Blizzcon Player Fan Interviews!

Hey, Heartland. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a NaNiwa fan.

Hey everyone! I am Heartland, I am from the tragically oppressed region of Skåne in Sweden. I hang around the LR where I try to post funny oneliners so that people will once more gift me with TL+. I am also a ranking member of Naniwa's online army, locked into eternal combat with his antifans.

I first became a Naniwa fan as I got into SC2 for real. I had watched Husky and HD videos on youtube for a long time, but as late 2011 came around I sat up and watched MLG Providence as some guy just made such a run through the tournament. A commentator said he was Swedish and for whatever those nebulous reasons you identify with people from where you are I began to watch with more interest. It was 4 am, MLG played that godawful stuff they call music and I remember so clearly how NaNiwa slaughtered DRG with colossus and forcefields nestled perfectly in DRG's natural. It was beautiful. Just a bit later I saw NaNiwa bash his head against the wall with forge fast expands vs. Leenock and be ripped apart. These two feelings of doing the impossible and losing in a stubborn fashion are always with me when I think about NaNi.

NaNiwa has had quite the storied StarCraft 2 career, and is undoubtedly one of the most significant players. As a fan, what have been your best moments in NaNiwa's career?

Obviously MLG Providence as I just mentioned. In recent memory when I watched his games vs. HyuN and Life what I just described was there. I never try to actively think NaNiwa will win a game because I get too disappointed and wound up when he loses. But when he proxy-gated HyuN, when he did the same to Jaedong at DH and as he held Life's attacks in the championship.. those were some magical moments. The sheer elation on NaNi's face as he wins is amazing. You can just see how proud he is of himself. Sometimes he just manages to do the impossible.

I met NaNiwa in person in one of the eSport SM tours, and it was a very quiet affair. I wished him good luck and said that I hoped that he'd win the tournament. He said that he hoped so as well, laughed a little and gave a thanks. That was maybe less magical but still something to remember.

NaNiwa isn't quite guaranteed a spot at Blizzcon yet, as he potentially has to face Revival. NaNiwa will be coming in as a the fan favourite, but what do you think are key things he should look out for against Revival? How will the match go?

I'm not an expert on Revival's gameplay. I mean, there's a reason why him and aLive got all those articles about being faceless. I think what we're really looking at here is the classic NaNi setup. He should lose to Soulkey, thus he is favoured. He should win vs. Revival, thus he has a chance to lose. As always NaNiwa's strength and his weakness is a particular stubbornness in his play. If Revival has figured out NaNiwa and tailors his builds, particular in order to make him tilt early on then Revival has a good chance. However, NaNi has a tendency to come out with a particular bag of tricks to every tournament and it will hit Revival first. I think NaNiwa needs to play relatively safely as to not reveal too many of his builds to Soulkey.

After that, NaNiwa 's first matchup at Blizzcon would be against Soulkey. What do you think of NaNiwa's chances coming into this? How do you think the match will pan out?

To reiterate (twice), I don't cheer too hard for NaNi before games because it just destroys me when he loses. But I think he is better off vs. Soulkey because Nani has a weird thing for winning over harder opponents. I think NaNi will have to study SK, and particularly Dear vs. SK and prepare for all five games. I think in the end though that NaNiwa will win it.

What do you think has been NaNiwa's most memorable game in WCS this year, and why?

I have the worst memory, particularly for games. I suppose it is vs. INnoVation where he 2-0's INnoVation, or his games vs. Jaedong because of their rivalry. Gameplay-wise in one game I don't have a good answer, unfortunately.

Tell us one thing about NaNiwa that we might not know! What do you think we can expect from him in the future?

Me and NaNi are from the same small little village. There wasn't a lot to do there, so I guess it was very conducive to being a gamer and nerd of some sort. There is actually a Swedish documentary about the place, called "Suddenly in Vinslöv" which is about all the weird characters from that village. It is something of a cult classic in Sweden.

As for what we can expect from NaNi? I think he's doing a Jaedong right now, just on the verge of winning a championship. It's a matter of time. We'll also get a lot more threads on TL about drama relating to NaNi one way or the other.

If you could tell NaNiwa one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Micro, de e najs.

Any last words or shoutouts?

I have written fawning praise for NaNiwa's gameplay for the 500th page of his fanclub, which is up as a blog here: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=433130

Shoutout to my clan Cyclic gaming. Shoutout to the LR thread heroes (none mentioned, none forgotten) and may the optericons one day defeat the shellbots.

Hey, TimKim0713. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a Revival fan.

Hi, I'm Tim, currently a Korean high school student living in CA.

I basically got on many different streams one day, trying to talk to many different gamers. And I did get to have a conversation with Revival in the chat since I was talking in Korean and he was glad to meet a Korean. That was basically how I got close with him. Later, I had chance to add him on FB, and other contact and had quiet a bit of conversations even when he wasn't playing, which made me think that was very nice of him as well. And that story was when Revival was in TSL. By the time he left TSL, I was feeling really bad, but as soon as he got into EG, I knew he was going to be a big star like today, facing into Blizzcon!

Revival faces a tough road ahead, just to qualify for Blizzcon. First, he needs to advance from his WCS Challenger group, and then he would have to face NaNiwa in a BO5. How do you think things will play out?

In my opinion, he should have no problem making out of his group with Taeja, Select and JonSnow.

Many times I asked Revival what his best match up was and he would often times answer with ZvT. I even believe that Revival has a fairly good chance against the well known and the best player, TaeJa.

And others, Revival doesn't need to worry about it, although, many people said ZvZ would be very unpredictable, Revival's statistics show that he's actually very good ZvZ player.

In Blizzcon with Naniwa, I believe that Revival can go 3 - 0. Didn't Revival 4 - 0 Oz in IEM Shanghai? That was very unexpected. Well, this time, even though he has gotten lower achievements recently, he can come back.

NaNiwa is likely the community favourite against Revival - so what, in your opinion, would make Revival more deserving of the spot?

Although Naniwa is the favorite, his manner and play styles are very immature. Worker rush? lol. Smiling very hard after cheesing with a win? lol.

If Revival qualifies for the main event, his first matchup at Blizzcon is against Soulkey. What do you think of Revival's chances coming into that?

After, surely, Revival beats Naniwa, he does face the number one zerg in WCS Ranking. Although the community would say that Revival would lose, I believe that if Revival tries hard and does his research on the opponent, he has his chances.

What do you think has been Revival's most memorable game in WCS this year, and why?

The most memorable game in WCS this year would be the Nydus play against Polt, game 2, in WCS AM. Although he lost the series 1-2, his interesting tactic made his games much more fun to watch.

Tell us one thing about Revival that we might not know!

Revival is very hot and nice. :D

Following Revival through the years, he's progressed very well as a 'just another TSL Zerg', into a strong EG player. What have been your best moments with him as a fan, and what things can we expect from Revival in the future?

My best moment for him was when he 4-0ed Oz in the IEM finals. Although the grand final was the best moment, I think the whole tournament was wonderful. Winning against Polt 3-2, which surprised me, 3-1ing MC, with one of the games Revival did a funny thing... and it seemed like Revival was playing against easy people! I really hope that Revival keeps up high achievements and I also hope that he wins Blizzcon taking 100k!

If you could tell Revival one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

I already told him but (jkjk), I would still say it again that do yoru best to win many things and, one day, buy me a slice of pizza.

Any last words or shoutouts?

Revival's stream popularity has been fairly low, but I think everyone should tune into his and say hi, because he interacts with the chat alot. Also, he has a very good music playlist as well as awesome skill

Hey, PixelNite. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a duckdeok fan.

Hello, I'm a French student who started following Starcraft II since it came out, and quickly found interest in the Korean SC2 scene through GSTL, KSL and other events. finale (his ID back then) was one of those players I found refreshing and new. So I kept an eye for him, and he made this great GSL 2012 Season 4/5 run, winning EWM, beating Jaedong in Code A , 4-0ing an Up & Down group with MC, Happy and falling close in his Code S group against PartinG, Polt and TaeJa! He showed some great control and 3 base timing, especially in WoL PvZ, and I instantly became a fan!

