the 5th set on terminus was an easy win for you.
I saw the DTs moving around on the map. As soon as I saw that on the map I immediately got overseers in response. I blocked his strategy without taking much damage and was able to win from there.

- You will be facing a terran in the semifinals.
I feel like both players play very well. So I don’t really care who advances, but I hope that the games will be entertaining.

- If you face Bomber, it will be a faceoff between two former code A champions.
I think that will be fun. Byun is also a code A finalist so that will be fun as well. Since I know a great player will be facing me, I don’t have to think much about it.

- What do you think about your current chances for winning the championship?
I have not thought about it yet. I will think about it when I get to the finals. Especially because my semifinals opponent will be a tough one, I cannot afford to think about that right now.

- Any last comments?
I want to thank my team’s Seed, Ready, and YoungHwa, and one other person for helping me practice. I think I was able to do this today because of their dedication for helping me practice. I also want to thank the coach and his wife. Also, especially for today, the coach and Seed really helped calm me down. I will play hard in the semifinals so that I can reach the championship stage.
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Byun
‘I will get my puppy after the semifinal match.’

- Your thoughts on making the semifinals?
After losing in the team league because of Bomber’s 3 kills, I thought I needed to win today. But after going down 0:2 to start, I knew it would be a tough hill to climb. I am so happy right now that I was able to pull the win out.

- The 1st and 2nd sets were complete losses.
I thought that I had my engineering bay, but it wasn’t built. Then my missile turrets were late which in turn let his banshees do a lot of damage. Afterwards, Bomber just held onto his advantage and pushed in for the win. In the 3rd and 4th sets, I actually planned to go mech. But after losing in the 1st and 2nd, I just decided to switch to bio for those sets which worked out well for me.

- How did you feel when you were down 0:2?
I thought about how bad the XP crowd would be criticizing me. But after the 2nd set, I heard that the forums were mostly full of praises for Bomber rather than criticisms about me. But I did hear that some felt like it was an amateur vs a pro game, which made me angry enough to win the rest of the games.

- Well, now that we are at this point, we can’t go without talking the puppy situation. (**If you have not been following the Byun/Puppy situation, basically… Byun has a deal with the team that he can raise a puppy at the teamhouse if he gets to a GSL semifinals.)
I heard that Bomber likes puppies too. And I heard that the StarTale teamhouse had one at one point. During the games today, all I could think about was getting this puppy. And when I lost concentration during the 5th set, I tried to focus on the puppy, which made me concentrate extra hard in order to win.

- So when are you going to get this puppy?
I plan to pick one up after the semifinals match.

- What kind of puppy are you looking for?
A small Nureongi.

- Those dogs grow very quickly.
I think the fact that they grow up so fast is why I like them.

- Do you think it was your desire to get this puppy that drove you to the semifinals?
Yes.

- If the dog gets too big, it may be difficult to raise at the teamhouse.
I could raise him at my house then. But I will see how everyone responds at the teamhouse.

- You switched more toward bio play from the 3rd set, was that a personal decision?
I decided that on my own. I have played against Bomber a lot on the ladder and I have not lost to him very much when using bio. I felt like I practiced mech for nothing and just went straight over to bio which had good results.

- When did you know you had the comeback?
I prayed before the 3rd set game asking if I could just win one game because a 3:0 is just embarrassing. After winning one, I really thought I would be going home after winning just one, but I ended up winning another. I really didn’t know if I could pull off this comeback.

- You will be facing LosirA in the semifinals.
I don’t really have a lot of confidence in my TvZ. I don’t think I am that good at it. I think the only reason I have won my previous TvZ is because of the maps or because it just happened to go that way. I think I am being overrated in the matchup, especially because I don’t like the matchup right now. I was close to LosirA like a brother back during the Hwaseung days. Back then our skills were about the same, but I think he’s been better since coming over to SC2. I don’t have the confidence to win. I wish LosirA still played terran because then I could win.

- Is LosirA older than you?
Yes, he is one year older.

- How will you prepare for the semifinal match?
I have a lot of friends on battlenet that are great in the TvZ matchup. I will use all my contacts and draw on their power to win.

- Any last comments?
I want to thank my team’s Issue, PRIME’s Marineking, SlayerS MMA, Taeja, Ryung, and fOu’s sC for helping me practice. I have others who helped me practice whose names escape me right now. I am sorry about that.

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