[Interview] OSL Dual Tournament Day 2 Winners

Source: This Is Game

On July 23rd, at YongSan eSports Stadium, PartinG advanced as first place in his group C OSL Dual Tournament. PartinG defeated NSH_Seal and SK_MC to advance to the OSL.

After overcoming Seal with a brillant performance, he forced MC to GG out in the 2nd round and advanced in first place for the OSL.

How do you feel about advancing as #1?

I prepared for these games well and so I feel glad that they went well. I feel content because the games went just the way I wanted them to. July hyung would tell me stories about the OSL and how much of a prestigious tournament it was. He told me that if you make the OSL, you are sure to get your name out there. Because of that, I really wanted to advance.

This was not an easy group at all. Did you anticipate that you would advance as #1?

Of course I was. I believe fully in my skills so I predicted I would advance as first. I've faced MC hyung quite a few times during other tournaments and I would always go back and forth, winning some and losing some. I know that MC hyung holds a lot of value to his name so I tried to play against him as if I was facing any other regular player.

Against Seal you just barely won.

Normally I don't get nervous for games but for this particular one my hand started shaking. After I got through the qualifiers for the ODT I talked a lot of smack so I felt the pressure because I wanted to make sure I came through with my words. I think that pressure shook me up a bit.

Against MC in the winners round, your blink stalker timing was really good.

Initially I was aiming for MC's fast expansion. But MC hyung expanded quickly and decided to be aggressive with his stalkers so the game was much easier for me.

What was the reason you did not get the Thermal Lance upgrade for your Colossi?

Up until the point of battle it is true that I intentionally did not upgrade my thermal lance. But eventually as the game progressed along, I lost the timing to upgrade thermal lance. During our head to head battle I was telling myself "oh crap..." but thankfully I had way too many units and was able to grab the victory.

Recently you've been getting a lot of criticism because you provoke your opponents with your interviews. Is that a burden?

I have full confidence in my skills so I have no regrets regarding what I say in my interviews. Unfortunately, I did get a little nervous today though.

Who do you believe will also advance withing group C?

I think MC is going to come up easily. His opponent will be a Zerg so I think he's going to have a easy time. Even when Protoss players were underrated MC hyung was defeating a ton of Zergs. Not to mention his momentum is so good right now because he defeated DongRaeGu hyung 3 - 0. I think we'll both advance together for the OSL.

Is there anybody specific you would want to face for the OSL?

A few days ago BaBy said in his winners interview that he was the best player within his age. He even stated that he would defeat me easily. Because of his comment, I really would like to face him. Regarding anyone else, I would like to face any player that advances to the Ro8. But within the group of people I would like to face, BaBy is definitely #1. I would like to develop a friendly rivalry with BaBy.

What is your goal for this StarLeague?

For this OSL, I want to achieve the royal road that I was denied in the GSL.

Any last words?

I want to thank Pet, Life, Curious, KingKong, and SoN for helping with practice. (wtf SoN? I thought he retired -.-;; ) Also, recently I have been hanging out with San hyung a lot. So I want to thank San hyung for helping me out with some vZ builds. Thanks to his builds I was able to win.
I want to thank our sponsors BenQ, Joy Gear, ZOWIE Gear, and Red Bull. I also want to thank coach Kim and coach Won (who accompanied me to America) for their unending support.

Source: This Is Game

On July 23rd at Yongsan eSports SangSul Stadium, Presidential Toss SK_MC advanced as 2nd place in his group C for the OSL Dual Tournament.

In game 1 he overcame SlayerS_CoCa and advanced to the winners round. After he lost to PartinG there and fell to the survival round, he overcame NSH_Seal and and solidified his placement in the upcoming OSL.

How do you feel about advancing as #2 withing your group?

I thought I was going to advance very easily but after I lost to PartinG like that I was shaken up mentally. I messed up quite a bit at the beginning so I thought I would get eliminated for sure, but because I somewhat kept at it and made it through, I am relieved.