You're the owner of duckdeok's fan club. What was the moment that made you inspired enough to start it?

His games against Jaedong. I was following him for a while and knew he had potential, and seeing him beat Jaedong in one of the first matches of the first GSL Season with Kespa gods in it was great. I had no idea how to do a fanclub, so I hesitated a lot but ended up doing it after his cool code S games

duckdeok's first matchup at Blizzcon might be the most daunting yet - it's against INnoVation. How do you think he will fare? What sneaky things might he try out to take the win?

Well INnoVation doesn't really lose in TvP so duckdeok will have to come up with sharp timings to hold the scv pulls or to kill INnoVation before that stage. His PvT results were poor before S3 finals but his games against Maru were pretty good, especially his stargate all-in, so we might see one. INnoVation is the huge favourite, so I think we will see a few aggressive builds from duckdeok, he often makes them work with good follow ups so I will hope for that!

What do you think has been duckdeok's most memorable game in WCS this year, and why?

The obvious answer is his win against MC in Season 3 - and his reaction- but I was in vacation and only got to "watch" it trough the LR thread. So as far as I am concerned, I would say his PvP against NaNiwa in Season 2 finals. He beat NaNiwa in WCS Europe and had a few troubles with NaNiwa being BM... so the Nexus first in PvP against NaNiwa was really funny, and also confirmed duckdeok's great PvP.


Tell us one thing, or a story, about duckdeok that we might not know!

People might not be aware of this, but duckdeok is really cool with his fans despite his english, most of the people who interacted with him during live events were impressed, and he often replies on Twitter!

He also hates korean idol, kpop music and is more into electro / indie rock. And his favourite football player is Bale

If you could tell duckdeok one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Focus on your strenghts, your micro and enjoy it

Any last words or shoutouts?

Shoutout to duckdeok, a really funny and cool player, I definitely think he deserves even more fans: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=381658.

Follow him on Twitter too @positive2duck.

And thank you to the awesome TeamLiquid community and thank you Opterown for doing this!

Hey, Dodgin. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became an Mvp fan.

Hi, I don't think there's much to introduce and most people reading this will already know me. I'm a member of the TL SC2 community and have been a regular in the tournaments section for a couple years now. For how I became a fan of Mvp, It's hard for me to pinpoint an exact moment since it was so long ago. I think the moment I became a big fan would be during MLG Anaheim 2011, where he won the tournament over MMA, DRG, Boxer among other non Korean players. It was then reinforced in the next season of GSL with his heavy Ghost usage in TvZ. Specifically the famous Julyzerg vs Mvp match on Metalopolis.

Mvp's opening match at WCS hasn't been quite determined yet, and he may face Polt or Jaedong. Who would you prefer him to play, and why?

In general I've always had more faith in Mvp's TvT than his TvZ. This is probably because of the many times he's played TvT in a tournament finals and won. Although his TvZ mech can be strong against weaker opponents I don't think it will hold up well against Jaedong. His bio play in TvZ while not bad, is not on the same level as some other players like Taeja, Polt or Innovation. Because Mech is so strong in TvT and Polt likes a bio style I think that would be much better match up for him, although they're both extremely strong opponents.

What do you think of Mvp's chances in the tournament after his opening match?

It really depends on the bracket, as most single elimination tournaments do. If Mvp ends up facing Polt first, I think the second round match will be easier for him if sOs advances, who has weak PvT compared to some other players like Dear. After that there is no easy match, he would likely face either Soulkey or Bomber in the semi finals which would be even tougher. Bomber having better TvT than Polt and Soulkey having better ZvT than Jaedong. It's really impossible to predict who could be in the finals from the bottom side of the bracket. If he ends up facing Jaedong first, he would likely have to play Dear in the second round, we would need some 2012 GSL Season 2 magic to have him pull out the win in that match. Overall I think his chances are decent to make the semi finals if he plays Polt first, and his chances are much worse if he faces Jaedong first, perhaps even going out in the first round.

What do you think has been Mvp' most memorable game in WCS this year?

Despite Mvp's poor performance in WCS season 2 and 3, he left us with a lot of entertaining games. It's hard for me to pick just one, but I suppose it would have to be the 9 vs 33 SCV comeback on Akilon Wastes against Innovation in the WCS Season 1 Finals. The game was Mech vs Bio where Mvp turtled after suffering a huge blow in the early game, somehow catching up and managing to march his mech army across the map just in time to catch Innovation's transition to Sky Terran. Bringing SCV's with him to build turrets at his forward offensive line.

What has been Mvp's most memorable moment in all his career for you? What has been his lowest point, and how did he recover?

There have been lots of good times and bad times for Mvp fans, the most memorable moment is without a doubt the GSL finals against Squirtle in 2012 Season 2. The finals started out being one sided in Mvp's favor, but Squirtle managed to turn it around with some amazing plays, of course including the Archon Toilet on Mvp's Battlecruiser army in game 5 on Metropolis. Concluding with the 2 rax all in on Atlantis Spaceship that nearly failed, only to have a miraculous comeback with a bunker completing in range of Squirtle's Nexus just in time, securing the win. The lowest point would probably be Homestory Cup 5, where he went out early in the tournament against opponent's that would be considered easy compared to what he had just faced to win his 4th GSL. Either that or his elimination from the GSL in 2013 Season 1 by soO. Both are painful memories

Tell us one thing, or a story, about Mvp that we might not know!

Mvp's dog looks great in sunglasses.

If you could tell Mvp one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Don't let Ryu Won look over your shoulder when you play.

Any last words or shoutouts?

Shoutout to Entirety for his work on the Mvp Fan Club as well as all the fans cheering for Mvp to win Blizzcon!

Also Shellgod, because Shellgod.

Hey, Darkhoarse. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became an aLive fan.

Hey I'm Steve, or Darkhoarse I guess, and I'm a college student living in Philadelphia, PA. I like to lurk around TL and post in LR threads a lot.

I basically became an aLive fan from watching him in GSTL back when he was on TSL. He was the best, most consistent player on the team. In the first GSTL, he 3 killed Prime for the win, and I guess you could say that's when I became a big fan. I became one of his biggest fans after his win at IPL4, which I still think is one of the biggest unsung tournament wins of SC2 history haha. I think it is fair to say that he is reserved and doesn't show much emotion in the booth, but I think that he shows personality through his play and through some of his hilarious interviews. (See WCS AM season 2).

You also mentioned you were/are a TSL fan - what drew you to this team over others? How has following aLive's progress on Fnatic and EG been for you?

I honestly can't say for sure why I was originally drawn to TSL, but ever since I saw aLive win them that match over Prime I rooted for them in teamleagues. That hasn't always been easy as they've never made a GSTL final TT. When aLive transferred to Fnatic in early 2012, I can honestly say I was a little disappointed not only because there was a little bit of controversy about his transfer, but also because I was attached to TSL. However, the disappointment didn't last long, as aLive started putting out the best results of his career on Fnatic, with a GSL semifinal appearance in February followed by his IPL4 win in April. During that time he was unquestionably a top 5 terran, maybe the best in the world.
When he joined EG basically as Proleague support, I was ecstatic because I knew it would give him more opportunities to play. While his proleague results weren't great, I think him joining EG allowed him to compete in WCS AM and earn his spot at Blizzcon.

aLive's opening match at WCS hasn't been quite determined yet, and he may face Polt or Jaedong. Who would you prefer him to play, and why?

This is a little bit of a tricky one. Both fan favorites, not to mention the fact that Jaedong is a teammate and Polt is a former teammate of aLive. However, I think I would rather have aLive play against Polt. While Polt has shown incredible performances in WCS AM itself, he has struggled at both of the season finals he has attended, which mirror the format and atmosphere of Blizzcon. aLive's last broadcasted match against Polt went aLive's way in a 2-1 victory in season 1. In addition, aLive 2-0d the defending WCS KR champion Maru at the season 2 finals, which I think gives him some strong TvT credentials. Plus there is the added bonus of avoiding a teamkill.

Let's say aLive made it deep into the tournament - which would be the match you'd most like to see him play?

