EPTOriginal article at http://www.thisisgame.com/board/view.php?id=1307548&board=0&category=13439
There are some parts which are a bit hard to translate, but I think the bulk of the interview should be ok. Chances are if something seems weird to you, it seemed weird to me too and I had difficulties translating it haha. Things between [ and ] are just some notes which I added in.
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It's seems like a long time since you've had an interview at a place other than the tournament studios.
Yes. There aren't many people trying to interviewing me anyway (laughs). Maybe it's because there aren't many topics for me to talk about outside of the game. Or maybe it's because people aren't as interested in me as they were before (laughs).
You have the OSL semi-finals coming up. Are your preparations coming along well?
To be honest, it's not coming along well. It's similar to when I was preparing for the match against Alive in round 2 of Code A. I just can't seem to win when facing the other races.
What do you think is the reason that you are unable to defeat the other races?
I think Terran is ok, not too imba. The problem is with Zerg. In the past late game PvZ was still ok, but nowadays in the late game it's really hard to defeat the Zerg broodlord infestor army composition.
PvZ does seem really tough recently.
Last time, I just had to sit back and send my units when the Zerg player comes over. But that doesn't happen nowadays. Zergs nowadays pressure and contain in the early game and transition into the late game. I think DRG, my opponent in the semi-finals will also play in this manner.
On one hand, you are challenging for a spot in the OSL finals, but on the other, you have fallen into the up and down matches in GSL.
Alive seems to have identified and gotten familiar with my playing style. Terrans don't usually build so many bunkers, but he actually built 4-5 of them. He seems to know my scariness [in terms of mid-game ability] well (laughs).
In the first game, the disadvantage was too great and I was forced to use an all-in attack. If there were only 2 or 3 bunkers then I probably would have broken through the line of defence, but there were actually 5 bunkers.
In the second game, I chose to attack because I was so miffed by his hellion harassment. Anyway, the second round of Code A is not overly important, and so I played in quite a casual manner.
At least I've secured a spot in the up and down matches. I think Alive will probably lose in the third round of the competition. Definitely (laughs).
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Will resume going to foreign tournaments
You previously mentioned that you would be refraining from foreign tournaments for a certain period of time.
I was playing in too many tournaments, and it was really too tiring, and so I wanted to have some time for myself. I wanted to remain in South Korea and rest and exercise and concentrate on the GSL and OSL.
Anyway, I managed to make it to the finals of GSL, and also to the semi-finals of OSL, so judging from the results, this was not bad. But to be honest, the income in playing in foreign tournaments is better than the local ones (laughs).
You mentioned you wanted to have some time for yourself. Was there a problem with your health?
I don't usually mention this, but from a long time ago my shoulder has been hurting a lot. It's usually fine, but it starts acting up when I'm in a plane.
It's not a muscle or bone problem, but more like something to do with the nerves. Seems like it might be linked to the pressure in the planes. But since I started exercising from some time back, it's much better now.
How have you been recently?
To be honest life's been quite decent recently. But my thirst for winning seems to be reduced as compared to before. The biggest reason that young players are able to perform well is because they have the thirst for winning, whereas for me I seem to be more relaxed nowadays. That's also why I'm less provocative to other players nowadays (laughs). But still, it's not to the extent where I have not much desire to win.
What do you mean by relaxed? Is it because you are already in a comfortable spot financially?
It's definitely not that I have earned enough money. There are indeed some difficulties with finances recently, but it's still not bad compared to a lot of other people (laughs).
Rather, I've seen some of the comments about me, saying that my time has passed, or that I am an ancient in Starcraft 2. From that time I would reassure myself that it's already pretty good to get to where I am as an ancient, and I was quite at ease.
That's why I don't usually look at the comments nowadays, except occasionally after I win. But my thirst for winning is definitely not as keen as it was before.
You seem really at ease recently. Is it a mood issue?
That seems to be the case. Maybe it's because I've heard too many criticisms targeted at me. Now I don't get as angry as I used to when I lose. But I get really pissed off every time people criticise me regarding my ability and the content of the games.
I can understand the feeling of Jangbi hyung now. It's probably how all professional gamers feel. It's a completely different situation for the audience and the pro-gamer. There is a lot of pressure for the players for every game they play, and the field of visions for the audience from the screen and for the player in the booth are completely different. The attention in tournaments themselves shouldn't be about who plays badly, but about who plays better.