The feelings you get must be different from others.

When I was a BW player I would go back and forth around the middle but for StarCraft 2 I am one of the top of the top players. It is an embarrassing feature if I cannot make it through my qualifiers. I'm so glad I was able to advance through both leagues (GSL/OSL) and I'm so happy StarCraft2 became a broadcasted game.

You must have anticipated that you would advance as first in your group but you advanced as second.

Against PartinG, as long as I had kept on playing defensively I would have won it. But I noticed that there was no movement on PartinG's part so I misread the situation and moved out to try to see if I could pick off some observers but that move became my downfall. I was pretty much thinking to myself "what kind of strategy is this anyways?" I lost because I used a strategy that doesn't work in a map with small chokes like Ohana.

In the final round you went head to head.

In the final round, I upgraded my psionic storm twice but it wasn't completed. Because of that I got flustered. If my storm had been completed in time I would have won the game without taking any damage at my natural from Seal's first attack.

You have a GSL finals ahead of you.

Seed hyung seems to practicing a lot but honestly PvP is mostly about luck and picking the right builds. So instead of effortlessly practicing up for the finals I am practicing just shy of enough right now. The rest of my free time is spent getting rid of unnecessary stress and for just resting up.

Now that you are in the OSL, you will face KeSPA players.

The KeSPA Zergs still have a long road ahead of them before they can even think about defeating me. But on the otherside, the KeSPA Protoss and Terran players only need to practice up just a little bit more and then they will have caught up to me.

Are you confident that you'll win the OSL?

PvZs are very convenient for OSL maps. So I'm seeing my chances of winning as very high. Even if I don't grab the OSL trophy, I can see some other Protoss player grabbing it. For this season, I am hoping to see the LG-IM players that I am currently partnered with.

How will you prepare for the WCG representation matches?

The date for the WCG matches changed and it is now conflicted with another foreign tournament date so I do not believe I will be able to attend. I am going to attend the Assmebly tournament in Finland and not attend WCG

Any last words?

I apologize to my fans for showing some poor games today. To make up for that, I will work really hard to grab the GSL finals. For the StarLeague Ro16 group nominations, I will show people an unforgettable and enjoyable one. I wanted to advance for the BW OSL Ro16 group nominations so many times but since I was unable to, I will make up for lost time with the SC2 ones.

Source: This Is Game

On July 23rd, at YongSan eSports Stadium, MarineKing advanced as first in his group D for the OSL Dual Tournament.

After taking out SlayerS_YuGiOh, MarineKing took on 3 time GSL winner LG-IM_NesTea and secured his OSL placement. MarineKing showed the exact same build against both Zerg players and surprised the viewers and audience with his stunning macro play.

How do you feel about securing your spot for the OSL?

There is no other tournament out there like the OSL. You really just have to give it your all. I was really feeling down after getting eliminated in the WCS qualifiers but because I made it past the ODT, I feel much better now.

Your WCS loss did not affect your ODT performance?

The shock was massive. The funny thing is, the build order that horror use to beat me was the exact same build order NesTea used against me just now. Thanks to that, I was able to flawlessly block NesTea's aggression. I guess the WCS loss was beneficial in some way.

In game 1, you took endured a lot of YuGiOh's aggression.

In order to properly prepare for my game against YuGiOh, I watched a lot of his VODs and studied his style of play. I noticed he tends to neglect making a lot of roaches and instead opts to go for economic builds. So I was aiming for that kind of play but it ended up backfiring on me and I got hit a lot. Thankfully, I think YuGiOh was really nervous so I was able to make a comeback and win it.

You used the same strategy you used in game 1 against NesTea.

In game 1, instead of scouting I decided to fast expand. This type of build normally relies on my playing blindly, but in game 2 I scouted late and was able to match my build order to his. But to my surprise, my defensive strategy worked out really well so I was able to easily overcome NesTea.

In the winners round you did a kind of ceremony by building a factory in the middle of the map.