This question is a little tougher for me because I don't know what side of the bracket he is going to be on . But WHEN aLive makes it deep in this tournament, I'd like to see him play MMA and Dear. MMA because they have some match history from way back and I can't get enough of that TvT. I'd like to see him play Dear simply because the hype of aLive beating the reigning KR and Season 3 champ would be incredible.

What do you think has been aLive's most memorable game in WCS this year?

Without a doubt, his run at the season 2 finals were the most memorable of the year for aLive. Coming in after being 3-0d with ease by Scarlett, no one expected much. He was a wildcard, having been brought in to replace Jim, getting him a "free" spot through no fault of his own. No one expected much. Scarlett even said she would win easily. But aLive came out swinging and 2-0d the defending champ Maru with fast paced drop play, then moved on to 2-0 Scarlett in the winner's match starting with a 2rax and finishing her off with a well executed macro game. His series vs. First was one of the most exciting of the tournament and could have gone his way had a few more of those storms not directly hit his army in the deciding match. Overall I think that was a great tournament for him.

Unfortunately, aLive is often cited as an invisible Terran. To change that, tell us a few things about aLive that we might not know!

Hmm fun facts? Well he is apparently a little bit of a ladies man according to his WCS AM season 2 interview! I recommend that interview to anyone who thinks aLive has, "no personality" . He also played one of the worst showmatches of all time vs. Idra, which he won, but the games were just awful. He 2 raxed in game 1 and won easily, attacked with 16 or so hellions in game 2, and held 6 pools in games 3 and 4. Total game time was about 25 minutes, and unsurprisingly, not a single GG was called that day. Look those games up if you want a fun viewing experience. It doesn't take long to watch .

If you could tell aLive one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Hmm I guess I would tell him to relax and don't over think it. He sometimes gets caught up doing builds that are too minimalist/fancy, but I think his standard play can take him pretty far in the tournament. I'd tell him to not worry about the pressure and just do your best! Cliche answers!

Any last words or shoutouts?

Shoutout to Opterown for being a nice guy and interviewing me, and for putting all this together. Shoutout to the other 5 or so aLive fans on TL. Represent! Shoutout to aLive for being a cool guy, and good luck!

Hey, GreenMash. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a sOs fan.

Hello. My name is Torbjørn, i am from Norway and go by the handle GreenMash on TL. I became a sOs fan after watching his games in GSL and proleauge. I really like players who play the game differently than others so i like watching sOs play alot. ^^

You're the owner of sOs' fan club. What was the moment that made you inspired enough to start it?

I was inspired when i found out he didn't have one already. After he advanced to the ro8 of WCS KR Season 1 I decided to make one. I had also wanted to make a fanclub earlier but all the people I liked already had a fanclub.

sOs is known as a pretty creative protoss player - which of his builds do you like the most, and why?

I really liked his gas steal PvP. It was really cool when i first saw him do it and it blew my mind. He was also one of the first players to use warp prisms in early Hots PvT. Which was also really cool. He was also one of the first who did the early 7:30 3rd in PvZ. His innovation is one of the things i really like about him

What do you think has been sOs' most memorable game in WCS this year?

The final game of his final vs Innovation is obviously the most memorable one. Though he did not win it was a very unique strategy. His games vs Dear in WCS KR S3 is also memorable to me.


Tell us one thing, or a story, about sOs that we might not know!

His first ever win in SC2 was against Innovation!



sOs and Soulkey are the WJS representatives going into Blizzcon, and they have a chance to meet before the finals. But before that, sOs has to get through HerO! What do you think of this match-up, and sOs' chances in general?

sOs should beat Hero. Hero has not been playing too great vs Protoss recently so i think sOs will beat him. Its hard to know how good sOs is vs T atm due to how few PvTs he has played recently. There is not too many Zergs in this tournament which is the matchup where he has shown the best games recently so im not sure how its going to go. The last few times he played Soulkey the games were horrible so i hope if they meet again the games are a little bit better . Protoss is doing well against terran recently so if sOs has improved his vT i think he should be able to do very well at Blizzcon.

If you could tell sOs one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

I'm not sure lol. I guess I would tell him that he has everything to gain and nothing to lose. This tournament is super stacked so if he won he would probably become much more popular. ^^

Any last words or shoutouts?

I am hoping to be able to attend Dreamhack Winter. sOs will be playing there so i really hope to be able to meet him in person. Shoutout the all the sOs fans out there and shoutout to opterown for taking the time to do all these interviews

Hey, The_Templar. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a Taeja fan.

Hello, I'm The_Templar, an American high school student. I like to help live report in order to increase ESPORTS popularity and so I can enjoy the game further by writing about it.

I became a fan of Taeja around the time he joined Team Liquid. After the RO32 of the Season 2 2012 GSL, where Taeja managed to come back from the losers match 4-0, beating reigning champion DRG and jjakji, I figured it would be worth it to see how the new liquid player would turn out after he adjusted to the team.

I pretty much religiously followed all of his tournament runs after watching the RO16, which was one of the first times I dragged myself out of bed at 5am to watch starcraft.

I watched as he lost 0-2 to MKP in two action-packed, very close games but I also realized that day how amazingly awesome he was as he once again went 4-0 in the next two matches, beating TheSTC and MKP again, to advance. While he did lose 0-3 to Squirtle that season, I was still very impressed by how Taeja played, and how he could win if he chose to.

I immediately decided to make sure I watched every single facet of his play next GSL, where he ended up making the RO8 again before losing to MC in a very close set that showed us how awesome Taeja really is.

TaeJa really did come out guns blazing after being picked up by Team Liquid last year. Before that, he was known mainly as a champion of ESV/iCCup weeklies. What was it like following his progress through those? Did you know he would become such a skilled player?

I had little idea those tournaments even existed, actually. Back in 2011 and early 2012, I was pretty new to watching any professional starcraft and therefore mostly followed the premier tournaments, which were GSL, GSTL, MLG for me, and as I said I didn't really follow Taeja that much until after he joined TL and revealed himself as a god.
So I really can't say much about those, other than Taeja probably owned face.

TaeJa has won many, many tournaments. Which one of those has been your favourite to follow?

I loved following IPL TAC 3, even though Taeja didn't win that one. It had everything I was starting to love about him. One-sided domination, incredible wins that I believed only Taeja could do. I remember one game on Sanshorn Mists against a protoss, I think Puzzle? where Taeja mounted a gigantic comeback with persistent attacks and awe-inspiring defense to anything Puzzle could throw at him, which helped him on the way to 4-killing SlayerS.

I also started waking up at obscenely early times just to watch Taeja's games in GSL, I would sleep a bit in between his series and watch just him until I had to go to school, or his games were over. He never won that either but it was the summer of Taeja and you couldn't help but stare open-mouthed at his play if you were a fan.

My favorite tournament that he won was ASUS ROG in summer 2013. During a period where Terrans were falling to protoss unless they resorted to cheese and zerg was starting to figure out widow mines, Taeja just won. And he did it in a way that glued me to my screen. I jumped up and cheered when he beat Alicia in the RO4.

What do you think has been Taeja's most memorable game in WCS this year?

This is an easy one, Taeja vs INnoVation on Newkirk Precinct

50+ minute game full of non-stop bio-tank vs mech. Heck, Taeja even used tanks in his medivac drops for extra firepower, even securing and holding ground for a time with these drops alone. Forced Innovation to spread out his mech army with these tank drops and small bio forces picking off unfortified positions, weakening the army of Innovation until Taeja secured a win.

TaeJa's first match this tournament might be one of the highest skilled RO16s ever, as he faces Dear. Dear's recently shown some immaculate PvT against Maru - what do you think TaeJa has to do in order to overcome it?

Dear is a very smart player in general and probably one of the favorites in such a terran-filled lineup. Against Maru in game one he knew exactly how to handle the ridiculous amount of pressure Maru put on him- you don't put up the sort of defense without strategizing that entire aspect of PvT.

Taeja needs to either out-think Dear and hit one of his narrow timings by studying Dear's recent PvT matches or by brute-forcing his way through him with absolutely solid play and, of course, ghosts, since Maru has kindly shown Taeja that no-ghost is a no-go.

