[Interviews] 2012 GSTL S2

Q: How does it feel to qualify
Sniper: Originally my mission was to achieve 1 win, but surprisingly I got 3. This made me very satisfied, and I'm even happier that our team won.
DRG: Last season we almost qualified for the finals, but we didn't succeed, which was very regretful for all of us. This season we planned to start over, but because I had to attend some foreign tournaments, I didn't have enough preparation time, which unsettled me. But I'm very glad that we qualified for the winners group match, this makes the probability of us qualifying for the Ro4 even more likely.

Q: You played your first game in the GSTL
Sniper: Recently my condition's been terrible, so I didn't have much confidence for today's match. So my goal was to get 1 win, but the matches played out remarkably smoothly. Even though I messed up a bit on resource management lady luck was always on my side.

Q: You say your condition is bad, is it because you were disqualifid from the Code S Ro32?
Sniper: I was very confident then, I even thought before the match that I would qualify first out of the group into the Ro16. So getting disqualified was a huge blow to me, after that I lost my confidence and got into a slump.

Q: Today with 3 wins in the GSTL did it help you find some confidence?
Sniper: I'm not sure yet, today I won more on luck than strength relatively, so I can't say if I've recovered my confidence.

Q: While having the match point you were pushed to the ace match, how did it feel.
DRG: In the past in this situation and being the ace player I would have felt tremendous pressure, but today I'm not sure why but I was very confident. I even said to the players who were playing before me that they still had me behind them, and told them to just play like on Bnet. I don't know where the confidence came from, but I just felt like I could win.

Q: During the group selection ceremonies you had some encounters with Ryung, did you hope that he would play (against you) today?
DRG: I did hope that I would play against him, but it felt like he was watching my face/temper while playing. (laugh) He wasn't confident enough, I anticipate his performance in the GSL.

Q: You weren't worried about exposing any strategies you were planning for the GSL?
DRG: I didn't think that way, GSTL is a must win situation. Originally I planned to use the strategy I would use for the GSL, but because the opponent used a rush/all-in I saved a hidden strategy.

Q: Next match is against Fnatic, what are your predictions of the outcome
Sniper: I feel that next match other teammates should perform better than I did. Today I already performed beyond my abilities, so I believe that next match my teammates will be even better.

Q: Who are players to look out for in Fnatic?
Sniper: They all play well from my perspective, even though I didn't see him (?, I assume they mixed up the order and it's Byul) play, but we need to watch out for him.
DRG: I think we need to watch out for ByuL, if we can snipe him then we should win easily, but I feel that the game against them will be easier than the match against Slayers today.
I played ByuL on the ladder before, he plays quite well. Moon also stands out from the official matches I've seen, but I never played him on Bnet, and I don't know what his Bnet ID is.

Q: Last words?
Sniper: I hope that the teammates who lost today won't be too disappointed, and kept trying harder so we play better the next match.
DRG: I want to thank sponsors Razer and team MYM, and also the coach and his family, and all the fans and spectators who continue to cheer for team MVP. The players who lost today didn't lose because of ability, but just bad luck. I hope they can show better performances in the future.

aLive helps Fnatic gain a valuable victory, after the game aLive: used Nestea's words "Zerg has had a tough time for 2 years, Terrans should stop complaining, just practice hard and you can still win. Also aLive: explains why Fnatic is so strong, the reason being that the team shares a trust and bond and works together, to this aLive: tells us that the goal is to make it into the GSTL finals!

Q: After so long how does it feel to recieve an interview at the GSTL?
A: It feels even happier than winning in the singles leagues, I rarely get this emotional after a win, but I feel really happy today.
Because we are the first foreign GSTL team that was formed and participating individually, so there's alot of pressure. I'm very glad to achieve a good record. Now I just hop that we can keep this momentum all the way to the finals.

Q: Seems like after switching to Fnatic your performance improved.
A: It might be because Fnatic suits me better, I like environments where practice is self regulated, this style is more suitable for me.