I was feeling kind of pissed because I was hit with the same build horror used against me. So in order to get a little payback I did a ceremony on NesTea hyung. Also, I wanted to provide some entertainment for the ODT viewers and audience so I built that factory there.

You will participate in the OSL Ro16 Group Nomination.

In the past, OSL group nominations were really fun but nowadays it has lost its spark. The OSL always has a lot of people who are really funny and creative in the way they talk. That's why I think this OSL is going to be a ton of fun. I hope the fans will keep watching us.

This season's goal?

I really want to be the first ever OS2L winner. OSL was my favorite tourney so I really want to be the first ever champion.

Any last words?

When I attended Seoul Digital Tech High School, I was with Flash, Stats, and Sharp sunbaes. (sunbae is a term we use to address people older than us) That's why I really want Flash to make it into the OSL so that we can face off against each other. I think that's going to be a lot of fun.
I want to thank Bumblebee, Salmosa, and SlayerS Choi Jong Hyuk. (initially I thought this was BBoongBBoong because he is the only Choi Jong Hyuk in the data. But TIG tends to screw up names a lot so I will just leave this as is, since I don't know if he's actually talking about BBoong or someone else. Not to mention BBoong is a Prime player.) I also want to thank our sponsors Tt esports and OCZ.

Source: This Is Game

On July 23rd, at YongSan eSports Statdium, Ox-King (Dragon Ball reference) NesTea advanced as second place in his group D for OSL Dual Tournament.

NesTea was in a critical situation after falling to MarineKing but with his hydralisk-infestor play he took down SlayerS_YuGiOh and secured his OSL spot.

You were the last player to advance in today's ODT.

Ever since becoming a BW progamer, I yearned to get into the OSL. I think this feat took way too long.

You have the record for being the StarLeague's oldest player.

I've been called a candidate for the royal road, but being a candidate for the royal road at this age makes me feel awkward. None the less, the dreams I couldn't achieve in the past, I will achieve now through unending practice.

In the winners round, you used a strategy that apparently horror already used against MKP.

That was a build I had prepared specifically for MarineKing. But horror beat me to the punch so that was a bit of a bummer. None the less, horror made it in WCS and I made it in ODT so I am happy.

You were eliminated from the WCS qualifiers.

Originally I was planning on not attending the WCS and focusing purely on the ODT. But the times weren't conflicting with each other so I decided to go for it. However, I had to hide my builds for ODT so I just played casually for the WCS. Unfortunately, Snow was much better than I thought he'd be so I lost. Next time we meet, I will give him everything I've got.

In the final round against YuGiOh, there was a moment where you looked liked you were about to lose.

YuGiOh's surprise mutalisks got me flustered. I felt the pressure of being eliminated but I bought time with my roaches and was able to kill one of his expansions so I stayed in the game.

Who would you like to face in the OSL?

My former teammate Flash has really good gaming senses. If he makes it to the OSL, I would definitely want to face him.

You have WCG coming up soon.

The WCG matches are right after Seed's GSL finals, so I am going to have to use all my time to prepare for that and create new strategies. I also want to cover up any holes in my play by that time.

Lately your plays seem to be reaching a limit.

During practices, I used to be able to achieve multitasking skills that would be on par with the young'uns but the minute I play an official match I can't pull it off. I think it's because I can't seem to sleep well the day before a televised match. I think that's why I tend to lose focus. If I can just fix that issue, I would be fine.

This season's goal?

Since this is my first ever OSL I want to overcome all my opponents. There is a possibility of facing my former BW opponents, so I am looking forward to that.

Any last words?

I want to thank my coach for helping me out late into the night. I want to tell him that his efforts were not wasted. Seed's GSL final matches are coming up soon so I want to wish him luck.
A lot of players made it into OSL before I could so I was feeling burdened by that, but I was also able to advance into the OSL so the burden is off now. I want to thank our sponsors LG, Steel Series, Googims, Coca-Cola, and Nvidia.