Also, Taeja needs to practice his storm dodging- it's an ability that is doable by anyone, but Dear is constantly on the map with templars, even doing storm drops in mineral lines occasionally, which few protosses do.
I think it will be a close series no matter what though, and while I predicted Taeja to win 3-0, I think he'll win 3-1 or 3-2.

What do you think of Taeja's chances in the tournament after his opening match?

He definitely has good chances if he's on his game. He'll most likely beat Jaedong/aLive/Mvp, although I'm worried about Mvp, and then the only real obstacles for him are Maru in the semi-finals and Polt/Soulkey in the finals. Maru could definitely lose to any of the other three players in his quarter of the bracket, though, and the other side of the bracket screams upsets to me with players currently under the radar like aLive, sOs, and Naniwa, so we'll see.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about Taeja that we might not know!

Hmm, well besides his godly play, his cheerful demeanor, and his ability to not tilt after a painful loss...
Typing www.teamtaeja.net used to redirect you to TL, which just shows that Taeja was so powerful the internet bent to his will, but it no longer does this, since all of Taeja's fair-weather fans left him after the fair-weather summer of Taeja. Join us and make teamtaeja.net real again.

If you could tell Taeja one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

"You are a god. Good luck."

Any last words or shoutouts?

Shoutout to TAEJAFAN for having 23 posts, all of which are about how amazing Taeja is. This man has given all of his esports reputation towards praising Taeja and I'd like to thank him for doing so.

Hey, sGDaevil. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became an Taeja fan.

Hey! My name is Daniel, and I am a Swedish GM Terran player currently playing and practicing with the European team Karnage.
Taeja just always seems to impress me. Every tournament he participates in, whether he wins or loses, he always does something extraordinary. It can be a very impressive tactic, a great display of unit control, general beastly macro or impeccable decision making. Even the games he loses, you can see that he has the potential to win if he just works on improving a few small things in his gameplay. At least that was the case until the IPL TAC where he'd actually worked out all of his mistakes and became one of the most feared players in the Starcraft II scene.
I've always been a Taeja fan. I even cheered for him in his first Code S run (oct 2011) as he played in a group with Polt, DongRaeGu and Killer. It was an intense group but in the end Taeja got eliminated caused by losses to Polt and DongRaeGu. But that didn't make me less of a fan, in fact, I know knew more about this young Terran player on Slayers and was eager to see more games of him. And after he qualified for Assembly Winter 2012 through winning the ESV TV Korean Weekly Season 2 with immaculate TvT, 4-0ing the likes of jjakji in the finals and showing total domination on the way there, I was starting to become a true fan boy and now today, I still cheer for Taeja in all of his tournament performances.

TaeJa really did come out guns blazing after being picked up by Team Liquid last year. Before that, he was known mainly as a champion of ESV/iCCup weeklies. What was it like following his progress through those? Did you know he would become such a skilled player?

Yes, for sure he did. When Taeja was on Slayers, his main accomplishments was winning 6 out of 7 ESV TV Korean Weeklies, as well as I mentioned before, winning the Grand Prix #1. Which was an okay showing, but he wasn't really seen as a favorite in any tournament he entered at the time, which was going to change in the near future. Oh boy was that going to change...
When Taeja left Slayers and became the fierce "LiquidTaeja" as we know him today, he started showing off what true Terran skills could accomplish. He started slow with a good showing in GSL Code S, getting to the quarter finals with impressive wins over TheStC and MarineKing, but quickly spiraled out of control, crushing everyone in the IPL TAC. This is where his name started to get really famous, with all-kills left and right. One of the most known ones was the all-kill over team Prime, where he won over AnNyeong, BBooongBBoong, Creator, Maru and MarineKing. You all know the drill from there, he kept playing like the godlike Terran he is, and finished the season with a 23-3 record, which is so insane that the community switched the team name Teamliquid to TeamTaeja.
I must say that I did think Taeja would become a strong player, but I had no idea that he would become this type of a solid monster, who just wrecks his opponents wherever he goes. Following his achievements throughout Liquid has been nothing short of amazing. I can remember so many epic moments, where I was up all-night trying to learn build orders and tactics from watching Taeja outplay every opponent. I remember him being maxed at 13 minutes vs AnNyeong on Antiga Shipyard and just rolling him over with his incredible macro.

TaeJa has won many, many tournaments. Which one of those has been your favourite to follow?

I think Assembly Summer 2012 might have been my favorite Taeja performance to watch. Why? Because of the fact that he finally managed to edge out a win over his teammate LiquidHerO, which seemed like an impossible task for Taeja, since the past showed that HerO definitely had Taeja's number. When he beat HerO 3-1 I knew that he had overcome the hardest threat of the tournament, and the quick sweep over ForGG in the semis and the 4-1 victory over MC in the finals sealed the deal. Taeja had become the best Terran player, and if you wanted to learn how to play Terran, you knew whom to study.

What do you think has been Taeja's most memorable game in WCS this year?

OBVIOUSLY the MOST EPIC GAME EVER on Newkirk Precinct versus Innovation in the WCS Season 2 Finals. I hope you've all watched this game because this game is so ridiculously action-packed and intense that you just watch with your mouth open in jaw-dropping fashion. With Taeja's masterful bio vs mech play he barely edged out a win after 52 minutes of multitasking. After seeing this I try to never ever miss out on another Taeja game!

TaeJa's first match this tournament might be one of the highest skilled RO16s ever, as he faces Dear. Dear's recently shown some immaculate PvT against Maru - what do you think TaeJa has to do in order to overcome it?

Seeing this makes me cringe. Really? I mean... Really? Taeja, which in my opinion has the best TvP in the world when he is playing his A-game. Versus Dear, the recent monster, who has been tearing up the scene, and made it look like top-tier Korean Terran players has no clue about how to actually play the Terran versus Protoss match up.
This... Will... Be...HYPED!
I'm stating it now: The most skilled ro16 match in Starcraft II History. The best Terran player vs the best Protoss player in the freakin' round of 16, Oh, boy will this be cool!
Okay, so let's analyze this a bit. A bo5 between Taeja and Dear. How does Taeja win? I think Taeja's advantage lies in standard macro games, where he can on an even footing get up to a strong ghost, viking, bio max on 4 bases and take the win based of solid unit composition and fight control. Dear has shown recent domination in his Protoss play, but his opponents has all been aggressive. We all know he can handle SCV trains, or super aggressive bio play from the like of Maru and Polt. He has shown us that he can defend three bases with minimal losses and edge out a win with an incredible strong max army. But what he hasn't shown us as much of, is straight up macro, lategame play. How does he fair in an even game with Ghost vs Hightemplar wars, and just straight up 200/200 fights? I do not think Taeja's edge lies in out-multitasking his opponent, or getting wins from build order advantages. I think Taeja's edge lies in a toe to toe macro game.
If you are skeptical about this Idea. You may be thinking: "Macro in TvP, Isn¨t that just playing into the Protoss hands?" I understand your concerns, but after Taeja beat Rain 3-0 in the WCS Season 2 Finals. I came to understand that Taeja has some insane TvP, and I hope that he has prepared hard enough to showcase my points!

What do you think of Taeja's chances in the tournament after his opening match?

As much as I do think Dear is the biggest threat in the tournament, I think the road ahead will be much as hard. I think he can beat Jaedong, aLive or MVP in the quarter finals, and I am hoping for a rematch between him and Innovation in the quarter finals, where he takes the win an advances through to the finals. If we watch Taeja's threats in his side of the bracket, I think Dear, MVP and Maru are the ones who can potentially take him out. If he can dodge the latter two, or showcase his brilliant top form TvT, I definitely can see him reaching the finals.
The top side of the bracket is just ridiculously hard to call, so I am just going to say that whatever happens, Taeja is going to have to perform one hell of a series to become the champion, but I think he has it in him, and if I get to pick one Terran to rule them all, I would have to go with the by far best clapper amongst Starcraft II Players, LiquidTaeja himself!!

Tell us one thing, or a story, about Taeja that we might not know!

Taeja is not only a top Terran player, but he is super good at off-racing as Protoss and Zerg. He won vs a lot of European pros on stream with his Protoss play, which is remarkable. He also seems to really enjoy 3v3, as he plays a ton of it on his stream, playing as random.

