EPTHere's a snippet:
Do you think eventually anyone who wants to be top three in a tournament will have to live in Korea or is it possible living elsewhere?
It's already that way, you can't win tournaments that easily at least. I think I was the closest when I beat MC at Homestory Cup III, but that's just one series. As I've seen, I can't consistently beat Koreans, I've lost too many times now to MMA, Losira and so on. I am slowly learning that I need a lot higher level practice partners to compete at the same level and I think most of the top players know that as well. I know a lot more players will go to Korea, a lot of players are planning to go there just to practice. GSL Code A is just a bonus to me, I don't expect to win it or make Code S directly. As long as I can improve, I can do it in the next one.
You talk about players going there, let me name IdrA, ret and TLO - players who left Korea. A big factor was the environment and the lack of privacy. Is that something that concerns you as well?
I am willing to give up everything to become the best player so if I can't handle it, I will be very angry with myself. I don't think there will be any reason for me to still play the game if I can't enjoy Korea. Hopefully it won't be a problem, I will force myself through it if I have to. But IdrA was in Korea for three years for StarCraft Broodwar so it's obvious that he perhaps was tired of it. I have not been to Korea even once yet. Ret was also in Korea for Broodwar and had some very bad experiences. TLO as well...he had carpal tunnel, but I don't think he's as motivated as every other player. I think it's only recently that he really wanted to play, before he just rode on the fame and enjoyed whatever he got, because he was so happy about it. We can see with FXO that Korea is the place to be, because already at the previous MLG they improved a lot in the rankings. And qxc 4:0ing IM in the team league that should prove that it is the place to be.
It's already that way, you can't win tournaments that easily at least. I think I was the closest when I beat MC at Homestory Cup III, but that's just one series. As I've seen, I can't consistently beat Koreans, I've lost too many times now to MMA, Losira and so on. I am slowly learning that I need a lot higher level practice partners to compete at the same level and I think most of the top players know that as well. I know a lot more players will go to Korea, a lot of players are planning to go there just to practice. GSL Code A is just a bonus to me, I don't expect to win it or make Code S directly. As long as I can improve, I can do it in the next one.
You talk about players going there, let me name IdrA, ret and TLO - players who left Korea. A big factor was the environment and the lack of privacy. Is that something that concerns you as well?
I am willing to give up everything to become the best player so if I can't handle it, I will be very angry with myself. I don't think there will be any reason for me to still play the game if I can't enjoy Korea. Hopefully it won't be a problem, I will force myself through it if I have to. But IdrA was in Korea for three years for StarCraft Broodwar so it's obvious that he perhaps was tired of it. I have not been to Korea even once yet. Ret was also in Korea for Broodwar and had some very bad experiences. TLO as well...he had carpal tunnel, but I don't think he's as motivated as every other player. I think it's only recently that he really wanted to play, before he just rode on the fame and enjoyed whatever he got, because he was so happy about it. We can see with FXO that Korea is the place to be, because already at the previous MLG they improved a lot in the rankings. And qxc 4:0ing IM in the team league that should prove that it is the place to be.
Read the full interview at readmore international.