Are you starting to miss foreign tournaments? You have a lot of foreign fans don't you?
Maybe it's just how I feel, but it seems like I probably don't have as many fans as I did before. But I recently just applied to take part in foreign tournaments from the team. It's a fact though that there are some difficulties with the scheduling now that there are two major leagues.
What's the determinative reason for deciding to resume taking part in foreign tournaments?
I also hope to meet my foreign fans again, and of course, the prize is also the key. To be honest, as compared to GSL and OSL, it's easier to win in foreign tournaments. Also, I'm personally more suited to tournaments that end in a short period of time.
To be honest, the reactions of foreign fans and local fans are indeed really different.
Yes, there's a huge difference. Foreign fans don't really criticise or blame you even if you lose in the tournament, and when you win, they are happy for you as if they themselves have won. Of course, no matter where it is, there will be some fans who are not good.
In contrast, the local fans don't really cheer in the tournament, and have lots of criticism. I understand their mentality as well. When I watch baseball or soccer, I behave the same way and criticise angrily while I watch too. This is something that is unavoidable. If I want to continue receiving the adoration of the people, it ultimately still requires the hard work from myself, isn't that so?
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Unable to solve the late game situation against the Zerg Broodlord Infestor army composition
You seem to be really displeased about Zerg.
All the Protosses probably feel the same as I do. All the Protoss players I know say that it's basically impossible to defeat the Broodlord Infestor army composition of Zerg in the late game. When it gets to that stage, whatever ability or skill counts for nothing. Blizzard knows about this as well. The late game is really difficult.
Maybe it's because of that that they are introducing the tempest in Heart of the Swarm, but it doesn't feel too useful. In Wings of Liberty, when both sides reach a 200 supply max army, it's very hard to defeat the Zerg. The synergy of infestors and broodlords in the Zerg army is really too strong. Of course, the Zerg players all say that it's very hard to get past the early to mid stages of the game, and I have to admit that too.
What does Nestea have to say about it as someone who is so representative of Zerg?
Nestea hyung wouldn't say that Zerg is unbeatable when we reach the late game. I also admit that Protoss is indeed really strong in the early-mid game.
Your volume seemed to go up the moment we started talking Zerg. Is it because your next opponent is DRG?
Maybe it's because I've lost too much recently. Apart from the one victory I have over Hyvaa I've never won. I feel really stressed recently because of Zerg. It's like even if my early game harassment is considered successful, it still feels like it failed. Even if I manage to kill bases and workers, it will still be dragged into the late game and I'd die to my opponent. Especially when I am really ahead in terms of economy, but still end up losing anyway.
Is that to say we won't see you win in the OSL semi-finals?
You can't say that either. I'm basically really confident playing against DRG. Besides, he plays really badly (laughs). Because it's the first time advancing to the semi-finals of OSL, I feel that even if I lose I'd still be third, so it doesn't really matter too much. Currently the player I really want to go up against more is Rain, not DRG.
I've played too many times with DRG, so there isn't too much stress. Even though I did say before that Zerg is really imba, I never had the thought of dodging Zerg players. Amongst the Terran players, I don't want to play against Mvp and Supernova. For the other players, I am not too stressed no matter who the player is, and even feel that it's interesting and fun.
If I win the games against DRG, I want to do ceremonies, ceremonies which are set personally by my girlfriend. If people want to see what ceremonies they are, I hope they will cheer for me.
But maybe the OSL organisers would be hoping that I lose (laughs). There probably aren't many tournament organisers who'd wish that the finals were a mirror match up, isn't that so?
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Clearing misconceptions about girlfriend and pros and cons of being in a foreign team
Recently, certain media has mentioned an issue regarding a girlfriend going in and out of the players' waiting room.
[Not too sure what incident this is talking about. Hopefully the translation is properly done.]
To be honest, how good would it be if they had just revealed who the person really was. Seems like recently when you mention "girlfriend" amongst the Starcraft 2 players the first person that comes to mind is me. There were many people scolding me after that article was released. I couldn't just sit back without doing anything, and so I explained through twitter, but people were still scolding me. Because of that my girlfriend felt really hurt.