If you could tell Taeja one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?
Remember to scout for DTs and Oracles. Doesn't matter how good you are, if you don't have a turret, your out!

Any last words or shoutouts?

I want to thank Teamliquid for being such an awesome site, and for helping out the Starcraft community. Also my new team Karnage, for their support and friendship, and guys! Don't miss out on Taeja vs Dear, because it might just be the most epic series of all time

Hey, Parcelleus. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became an MC fan.

I'm from Perth, Australia and have been playing RTS games for over 10 years. Regarding Brood War, I tried to get it running at a higher resolution which never worked so I shelved it, so I didn't follow it and it's pro scene much. I started with Dune, and spent most of my RTS years playing Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and their expansions. I started playing SC2 a couple months after release.

I am a fan of MC because of his aggressive unique style of play - that being, he uses his sick micro and game understanding to maul opponents with his innumerous builds. He's also got an awesome personality i.e. funny, smart, epic trash talker, warm heart etc. I'm also a fan due to the 'specialness' of his aggression where he would make things work where most, if not all, other Protosses would fall short. He had a bit of hard time when HOTS was first released, as his aggression was easier to tame, but he is still able do the same 'special aggression' with more added dimensions to his game. Oh and his forcefields! I love it!

MC has won many tournaments in his career. Which one do you think has been his most important, or epic one?

I like his IEM Extreme Masters World Championship 2012. MC played Puma in the final, a player who had the better of him prior to the final with his infamous 1-1-1 build and was at the peak of his success after winning numerous tournaments like NASL. So it was very satisfying to see MC turn the tables on Puma to take the IEM Extreme Masters World Championship title. But the 2x GSLs are the most important of his career so far as this is the most difficult tournament in the world at the time, and MC made it look easy, crushing Rain (Terran) 4-1 and July (Zerg) 4-1 repectively. Throughout WoL and HOTS he still holds the Protoss record for most GSL title wins.

What is your favourite MC nickname?

BossToss is my favourite, but President is pretty good too. ObamaToss is bit excluding to other nations haha. I like BossToss as it reflects how dominating and admired he is in Sc2.

What do you think has been MC's most memorable game in WCS this year?

The impressive display of defeating Soulkey 2-0 in S3 Finals group stage where Soulkey went on to reach the final. Both games were very different builds from MC and both were equally impressive in how he out-strategized Soulkey. In game 1, MC kept Soulkey guessing from the get-go as MC broke out a very uncommon opening of 1 gate, no zealot expand. MC followed up with MSC and some gateway unit pressure which pushed back Soulkey's build. Soulkey was never able to recover as MC poured on the pressure until he had to gg to to an eventual MC timing. In game 2, Soulkey scouted the stock piling of sentries at MC's expansion but this did not help him stop the MC train, with perfect forcefields and time warps the screen looked like a piece of art as he dismantled Soulkey's final army and reinforcements GG.

MC is facing up against Maru in the RO16 at Blizzcon. Recently, Maru's shown some devastating PvT skills against Dear. Do you think MC can hold up? How would this series play out?

MC has recently said his worst MU is PvT, and his results have reflected that (2-4 MMA, 0-2, 2-1 Thorzain WCS EU). I think he realises that he needs to work on his PvT and Im confident he will have a vastly improved PvT for Blizzcon. He nearly lost vs Hack at the S3 finals, so MC is well aware he will need to come up with something more convincing in his PvT. ie. Opening with two or more Colossi has not been working well for MC.

I think Maru's style is very predictable and MC will devise something to deal with it. However, Maru might throw in some variations as everyone now knows how he plays PvT, so I think MC will have to be on top of his scouting to effectively deal with Maru. Im not sure what MC will do, whether he will be very aggressive before Maru can get into the swing of his build or if he will just focus on impeccable defense and counter when ready or something else.

I do feel that MC's PvT for Blizzcon will be the best it has ever been in 2013, which at least for me means he has a good chance vs Maru. Just like when MC had time to prepare for Soulkey at the S3 finals, MC will bring something special for Maru.

MC is gunning for the magical $500,000 prize money, which he will get if he wins Blizzcon. How do you feel about his chances?

Very good, while not taking a championship this year, he has proved he is still at the top and could very well go the extra step. I see 2013 as a big learning experience for MC's game , as he has really developed alot more playstyles and builds than in the past (where he would just rely on bulldozing the opponent over). He has learned alot recently about his weaknesses (PvT, and PvP meta), so MC has a clear picture of what needs attention, and this is at the very top level. So I think with solid preparation he can win Blizzcon 2013.

MC has been known for all three matchups through his career. Which of these do you think is the most solid, and why?

Most probably PvZ. I remember MC always having a shockingly good game understanding of PvZ in WoL and HOTS. I recall that game vs ST_Curious in 2012 in the GSL where MC made four carriers, when no-one dared to make carriers in such important matches. I remember Tastosis freaking out at the arrogance of the build and then freaking out even more when MC controlled his Carrier, High Templar and Void Ray army to utterly destroy Curious in way that none of us had ever seen.

I also remember that crazy game vs Jaedong, where it was such a scrappy game where these guys were constantly micro-fighting. MC just made zealots, archons and stalkers, it looked many times like Jaedong would overwhelm MC , but MC warped in the exact required composition over and over until eventually Jaedong had to gg. According to the TLPD, MC has won the last 8 out 10 games in PvZ, compared with 4 out of 10 games for PvT and 5 out of 10 for PvP. So at least on paper, PvZ is looking like his strongest MU coming into Blizzcon.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about MC that we might not know!

I think everyone knows just about everything about MC as he is basically SC2. But something we recently learned about MC is that he likes straight hair and wavy hair too ! (ie. that badass perm)

If you could tell MC one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Kill him!

Any last words or shoutouts?

MC MC ALWAYS MC !!! xD

Hey, Bagration. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became an MMA fan.

Hey, thanks for interviewing me. I've been a member of the TL forums for about 2 years now, and I've been following SC2 since its release. I first became an MMA fan when he led the underdog Slayers team to back to back GSTL titles, overcoming the odds and beating out the established teams and players. I love watching him play, with action and chaos all over the map.

MMA has certainly spent a lot of time at the top of SC2, but he's also been mediocre for a fair part of it. What has it been like following his career, and how did you feel after his recent WCS EU win?

For 2011 and early 2012, it was so fun being an MMA fan. I remember staying up with friends to watch MMA upset Mvp at Blizzcon and take his first GSL title. I remember waking up early in the morning to catch MMA hold off DRG to win the Blizzard Cup.

Of course, during most of 2012 and 2013 it was pretty tough being an MMA fan. Watching his trademark TvZ become his weakest matchup, watching him get embroiled in the Slayers drama, hearing people questioning his skill and ability without Ryu Won's help, seeing one of the best players in the world being a mere shadow of his former self, it definitely was a rough time.

It had been more than 500 days since MMA had last won a premier tournament when he won WCS EU. For myself, it felt like rain after a long drought. MMA winning was probably the best Starcraft 2 moment for me in over a year. It was a moment of redemption, a phoenix rising from the ashes of a long slump. In the words of Nerchio, "MMA is back".

What do you think has been MMA's most memorable game in WCS this year?

For me, MMA's classic trademark is his TvZ. It is a style that is dominant and entertaining, hitting in multiple places in multiple ways, always keeping the Zerg second-guessing himself and unsure. Because of this, I think game 1 against Nerchio was the most memorable (Ro8). Using an unorthodox unit composition that included banshees, MMA absolutely demolished Nerchio in the early and mid-game, inflicting massive damage while barely losing any units. It was classic MMA TvZ,

MMA is going up against Bomber, another 2011-generation Terran who recently has hit his stride again. As a TvT, how do you think it will play out? What things might MMA do, and what should he look out for?

Bomber is an excellent player, and a fearsome one for MMA. I believe either player could win this Bo5. MMA is a sold player, but he especially excels when he has the chance to thoroughly prepare for his opponent. He needs to have a plan for each possible game on each possible map. He needs to get Bomber uncomfortable, and prevent him from building confidence and momentum. He needs to play boldly and take risks, whether it be greed or aggression, to throw Bomber off-balance.