Q: You won against Creator and BBoongBBoong.
A: Originally I wasn't the planned ace, but because of the remaining map pool I was chosen. I have alot of problems practicing on new maps too.
Had I played against a terran for the ace match it would have been more difficult, I at least made some preparations for TvZ, so I wasn't too stressed.

Q: Right now in ZvT the zerg is stronger.
A: Honestly I also feel that it's very hard to play, but like NesTea-hyung said, zergs had it hard for 2 years, so terrans should stop complaining (laughs). I think that as long as you practice hard it's still possible to win.

Q: What's the secret to Fnatic's strength?
A: All the teammates don't have psychological burdens, and can practice with self regulation and control. So everyone is very co-operative and value team-work, the record naturally demonstrates that.

Q: In the first stages the Zerg players are all showing strong momentum
A: I'm not too jealous, the important thing is that the team wins, but I have an all-loss record in the first stages, so I did feel regret and frustration.

Q: Today you showed a strong will to win in your matches
A: We felt that we had to win. Every player was trying very hard, I can't keep my losing either. So today I raelly wanted to win, I already studied TvP strategy, so I felt that if I beat Creator then we could win.

Q: You said that you wanted to meet Slayers-EG in the second round, do you have any players you want to meet?
A: Personally I want to meet MMA-hyung, I beat him in the GSL, but I always lose to him in foreign tournaments, so I want to lead in in head to head.
Next I want to meet Ryung, then PuMa and JYP, because i'm quite familiar with them.

Q: This season's goal is?
A: Because we are an independent foreign team attending the GSTL, I feel like we have to atleast make the finals, if not then atleast the Ro4.
I personally want to win whenever I'm sent out, and I want to get most wins.

Q: Last words?
A: I want to thank my teammates, and also the coach who is always contributing to the team. After switching teams I've never gone home, my parents must have missed me. I plan to go home in the next few days. Also I want to thank a friend who always cheers for me online (ID fox), and lastly I want to thank our sponsors.

Moon in the match against Prime achieved 3 wins for his long time team Fnatic, after the match Moon modestly claims that his strength isn't strong, he just performed well and zergs were genuinely buffed. Moon also says that since he's joined Fnatic in the beginning of the year he's been focusing on SC2, also because WC3 doesn't have major tournaments any more. Currently Moon is very eager to qualify into Code S.

Q: How does it feel to get 3 kills today?
A: I'm very glad that I could help the team win, but I never thought I could get 3 wins (laugh). I'm very glad that aLive was able to seal the match.

Q: We haven't seen you play in Korea for a long time
A: After switching to Fnatic in January I've been focusing on SC2. The WC3 scene other than some small tournaments hosted in China lacks major tournaments, so I've focused on SC2 for a long time.
In terms of WC3 other than the tournament I attended in December of last year (in CEC, moon won team second place) in china, I haven't attended other tournaments.

Q: Seems that your SC2 skill is very high
A: I just preformed the prepared strategy well, I don't feel myself that my SC2 ability has improved much. I'm not satisfied yet, there are still alot of causes of concern. Every time I worry about rather I can perform as well next match.

Q: Did the recent patch affect anything?
A: Yes~ Zergs got buffed alot, it's a big difference. The early game's scouting and defense were both improved, so overall it's alot easier to play than before.

Q: In this GSTL your ZvZ has a strong showing
A: ZvZ is my most confident match up, but during practice my record isn't great, just executed the planned strategy well.

Q: You beat Prime's two ACE's, GhostKingPrime and MarineKingPrime.
A: After the patch ZvT has a big advantage to zerg, it's honestly affected by the patch. (laugh) In the game against MKP I won because of my mutalisk and burrow baneling strategy.

Q: Today you fought against 3 races, you only lost ZvP
A: My ZvP needs to be improved, it still has alot of weaknesses. During practice my ZvP win rate is also very low. I need to practice harder, so next time I can play at a higher level.

Q: What team do you want to meet next?
A: I don't have any opponents I want to meet especially. I just hope that I can help the team win like before. Even if it's just 1 win I hope the team wins.

Q: You have 7 wins in this GSTL, do you hope for most wins award?
A: My goal isn't that high (laugh). I just want to help the team. Till now I still don't have alot of confidence in my ability. Even though getting most wins award is great, but I think right now I should just play safe and steady.