But afterwards I checked up on the story, and I realised that it wasn't talking about us. But this has helped me understand a lot, because there were many similar incidents that happened in the past. From the start, I have only been to the waiting rooms of players whom I know really well. There also usually aren't many players who would leave their waiting room. On the contrary, if there are other people talking in the waiting room we are the very quiet type. This isn't to say that players who leave the waiting room are in the wrong. It's just to say those who did wrong are in the wrong. Hopefully this doesn't happen again.
Not long ago, my girlfriend officially registered as a manager of the team, not for the whole team, but she's just in charge of uploading photos and managing things like my personal website. By saying this, I'm trying to let people know that my girlfriend isn't just my girlfriend. Hopefully the people who leave comments which are too drastic would control themselves.
I let the matter go this time, but if something like this happens again I will think about pressing charges. To scold me on forum boards, that I can accept, but to say all that on my personal website is really unreasonable. My girlfriend's really tired. Even though I ask her not to look at it, it's impossible for her not to see it.
Maybe that's the difference between a local team and a foreign team.
Yes, the local teams have coaching staff, leaders, and main coaches. But I belong on a foreign team, so I'm getting by alone in the country. As a result my girlfriend's been a really great help for me in many areas. But also because she's my girlfriend, people tend to have some prejudice. My girlfriend actually feels a bit uncomfortable being in the players' waiting room.
Similarly, foreign teams basically have their own coaches, and many players who stay together in a dorm. But I can't do that, and I need to solve all the problems on my own. So I hope people would not treat her as just my girlfriend, but as a member of our team.
I don't suppose the two of you would do anything mushy in the waiting room.
I never liked to talk before the games. The GomTV staff probably know this. Even when I'm with my girlfriend in the waiting room, I basically won't talk to her. Before the games, the only thing on my mind are the upcoming games.
So what's the official status of your girlfriend? Is she a hired personnel for the team?
That's not it either. You could say that I hired her, and she's not employed by the team. Of course, I have the team's permission for this, and so people should think of her as a staff of our team. When I'm doing things like shopping with my girlfriend overseas, the fans are quite consenting, but within the country there seems to be some prejudice. I think this is quite sad.
How exactly does your girlfriend help you out?
She buys all my daily necessities. If I lose the games, she'd be the one consoling me. She doesn't know too much about the game, but basically she manages everything apart from the game.
Many of the activities which take place from time to time are also thought of by my girlfriend. It was her who felt that I should repay some of the fans who like me, and so I started giving gifts. Also, because the team I am on is a foreign team, she also helps the team out when it comes to advertising the team.
You are the only Starcraft 2 player on SK Gaming. Isn't life tough on a foreign team?
I want freedom. Kespa players seem to admire players from foreign teams because of this particular reason. Not sure how things are like now, but I was really stressed when I was in a Kespa team. As for practice partners, I have a few friends whom I can trust, so it's not too much of an issue. But sometimes when I really need a practice partner, it might not be too easy to find one.
When living together in a dorm I could just ask my dorm mates, but I can't do that now. Even though a lot of the problems would be solved if I just go to the LG-IM house, I still wish try to solve the issues on my own this year. There's hasn't been too much of a problem up to now, and I'll think of other solutions when things get really bad. I've still won quite a number of championships, and my results are pretty decent. On the contrary, there are some issues like hitting a block, which might occur when practising everyday. I feel that practise should be paired suitably with rest.
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Hoping to meet up with ex oGs members
Have you heard that some of the oGs members joined a new team recently?
I knew about it before the article was released. But I'm a bit disappointed because I got to know about it from players belonging to other teams. There are a few players whom I still keep in contact with, but I'm always the one who initiates the contact, and if I don't contact them they won't contact me either (laughs).
I am very happy that the oGs players are able to find new teams. I also saw that the Dreamhack to be held in Romania will have four players playing in it. And I also heard that Supernova and ForGG will be playing in it. If I take part I'll have the chance to meet with a lot of players from other teams, and I'm really looking forward to it. Very happy that they were able to find teams for themselves.
Many people hope to join foreign teams. As a senior in joining foreign teams, what do you have to say to them?
Sea hyung talked a lot with me before he decided to make the switch. It's a new challenge for him. After speaking with him, I came to know that he also had his own aims and goals. I gave him an affirmative answer.