What do you think of MMA's chances in the tournament after his opening match?

There is not a single weak player at Blizzcon. No player is a clear favorite to win, and it would not be surprising to see any one of these players make the dream run to the championship. I do not think MMA has an very large chance of winning, but I also do not think his chances are any lower than anyone else's. That being said, I will be cheering 100% for MMA to take another championship in front of the Blizzcon audience.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about MMA that we might not know!

MMA was the first person in the history of Starcraft 2 to gain the Triple Crown (winning a title in Korea, North America, and Europe). When he wins Blizzcon, he will have earned his second Triple Crown. He will also surpass Nestea in prizemoney won, and will be the 3rd highest earning SC2 progamer after MC and Mvp.

If you could tell MMA one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Two years ago at Blizzcon, you were the heavy underdog against Mvp, the defending GSL champion. You were able to overcome the expectations and convincingly defeat the best player in the world and become the champion. You can do it again. It's time to prove that you are the world's greatest, and the halls of Blizzcon will echo with the chanting of your name: "M-M-A! M-M-A! M-M-A!"

Any last words or shoutouts?

Thank you to opterown for conducting this interview, for all his hard work on these forums and for being such a swell guy (though it seems like we are polar opposites in terms of players we root for).

Shoutout to the former Slayers and Vile players. Teams may disband, players may retire, but legacies are forever.

Axiom-Acer, make sure you guys win GSTL! You know I'll be rooting for you guys!

Hey, Wintex. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a Bomber fan.

G'day, I'm a viking from the cold land known as Norway. Most people find me when Bomber plays, either as the LR OP or as a person mentioning Bomber when he's not even relevant to the discussion at all. If you want the long story, you should check out the article by neoghaleon55 on superfans (the type that cheers, not the one that blows (air, at least)). Basically, it was love at first sight. He actually made me so interested in a game it actually hurt physically when I saw him get swallowed up by nerves during the Bo5 versus Byun that fateful day.

A lot of people have heard about Bomber's Law. Can you give us a recap of how this came about, and your thoughts on it? Has it been broken?

In my opinion, a competitor is allowed to play worse during a tournament game. It's what enhances the feel of the game. It's what makes you know what's important for the players. I feel for the players that never get recognized and for the players that play a few games, only to get destroyed so hard and retire because of that (Pokjoo ;_; Bisu, you scum). Bomber has had periods where he has not delivered, sadly, but it's part of what makes him amazing. I therefore want to say that this law is nothing but a way to remove enjoyment from the game because it ridicules him if he doesn't deliver every time (every king falls, but best continue after they get hit). In addition, it takes away cheers for the opponent, who never bests him, but was lucky because it was a day "the law delivered". No, it doesn't exist. Every player could have it and it is therefore irrelevant.

What has been your favourite tournament to follow featuring Bomber? Was it in 2011, or 2013?

He was a GOD during the first half of 2011. He has been a wrecking ball ever since HotS launched. My favorite time is during the reign of the patch zergs, to be completely honest. The way he showed mastery of the terran arsenal during the period September 2012 - November 2012 is what made the terran race develop, and it wasn't the way he made the TvP build used for a great period of time during 2012 more effective than the style MKP went for. It was the constant trials he put himself through to attempt to reinvent the general ideas of the matchups TvP and TvZ. Bomber (with Hack, bear in mind) attempted to revive TvP mech, and Bomber showed how insane raven play could be in TvZ versus the dreaded Infestor Broodlord combo. He was a finalist at the Lone Star Clash 2 event, barely getting edged out by Stephano. He was a slayer of the broods at IPL5, the greatest WoL event, until he met Polt in the semi finals. His style was so artistic and epic that it made for WAY too many entertaining games. Watch any game from that period. You either get the strongest macro play in the world, new ideas (for the time), or crazy stuff for one game. He understands that this game is an organism that is ever-evolving and he never rests because of that. This game is more beautiful because of that.

What do you think has been Bomber's most memorable game in WCS this year?

The way he utterly toyed with INnoVation at his prime is by far one of the greatest ways to show people how terrifying he was in the matchup. He showed us new styles he had prepared for a patch that hadn't even launched and he took the face of the best player in the world and ruined it.

Bomber is going up against MMA, another 2011-generation Terran who recently has hit his stride again. As a TvT, how do you think it will play out? What things might Bomber do, and what should he look out for?

MMA might get a win, but I think Bomber is the opponent he doesn't want to play versus. Bomber will ruin his day. I hope MMA likes Hearthstone and WOW announcements! Bomber will show TvT that makes me go wild and he should look out for MMA getting in his groove. Stopping MMA in his tracks is what ruins him. (Oh and MMA's coaches can't sneak a peek while he prepares ).

What do you think of Bomber's chances in the tournament after his opening match?

If he doesn't lose to SoulKey, I will predict a victory for my favorite player.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about Bomber that we might not know!

Bomber's stream is actually amazing to watch, and he has the best of Korean music on at all times. One of the bands he enjoys the most is Busker Busker (버스꺼 버스꺼)!

If you could tell Bomber one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Choi Ji Sung Fighting! I might also tell him I'll treat him to samgyeopsal or something if he wins!

Any last words or shoutouts?

Shoutout to Opterown, a savior of e-sports that returned to our scene when we needed him the most.

Shoutout to Bomber, for giving me the best entertainment. I can't dream for a better thing to grace my eyes than a good Bomber game.

Shoutout to Brood War, for being the best game in the world.

And last, but not least.. Shoutout to Zealously, my brother in arms. StarTale is the best team, and we gotta tell everyone about the best team! Life and Bomber can share first place as the best player in the world.

Hey, Shellshock. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a Maru fan.

Hey. I’m Michael and I’m a college student in Atlanta, GA. I occasionally check out a few of the LR threads on TL although I consider myself a lurker. I also do a little bit of moderating on the side. Sometimes I write stuff about games.

I know Maru has been around basically forever, but I’m not going to lie. I wasn’t a fan from GSL Open 1 or anything like some people. To be honest, I started out as a fan of Maru mostly because he was on the team Prime and that was my favorite team. I think the time that I really became a big Maru fan was when Maru made that crazy defense against EffOrt’s roach baneling attack on Entombed. It hit me then that this kid was crazy good. Ever since then, I’ve just been seeing his play get better and better and now see him as one of the most entertaining terrans in the world.

Most people weren't very aware of Maru before this year, but he has played some entertaining games in the past. Which was your favourite?

I will have to go with game 1 vs duckdeok at the most recent season finals. The game was ridiculous. Failed 11-11 into 4 upgrade deficit and he still wins? He’s falling asleep at the computer and still pulled off some of the best army management I’ve ever seen. He’s just the kind of player you can’t ever count out of a game. Besides that I think it’s pretty obvious that everyone is going to remember that ridiculous game against Dear on Frost, but he lost so I can’t put it #1. Those were the 2 most exciting TvPs of the year for me.

What do you think has been Maru's most memorable game in WCS this year?

I think there’s 2 ways to approach this question. The first I’m going to go with is Maru coming out and stomping INnoVation. I think this was the point where Maru really made a statement that made people see that this kid was really good. I felt like he made him look especially silly on the Bel’Shir game. The second approach would be Maru’s most impressive game, which I think is the game on Frost vs Dear. I felt like it was one of the most exciting and overall best TvP games ever in sc2 and is memorable even with him losing. At this rate, we might see the start of another major rivalry.

Maru opens this tournament with a TvP against MC. He's recently shown some sublime skill in this matchup - will MC prove a tough challenge? How will the series go?

I am pretty pleased with the first round matchup. I think Maru is capable of beating any protoss player in the world right now and I don’t honestly see MC as a major threat. You never quite know with MC because the guy can pull wins out of nowhere that you wouldn’t expect… but come on the guy lost to MMA in TvP. If we’re going around claiming 2011 is back that’s not a good sign. I’m looking to see Maru advance with a comfortable 3-0 or 3-1 as long as he doesn’t die to some stupid all ins. Scout Maru! Scout like your fellow Prime Terrans never did!

