Tossgirl on Reach

[Tossgirl's Medic Date] Reach: "An honor to hear that ToSsGirL is a fan of mine"

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KT Rolster's 'Hero' Reach's interview part 1
The reason why Tossgirl cheers for Reach passionately?
KT Rolster's ultimate mentor? Nah, just an oldie who plays nice with the young'ns

Hello everybody, this is STX Soul's Tossgirl.

Medic Date 1 and 2 featured arguably the most epic rivalry of e-sports since (T)

BoxeR and

YellOw: the 'LeeSsang' (Z)

Jaedong and (T)

Flash. Even though meeting with the two of the most popular players of the scene was fun, there was a lot of work put in behind the scenes. It's not always easy to have a heart-to-heart with somebody you barely see once or twice a year.

So for the third edition of Medic Date, I chose somebody I could talk to more comfortably. He is considered as 'Mr. Do-no-wrong', and the ultimate mentor and role model to all of e-sports: KT Rolster's Reach.

In the earlier part of the millennium, he was hailed as one of the Four Kings. Even now when the three others, (T)

BoxeR,

NaDa,

YellOw, have moved on to different games or retired, Reach continues to stick around and guard his throne. As an oldie myself, I can empathize a bit with Reach's feeling of loneliness, but I am only the oldest on our team, while he is the oldest in the league. It is difficult to imagine how lonesome he must feel.

However, it was good to see that Reach was keeping himself busy by mingling with the younger KT players as if they were blood siblings. As an extreme example, Flash and Reach, who are known as 'KT's Best Friends,' are 9 years apart in age. I even felt a sense of jealousy towards Reach's outgoing personality that enabled him to mix easily with the younger crowd.

Reach, the one that is loved by everyone. What sort of charm does he hold that makes so many fans go crazy?

+ Show Spoiler [Answer] +

Let's jump right into the interview with e-sport's eternal 'Guardian Angel,' Reach.

◆The reason why Tossgirl cheers for Mantoss?

TG=It feels like it's been a long time. How have you been?

MT=I've been good. Nothing much has happened to the point that I sort of wish something would happen. Something big to Reach would mean something along the lines of winning a game in Proleague (laughs). How have you been?

TG=I've been just practicing as well. I heard you practice really hard. Now that I think back, I don't think you spent much time doing anything outside of practice.

MT=I think so too. Even nowadays I don't really take time out for personal activities. It's already hard enough getting a spot on a Proleague match lineup, so I don't have time to spare.

TG=It's just you that's left now (laughs). The other members of the Four Kings have left the world of Starcraft. Also the Neo Four Kings have also retired from professional gaming. I feel lonely being an oldie when I appear in all-star matches and such; I can't imagine how lonely you would be. To be honest I don't feel that bad right now because you're still holding up the last line of defense for me (laughs).

MT=It would be a lie to say that I don't feel lonely sometimes. Even yesterday I met up with Nada and Yellow and chatted over some drinks about the good old days, and our future plans. We all agreed that time goes by quickly (laughs). It feels like it was just yesterday that Nada came in as the youngest, washing dishes and taking crap from the oldies (laughs). Even though I feel lonely at times, it's okay. I'm having a good time with the current KT players.

+ Show Spoiler +

TG=If it weren't for you I would've felt so depressed (laughs). So I've been cheering for you extra hard these days. How about gaming into your 30's?

MT=Now that Proleague matches are a Bo5 format, it's hard to earn a spot in the entry. Before, it was a Bo7 with ace, and we have an auto-win card on our team in the form of Flash (laughs). Whenever I had a game, I felt a sense of confidence and it helped my hands loosen up (laughs). But now that it's a Bo5 with no ace, it's almost impossible to get a spot in the entry [since each game counts for so much]. On top of that, our players are all so good that sometimes I feel like the outside competition is easier compared to compared to the competition within the team.

TG=How are your internal rankings?

MT=Did you really have to ask that (laughs)? Some things are better off left alone; just quietly wonder about those things in your own mind (laughs).

TG=I still hope you can game into your 30's. You have no idea how hard I cheer for you as a fellow oldie.

MT=I've been doing my best to prove that I'm not dead yet, but not everything goes the way you want it to. I hope to see you in a broadcasted game as well. Of course, not against me (laughs).

TG=Another reason I cheer so passionately for you is because I was one of your biggest fans back in the days. Did you happen to know?

MT=Really? Of course I didn't know (laughs).

TG=My nick is 'Tossgirl.' It's because I used to play Protoss. However I just couldn't beat Zerg so I switched to Terran. When I used to play Protoss you were the top Protoss player. Your endless stream of units was quite a sight to behold. I still can't forget the finals against Boxer in Sky 2002.

MT=I see (laughs). I guess I was pretty good back then (laughs). I'm just kidding. It's an honor that you were a fan of mine. Now I just hope millions of your male fans don't direct their hatred towards me (laughs).

◆KT was strong because of Reach?

TG=For the past two year-long seasons, KT has won first place in Proleague. Now that I think back the old KT used to be even more stacked than the current one. Having (P)

Nal_rA and you on the same team back then was comparable to having (P)

Bisu and

Stork on the same team, and on top of that you guys had many of the best players like (Z)

YellOw,

ChoJJa, and (T)

TheMarine. However, you guys couldn't win a title, not even once. Objectively, KT carries much less talent today than it did back then, but today's KT has won the last two seasons of Proleague while the old KT was only able to place second. What do you think was the reason?