Firstly, the yearly salary will drop a lot while joining a foreign team. Even though there's a lot of freedom, there's also the chance you might get released from the team if your results are not good. For me personally, if it's not a team like TL or EG which has good reputation and finances, I wouldn't recommend it.
Also, if the English standard of the player is not good, there will also be a problem with the language barrier. I think that it's good if the player is really looking for a new challenge. I would recommend players who wish to have a new experience to do something like this, not necessarily just for financial reasons. For a stable competition environment, it's still better to stay put in a Kespa team.
Is that to say it's really tiring being in a foreign team?
Yes. They'll know how tiring it is if they really stay in a foreign team. For me, because my manager treats me really well, there isn't much trouble and stress in terms of the internal dealings with the team. I'm also allowed to choose whether or not I wish to play in some tournaments.
Most importantly, if you join a foreign team, all the gear you use will have to be from their sponsors. This was really hard for me to adapt to at the start.
Not too long ago, I saw your article on twitter expressing your unhappiness at not being a beta tester for Heart of the Swarm.
The game developers sent a few questions to me regarding balance, but I didn't receive a Beta invite. But shortly after releasing that article I got a spot in the beta, and also played a game in it. I plan to really play it after the semi-finals are over. After all, I have to play more to be able to give more feedback to the developers.
You want to play Heart of the Swarm after the round of 4. Is that to say that even if you make it to the finals you'll still be playing Heart of the Swarm?
Anyway, the opponent on the other side has been confirmed to be Rain. Even if I make it to the finals, because it's a mirror match up, it doesn't require too much practise. The more important thing is to have assess the situations through imagery training. I also believe that if I manage to make it to the finals there'll be many players who'll be willing to help me practise.
What's your mentality towards the upcoming games?
This OSL semi-finals feel a lot like the semi-finals of the previous GSL. I hope to practise properly and make it to the finals. I hope that this will not be a replay of GSL season 3, but that it'll be changed such that I win in the finals.
2012 is ending soon, and I hope to have a nice ending. There's also GSTL coming up, and I hope to at least get a win and help the team (laughs).
I just suddenly thought of this. Is putting your stalkers in front a perpetual problem of yours?
It seems like it (laughs). It's very hard to change this style of attack. Even though I know that it is a weakness of mine, I can't seem to change it. Maybe it's because I really have too great a desire to win.
My personality during a competition is totally different from the usual me. But I think it's necessary to have such a mentality during the tournament, so I use this point to console myself (laughs)
Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview. Do you have anything you wish to say?
There're are too many strong players nowadays, and the ranking of my ability requires more than two hands to count. I was really angry about this at the start, but now I've accepted the reality. This is the reason behind my dip in form. I will work hard to win the OSL this time, and make it to the top 5. If I can reach that level I will be satisfied.
There was a time in the past where I felt like I was the strongest. I felt like I was number 1 around March 2011. But after that Mvp hyung and Nestea hyung started becoming strong, and I felt like I became third. First is Mvp hyung.
I feel that it's very difficult to have another 4-time champion in the future. If he wins again this time and gets a fifth championship, it'll be really hard for anyone to repeat that feat. Nestea hyung, MMA hyung, and I all were champions before, and so there's the possibility of us catching up, but now the three of us are all not Code S players. Feels like this record will be really hard to break (laughs). It's really a great record.
Also, I really respect Nestea hyung. To be able to attain such results at that age is really surprising. Rather than being first overall, I am rather hoping to be first amongst the Protoss. I'm not saying that Rain is not playing well, but it's just that I feel he's not the number 1 Protoss yet. If you want to say that, then Parting, Squirtle, and Hero all can be considered to be the number 1 Protoss. You need to win two major league titles at least before you can call yourself number 1. The level of the new comers is certainly scary.
In the past since I started I've went into many slumps. Since I managed to make it to the round of 4 of OSL this time, I hope that people will cheer for me. I also hope to have the chance of having a gathering with my fans, but I can't do that yet in Korea. I also want to thank everyone who has been supporting my girlfriend and me. If you want to scold anyone, scold me, not my girlfriend.
I also hope that we will get a good result in the GSTL match against Startale this weekend. Perhaps the games against DRG in the OSL semi-finals won't be too interesting, but I hope that people will still watch it, and cheer for me. Hope people will look out for my performances.
. Rain is just so incredibly beastly P that the others start to feel inadequate i guess : /