Maru has the possibility of setting up yet another semi-finals appearance with Dear. Do you think this likely? What will Maru need to do to get a different outcome this match?

Yes, I think this outcome is pretty likely. Both players are on the top of their game recently and should both be contenders for the title. It’s also an outcome I’m pretty scared about as a fan of Maru. With his style of play, I think Maru’s path to victory is to try and force errors out of Dear. We saw how crazy Maru’s multipronged aggression was and Dear had to play immaculately just to stay in the game. If possible, maybe try to get out some ghosts and vikings this time, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him just end the game with his aggression before that point hits. Hopefully Maru can avenge his last 2 losses with a 3-1 of his own.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about Maru that we might not know!

Thanks to TheBest, I think a lot of people overlooked this one, but when Maru returned to the GSL for the first time since the open seasons, he played against Fruitdealer in the first round of Code A. In the first game on XNF, Maru did probably the worst 2 port banshee ever seen. It got scouted easily, Fruitdealer made a bunch of spores, and then Maru was delayed so long that mutas were out. Then he flew all his banshees into a field of spores to try and escape mutas and lost. Wolf predicted he would be back and have a long and successful career, though.

Maru also played a series against Losira where he went 11-11 in every game and is the first player I ever saw try to kill the destructible plate at the bottom of the ramp in order to bunker rush someone in a live match.

Finally, he’s the second best model on Prime behind Creator.

If you could tell Maru one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Maru! All of your fans are really proud of you for just making it this far. You’ve had an incredible year of StarCraft and we hope to see you do even more. We know you’re the best terran in the world, so that means it’s also your destiny to become the best overall player. This Blizzcon is yours!

Any last words or shoutouts?

Thanks to everyone who help make LRs fun. It doesn’t matter if you live report games, help make them, or just post in them. You’re all an essential part to the community and the best part for me. Also, if this thread doesn't hit 100 pages before the games start, I'm leaving you all for LoL.

Finally,




w͖̰͍̘͙̲͎͆̍̿̃̌͂͠h̻ͩ͛͜͠ā̡̘̝̻̺̜̲̈́̌̑͋̐ͅt̶̙͓͛̄́ ̧̯͕̳̘͍̣̓̋̍͠ĭ̵̷̙͕̤̜ͬ̂ͫ͒ş̳̩̘͙̯̩̃͗̐̅̆́̚ ̴̢̖͈ͨ̆ͦͪ̓̊̽͞ṱ̲̬̯̬ͥ͗̍ͪ̓ͬ̆ͣ̕͝h̖̰̼̮̖̖̎̈́͘ͅî͓̱̦̼͛̓̀͟͜s̷̭̳͓͎̥̦̾͋̍ͦ̒̽̉͘ͅ ̤̘̺̟̹͗ͫ͜e̽̊ͧ̃̆҉̸̨̮̫͙̥͔̼͖̣̪r̨̙͓̙̮̠͍͑͛̀ͣ͌̈́ͩrͧͦ̆͆͌̚҉̪̝o͇̥̤̝̬͂̐̓̆̍́̏̀r̠͖͔̱̞̓͐͒ͮͥ̎ͩ͡ͅ ̩ͭ̔̿͝w̗̺͇̘̞͍̿̆̈́̃ͣ̅̓̆h̰̥̃̈̓̇͑͒ͦa̶̝̟͚̩͍͙̳̐͛̀ͭt̯̩̑̾͠ ̸̝͖ͮ̐͑ͣ͢͢i̴̮̦̠̠͖̳̮͌̒̃̋̀s̰̳̯̪̥̫̖̈́ͦ̋̅͋ͪͤ ̗͔͖̮̭̬̲̀͂ͭͫ̈́͢t͔̹͎͙̼̗̽ͤ͘͠͞h̴̡̛̙̜̮̤̤͕̎͌͐i̶͈ͦ̽̄̔͊̌ͦ̀̚ṡ̢̯̮̔͑͌͛̈́͜ ͉͔̮̚e̢͈̱̫͕͔͖ͩ̋́ͦͣ̎r̝͍̱̥̥͔̳̤ͤ̓ͬͭř̪̥͔̻̭̼̱̹͆̍o̪̺̰̮ͨ̃ͬ̕͞r̢̨̰̞̣͉̜ͩ̀ͯ͢ ͈̲͖̘ͮͩh̸̨̖͎̼̰̥̰̍ͦ͋͋e̡̼̪̍̓̉̐̐͊̕ͅl̷̖̥̯̰̭̺̟̩̫͆́ͯ̈p̩̖̦͓̭̞͔̥ͧ̓ͬͣ̇̍ͬ̀̚͢͠
̛̪̬͙̙̬̦̯̄̏̾̃̐̈͊ͬ
̤͚͇͇͓̩̐̓ͬ̿ͫͮͮ̚͝w̧͖̫͇͓̼͈̜̟̃̋͜ḧ͎͉͙̪̜̰͂ͪ̽̌ͯ̑ͥã͇ͮ͡͡ț̡̡̠̤̔̉̿ͥ̒̋ ͭͦ̀́҉̡͍̰̗͙̩d̰̜͍͔̤̬̑̃í͊̅̐̇̒҉̱͖͇̳̠̘́d̺̞̮ͥ͊̓̇̑͋̉ͯ ̩̞͇̦̯̠ͥ͆̌yͨ̽̈̏̚͏͚̟̠̜͇̥ǫ͚̦͈̣̩̱͖͇̞̽̆͢ȗ̸̵͉̪̯̦̜̑ͬͮ͛̃̉ͬ͘ ̢̙̏ͣͯͪ̿d̢͉̬͈̣̱͎̘ͪ̾ͬ̇̀͊ͬ͒ͅõ̇̎ͭ͏̛͖ ͈͉͍̱̝̘̦ͥͨ͜͡t̨ͩ͆͞͏̙̱͉͓͖ö̡̧̳̮̗̖̬̌̈́͆͑ͧ ̵̛͍̰̬̩͓ͥ͗m͋͛͒ͦͥ̌͜҉̪̥̘͙͜e͎̲̙̪͆ͮ̑̏̀̚?̷͎̳͙̣̮̌̄͋̿͋͒̃͝!̛͛ͦ́͂ͩͫͩͯ҉̴̪̣͔͇̥̥̤͍ ̦̳̙̞̯̊̄̓ͥ͒̊̐w̍͋̉͏҉̡̩h̫͇̮͓͖͇̅́a̧͖̪͆ͬ̎ͮͩ̄ͦ͂͜ţ̭̟̼̼̺͇̱͍̬̈́̏͛̈́̈́̃͐ ̲͙̲̻͉̪ͮ́̈̀ḑ̨̥̠̩̣̻̻̝̞̄̏̃͌̊̏͗͂͡ỉ̶̟̙̦̣̥͚̉̽ͮ̆̒̿͋ͬd̩̜̐̐ͮ̒̏͗̌̏ ͈͔̭̍ͪ͑̇͡y̡̬̫̹͍̞̗͓̓͑͠o̬͕͑̄̄͒͛̃́́͡ȕ̡̝̙͈̟̳͕̝̔̓̈́̈́ͫ͞ ̟̟͎̝̫̖̜̥͗͂̓d̸̦̰͗̔͜ó̶͍̫͕͔̣͚̱̝̱͞?̧̻̫͙̲̽̏͡!̨̩̝̙̝̪̬̘͍̐͋ͤ͌
͕̺͔̮͇̮͙̍̃̍̍͒ͬͮ̌͝
̶ͩͣͥͧ̿̈͌ͥ҉̱̩͖̼̺͉͎͉̺́y͎̰̩͎̟̘̲͓̌͊̓̄͛̈́̑͋͛ọ̸̦̠̟̙̋ͩ͟ů̶̵͓̤̣͈͔̘̱̏̾ͤͪͩ͑̐͜'̡̨͖̱̤͖͇̻̙̽̀̕v̡̛̤͓̱̦͑̐͒̀ͧ̉ͤͤ͜e̷̢̩͙̪̠̮̱̬̞ͩͪ̋ ̴̴̬͍̱̭̑͒̿̀̃͟ǩ̵͙̘̤̖̹͌ͭ͛ͨ͌̀ī̬̠̰͓͖͎̗̖ͯ͘͟͡l̦̳̞̱̹̫̗̘̩ͣͣ̉ͥ͆̂l̗͇͍͐ͩͣͯ̚͘e̹̥̘ͪ̋͠ͅd̩͖̦̔̉́ͅ ̷͚̰̠̻̬̪ͧͥ̽ͮ̈́͑̋̿̏͟m̷̶̦̭͙̠̻͊ͩͨ̐ͤͪ̐́ȅ̴̎̚͏̷̤̺̬͈̻̬̳ ̺͉̱̥̬̆̆͆͂̿̚͢͜o̶̮̦̩̜͛̑ͭ̋ͮṕ̧̤͉͕͊̍ͣ́͟ͅt̛̞̰͎ͣ̂ͭͮ̾̒̓̓ęͧ̑҉̸̠͈̰r̶ͥ̌ͮ̏̂̚͏͙̫̣͇o̱̫͛̑̀́ẘ̙͙̩̼͈̹̙͉͑̓̈́ń̸̠͐̓̓̑̚͞ ̙͇̟͓̟̰̉ͣͪ͞͡
̷̸̬̣̬̰͚̬͎̤̟ͩ̍̓ͥ͌̉̚
̥͇͂͒͠y̵̵͈̯͇̬̦ͯͅͅo̯̳̱̬̫ͫͯ͛͘̕u̲̠ͭ͛ͮͣ͂͢'̨̲͎̪̆̊ͦͮͮͯ͠ṽ̨͕͇͚͚̝͓̈́͐̄̚͜ẹ̡͈̦͌͌͑͊̏ ̸̺̲͉̱̟̝̄̕k̸͋̔ͩ͟҉̥̰̻̭ī̶̲̗͓͇͖̒̎ͩ̏̓ͩͤ̕͢l̵̗͙̼̤̟̱̻͈͛͆ͪ̀ͨ̽͗ͦl̴͆̒̓̒̅̏ͦ͏̻̥͎̝ë̳̰̖̀͝͡ď̐̀̿ͤ̌̆̿͏̷̢̪̱̺ ̵͖̝̖̻̱̮̠͇̿̿̑͛ͮ̀̉ͭ͘m͉̳͓̘͎̜̗̃̕͠e̱̼̼̗ͫͦ͛̂ͭ ̉̾͒҉̬̼͍͓͓̖̼o̩̙̤̤̥͈̠̯̾̑̆͋ͤp͖͖͇̣̗̮̬̈̿͋t͉̣̼ͫ̀e̵̟͎͉̞͌̌̾̏̚̚r̞̝̼̬̙͚͓̜̈́̿̇ͥ̀ͮ̿o̮̪̥̪͗ͤͮ̈́͌w̴͔̭̥͈̬̘͈ͨn̠̼̈́̐͋͒ͦ̚̕͡ ̡̘̩ͦ͑͟͡
̨͚̼͕̜͖̝̹̊̀ͬ̊̅̓͗̒̀
͆͊͂͏̠̠̮̗͔y̨͉͖̹̲̗̣͓͖ͥ̌̓ͭ̍̂̊̄ͅȏ̧̧̬̝͚̫̰͙̯͊̄ͅu̪̲̺̣͚̥͖͈̗ͭ͗̀͊̍̈̐'̻͇͒ͬͬ͗̔́v̹̜̪̐͐͛ͪȅ̶͍̪̜́̅ͧ̄ͦ̑̍ ̨̣͍͛ͨ̈k̪͚̠̬̞͙̜ͪ͌̓͡͠i̲̤̤̜͙ͩ̎̀͌͗̿̐l̡̳̮̤͉͑ͭͫͧͤͬ͠l̡̦̝ͬ̈́̄ͬ̓e̍ͫ҉̗̪d̙̖̱̺ͯ̒ͯͩ͒ ̐̀ͨ̾҉̸̯m̤͎͙̘̄͑̐ͦ̿͐̒͒e̷̛̪͐ ̸͉̝͓̮ͬ͌̇ơ͇̟̲̫͈͉̂͆͢͞p̤͍̞͇̃̈́̊̏̉̒̑͟͝t̜͚̘̠̹̻̀̔͋͜ę͕̣͍͈͎̝̲̋̾̿̈́͡r̢̭͙̺̫̜̰̬͎ͩ̃̂͑̃̄o̺̹̯͈̰̪̎̅ͫ̈́̐ͪ̂̀w̢̺̣͍͎̘̼ͯ̑̂͜n̶̠̯̻̪ͮ̂̌̽