Q: What skill level would you be personally satisfied with reaching?
A: If I can qualify into Code S I would be satisfied, right now my skill level isn't half of what I want.

Q: Do you want to create a Moon style (in SC2 too)?
A: I also want to learn from the styles of the strongest zerg players, I personally think NesTea's style of daring to use new strategies is praise worthy.

Q: Last words?
A: Thanks to our sponsors, and thanks to the teammates and coaches that continue to contribute to the team. I also want to thank the support my wife has been giving me.

Team NsHoSeo with an outstanding performance from Jjakji and sculp won 5-1 against reigning 2nd place team Startale. After the match Jjakji proudly claims that NSHS is a strong terran team, and sculp who completed 3-kills says that there's no reason why the queen has the same range as a helion.

Q: How does it feel to lead the team into the winners group/bracket
Jjakji: Recently terrans are in a slump in GSTL, but today we used just terrans to get 5 wins. Feels like our team has become a strong terran team. This makes us happy.
sculp: We haven't proceeded into the winners bracket in a long time, I hope this time we can qualify for the next stage.

Q: First player got 3 wins
sculp: It was out of my expectations. My original shining moment was just beating Squirtle, I didn't even think I could beat Zerg.

Q: Squirtle in an interview even said that you shouldn't have a hope of winning the first match
sculp: It's a very good taunt. But because we are all good friends later we chatted on Bnet in whisper, his words did affect me.

Q: Today you beat 2 zergs, whats your secret?
sculp: I'm just so lucky. I won at the last moments while Terran is the strongest in the game. If the match had lasted just slightly longer it's not possible for m to win. It's not possible to win in the late game vs zerg.

Q: Curious about your view on TvZ
Jjakji: I've seen IMmvp-hyung's interview, I really agree. In practice I can't win at all too. I tried alot of new strategies but they all get defended by queens. As long as the zerg doesn't make mistakes it's really hard for terrans to win. I watched sculp's games, I discovered that he attacks slightly faster than other terrans, I think this strategy is good.

Q: Your words as the terran with most wins
Jjakji: That's mainly because I haven't met zergs yet. But I really have a chance to get most wins award, so I want to keep my momentum and keep winning.

Q: Against PartinG you used a 2 rax bunker rush.
Jjakji: PartinG likes to nexus first in the early game. Knowing that the opponent was Startale I made this strategy. You can't let protoss expand like that, so I decisively used this rush.

Q: What next opponent do you want?
Jjakji: I want a team with less zergs - FXO. FXO's zergs can be given to other players, I want to meet protoss or terran.
sculp: Personally I want TSL to qualify. But that doesn't mean I want to beat their zergs. Our protosses are strong too, so I believe we can win against a zerg heavy team like TSL.

Q: NSHoseo still has a weak team image, has alot of explosive potential, but slumps really hard, alot of fluctuation
Jjakji: We started the season well, though we lost to slayers, it was an unfortunate loss. After that we always won with overwhelming strategical lead. I hope that this season we can remove that image.
sculp: It's right in a way. But I hope this season can be an opportunity to get ri of this name. And I believe that will happen.

Q: Soon there will be Code A
Jjakji: I saw that my opponent is Zerg Monster, I really felt despair (laugh). Till now I'm still focusing on GSTL. In a few days I will start practicing for Code A. I will definitely try my all to practice, find a TvZ solution as soon as possible.

Q: Last words?
sculp: I really hope Zerg can be changed slightly, everything else is fine. If the queen was weaker that would be good. The queen has ground range 5, that's completely unacceptable for me. Queen having same range as hellion is completely impossible. With 6 queens zerg, it's basically impossible to stop their creep tumor with 1 scan's duration, it's too much.
I want to thank my family that's cheering for me, and also fans who arrived today to cheer for me. Lastly thank the players who helped me practice into the dawn.
Jjakji: Today thankfully family was at the location cheering for me which let me get such a good record, we just need 1 more win to get into the Ro4, I honestly hope this season we can get into the finals.