[Interview] 2012 GSL S3 CodeS RO8 D1

You advance to ro4 for the first time. How do you feel?

First of all, I feel good. Symbol belittled me in his last interview and on GNN. He said he was going to win for sure and since I did a complete reverse sweep, I guess he needs to eat his words.

In Set 1, you started out in a bad spot but had a chance to come back. In the end, you still lost.

I didn’t practise for Whirlwind. For cross positions, I decided to rely purely on macro and game sense and had strategies only for close positions. Then, I saw it was cross positions and started slightly behind. Later on, it got better for me but I think I played with a negative mindset after falling behind.

You lost Set 2 as well.

I had a strategy lined up for Antiga Shipyard. I was supposed to block the ramp with sentries and wipe out the Zerg’s main but failed and fell behind significantly. Afterwards, I had a timing but lost due to bad control.

How did you feel when you were behind 0:2?

I was at 0:2 but I felt like I wouldn’t lose from Set 3 onward. I figured out how to win whilst watching the VODs. I had plans for the rest of the series and I think the good preparation paid off.

Did you plan the photon cannon rush in Set 5 or was it improvised?

It was planned. I took Symbol’s second overlord scouting path and his choice of builds into account when I chose that strategy. I was 100% certain it would work.

Many people expected Symbol to win. How did that make you feel?

No one expected me to win so I want to thank you (T/N: the reporter) for predicting my victory. I think you have an eye for these kinds of things (laugh).
Seriously though, many people expected me to lose helplessly. However, I’m confident I won’t lose to a Zerg as long as the map is balanced. I don’t know what basis they had for predicting a one sided loss for me but they’ll be regretting it now.

Your PvZ win rate is second out of all Protosses. Why are you so confident?

My team’s Zergs are so strong. There is no Zerg that can match ours in a long macro game. I won less than half of my games when I was practising. That’s why I’m confident against other players.

Who do you want to face in ro4?

Nestea of course. Not that I want to face another Zerg but if Nestea makes it, one member of our team is guaranteed a place in the finals. I hope it’s Nestea for our team’s sake. It’s our team’s best scenario. I’ll have no regrets even if I lose to Nestea. However, I will do my very best.
Then again, if Byun makes it, I’ll win.

This was your first best of 5 series so how was it?

I was a little unsure since it was my first after all. I spent the first week of practice on the ladder. Then one day, I received a ton of builds during mealtime. I compiled those builds and prepared thoroughly for today’s victory.

Have you reached your goal for this season?

I never have a goal. My principle is to focus on the game at hand. I will continue to play with this mindset. I think that if I try my best for every game, I can make my dreams come true.

Anything to add?

I want to thank True, Horror and Losira for practising with me. I’m going to treat my teammates to something nice. Wait for me, guys.
The coach and his wife have a lot of work to do so I want to say thank you. I’m also very grateful to my parents and my older brother. Lastly, I want to thank the sponsors LG electronics, SteelSeries, Googims, Nvidia and Coca cola.

You have succeeded in advancing to ro4. How do you feel?

I’m very moved because it’s my first ro4 in a long time. I think I haven’t gotten this far since the Blizzard Cup. There’s even a chance to face DRG again. I’m ecstatic.

It was a full set with both wins and losses. Did you expect this?

If I had taken Cloud Kingdom in Set 2, it would have been 3:0 so that’s regrettable. I was sure that my 4 gate would work in Set 4 as well. I believed he wouldn’t see it coming because I had just done it in the last set but he was well prepared. However, I was confident about winning on Ohana.

Set 2 was heavily in your favour but you lost. How did that happen?

I would have won if I just stayed in my base. But then, doing nothing is boring for both myself and the viewers. On the other hand, Taejea was excellent in his defence. I thought I would win with my attack but Taeja held out and it snowballed into falling behind in economy and eventually my loss.

Was Set 4 improvised?

Originally, I was going to use that build in just either Set 3 or Set 4. Still, A win rate of 50% for a build is pretty good. Like I said before, I was banking on the fact that my opponent would not see it coming once I revealed the build in a previous game.

Your participation in Homestory Cup could have made things more difficult for you.

Once the bracket was decided, I had two days to practise before attending Homestory Cup. I was in good condition and the games went well. My original plan was to go 3:0 so the defeat in Set 2 is regrettable but after that, it all went very well.

With MVP out of the tournament, this becomes your chance to start catching up in the number of championships.

It certainly is. In my opinion, I think ro4 will be 2 Zergs and 2 Protosses so I should have an easy time. My best match up is PvZ and with a little bit of work on my weaker aspects, I think I can take the championship.

You mean you expect DRG to advance to ro4?

Naniwa’s pretty good but he’s not at DRG’s level yet. Also, rather than the boring mirror match up, I’d rather have a chance at revenge.

If Naniwa does make it to ro4?

Then I’ll smash him 3:0. Every time he sees me, he says that I’m an easy player to beat. All this because of that one time he beat me with a 1 base all-in. My prize money so far is 5 times what Naniwa’s is so that means it will take 5 Naniwas to take me down. I shall teach him a lesson if we meet.

If you make it to the finals, who do you expect to meet?

I have 3 people in mind but can’t choose one. However, Nestea, with his wealth of experience, should be the most likely.

It has been 1 year 4 months or 8 seasons since you last got into ro4 of Code S.

I was in a slump midyear last year. This year, I don’t think I was desperate enough. Then, my girlfriend and my mother told me they wanted to see me in the finals. That was the turning point.
Also, with my move to SK gaming, I want to be the first player on a foreign team to become a GSL champion.

You must want your third championship.

Rather, I put more focus on my revival when I practise.

Anything to add?

Today, my girlfriend and the Webtoon author came to cheer me on. Thank you so much. Also, I want to thank MMA, Supernova and ASD for practising with me. I leave Korea for NASL tomorrow and I’ll make sure to do well there.
I want to thank my team’s sponsors Kingston, SteelSeries, Toshiba and also my manager Reis. Lastly, I want to thank Gom TV for holding such a great tournament.
Lastly, there is a lot of talk about the cross match between KeSPA and GSL. If I get the chance to participate, I’ll reveal my identity right from the beginning so please watch out for me. Ace underperformed a little in his games (T/N: Ace had already revealed this on twitter because he didn't want people guessing it was Squirtle or Parting) but I’ll show you how we GSL players fry the KeSPA players (laugh).