+ Show Spoiler [Answer] +

MT=Now that I think about it, I'm the only player on our team to have experienced both versions of KT (laughs). The KTF (now KT) back then was the Real Madrid of e-sports. However, compared to how much talent we had, the players weren't as supportive of each other as today. Since we were all aces in our own rights, we all carried a huge ego, and discussions would never go anywhere. I guess the biggest difference [between the KT today and back then] was that we didn't have a leader-figure towards which everybody could rally.

The KT today might lack in raw talent but the players think as a team. With our super ace Flash leading the charge, and me the super oldie on top, the players have a beacon they can gather around. It's a lot easier to unify our opinions on an issue and follow it as a team. If we had a leader 10 years ago, I believe we could have won it all.

TG=Looking through articles related to KT, it seems that you have a big influence on KT players. Some refer to you as their ultimate mentor.

MT=That's just them being nice. My guess is a few words that they said in a joking manner got taken out of context and published to sound amazing (laughs). I'm just kidding. I guess since I mingle with them and spend a lot of time playing and talking with them, they hold a high opinion of me. Outside, I might look like a scary oldie who likes to give his juniors a hard time, but in our dorm, I act so childish that sometimes I seem like the junior, mentally (laughs).

But recently I heard that the players say they adjust their behavior so I would feel more comfortable around them. They've got it backwards: it's me that adjusts to them (laughs). I have a nickname from my childhood called 'mental oldie' to prove it. I just act childish around them to promote synergy.

TG=I'm jealous that you can mingle with the younger players and act as a bridge for the team. You probably know, but I can't do that. How do you do it?

MT=I think you can only learn that by going to the military (laughs). Before I went to the military, I was a scary senior. I had no sense of leniency so I would often yell at juniors who showed up late to practice. Back then, they were all afraid of me. If I asked any of them to sit down and have a chat with me, they would tremble in fear.

But once I came back from the military, to put it nicely, you could say I learned how to relax and let go, and to put it more realistically, I aged into an Ajusshi [stereotypical Korean dude in his 30/40's, with a fat stomach and a bad haircut]

+ Show Spoiler [Ajusshi] +

+ Show Spoiler [Exception] +

These days I've become a messenger, saying stuff that the players might have trouble saying directly to the coaching staff, and vice versa. I am thankful that I can contribute to my team's atmosphere playing that sort of role.

Also, if you really want to become close to younger players, you just have to treat them to some good food and physically and verbally threaten them to hang out with you (laughs). Honestly, I can see that it must be incredibly difficult for a younger player to approach a senior first. You have to be the one that reaches out, but since you're not good at it, that's probably why it feels tough. Also, men aren't good at talking to attractive women (laughs).

Nowadays I haven't been doing so well, financially speaking, so I've been freeloading on some of the younger ones (laughs).

TG=I want to treat my juniors kindly and I always try to keep my door open, but it's a shame that I'm not good at reaching out first and I guess the young ones have a hard time approaching me first.

MT=I think they have a fear of rejection. You give off a vibe such that they probably think if they asked you to go watch a movie with them, you would just say 'No.' (laughs). Of course, I know that once people get to know you, they realize it's not true (laughs).

I feel that if you played pranks on them it could help too. A lot of younger players had trouble approaching me at first but I started playing pranks on them so they started trying to get back at me with their own pranks. From there we became closer to each other and later on became friends. I seriously recommend playing pranks on them.

TG=I saw an article a while back that asked, 'What does the winning team KT have that other teams don't?' and a lot of people answered 'Reach.' From that I felt like you played a crucial role in bringing KT up to where it is today.

MT=Who said that kind of nonsense (laughs). Hearing stuff like that makes me wonder what kind of overblown rumors are circulating about me (laughs). It's definitely not true. I think something we have that other teams don't is a strong bond of friendship we share. On off days, other teams' players attend to their own business. Sometimes they hang out in groups of three or five. I've never seen a team where all the players spend off-days together as a team.

Since we spend every off day together, we learned a lot about each other and started looking out for one another. We know everything from who gets hurt from saying what to how we can help each player out, so we share a resources and advice both within and outside of the game. There is definitely a sense of 'I am you and you are I' in KT. I heard some teams don't even share strategies among teammates. That's hard to imagine on our team.

It really isn't plausible to suggest that me, or any one player could have achieved this feat. In fact, I think the other players and coaching staff played a much bigger role in establishing this sort of environment. I don't think the compliments of me being the center piece for KT's recent success are deserved (laughs). They are all players that can win with or without me.

TG=Still, isn't it good to have a center-point for the team? I think everybody would agree that you are that figure-head.

MT=Of course I am a sort of figure-head but if even one player decided not to follow and act up, everything would've gone to pieces. I think KT is a product of the coaching staff that promoted having an open mind and the players who helped me be that figure-head.

TG=I hope to play that sort of role in my team too.

MT=Good luck (laughs).

~ TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2 ~

Source: Daily E-sports

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