Hey, lystier. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a Dear fan.

I’m actually a female Zerg player who play protoss for fun only...So don’t expect too much on my analysis of Dear’s play xD. I remember his name during Hwaseung days, his play during STX Soul days, and started to like him since his team won proleague 2012-13.

Dear is one of the newer generations of players that came with the KeSPA switch. Can you tell us a bit about Dear's brood war play?

During his Brood War era, Dear was mainly a substitution who didn’t have that many chances to perform. However, when he was given the opportunity, he played quite well. His has quite good micro and multi-tasks, especially shuttle-reaver play, and that’s how he defeated the unstoppable Flash during season 1 of proleague 2011-12.

Recently, Dear has been on a tear, winning WCS KR Season 3 and the Season 3 finals. What has been Dear's most memorable game this year?

Both sanely and sentimentally, I would say the series against Soulkey. He did superb micro and set great positions for his colossi and high-templars. Soulkey couldn’t break out his army even when he was in the lead, astonishing PvT. And that series earned him the championship too. =)

Dear has certainly proven his defensive PvT skill against Maru, but his first matchup at Blizzcon is against TaeJa, who plays a different brand of PvT to Maru. How do you think this series will turn out?

Taeja’s use of ghosts is amazing, so I think it will be totally different with the series against Maru. I don’t think there will be many drops and multitasks comparing the series against Maru, but mainly the conflict between ghosts and high-templars on the direct engagements.

Maru and Dear may set themselves up for a third straight semi-final matchup in a row. Do you think we will see another action-packed PvT? How do you feel about Dear's chances for the entire tournament?

Maru is currently one of the best terrans. I don’t think it will be an easy win even though Dear had beaten him twice, because they had become more and more familiar with each other. On the other hand, I’m not too confident about his chance in Blizzcon, considering he might meet up with INnoVation. If he could get through the quarterfinals, his chances will be considerable.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about Dear that we might not know!

After the dismantle of STX Soul, the rest members were about to move from their original team house, and Dear was the one who kept practicing in the empty team house for the upcoming GSL. So I really think he deserves that title.

If you could tell Dear one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Good luck, and believe in yourself, because in Dear we believe. =)

Any last words or shoutouts?

Welcome to Dear’s fan club! He is playing well, and he is a really nice guy, you’ll love him.

Hey, Wombat_NI. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a HerO fan.

No problem, I don’t need much invitation to wax lyrical on HerO’s handsomeness or multitasking chops. I am Wombat_NI, a 24 year old terrible Starcraft player from Northern Ireland. Not much else of interest going on with my life atm. I have a small project going on that may spark new life into the foreign pro scene, but that’ll be a while in reaching fruition so I will instead leave it as an obnoxious bit of airy hype in the interim.

I had never really felt a great attachment to any Protoss prior to him, with the exception of Grubby but in fairness that was more an affection for him as a human being as opposed to a player. HerO however was the first player I saw to really approach Protoss in a way I found aesthetically pleasing. His playstyle, especially his PvZ was not flashy for the sake of it, but fundamentally strong as well, especially his pioneering (along with JYP) warp prism-centric play. He found a way to maintain an aggressive posture more reliably throughout the mid-late game and not be so reliant (and constrained) by the need to hit timing attacks like MC. He’s got some of the better multitasking among all Protoss players even with the Kespa influx and anything that showcases a less death-ball centric style is OK by me!

I was also present at Dreamhack Winter 2011 when he took his first big tournament, and I feel actually being there in that hockey arena for his breakthrough really created an extra layer to my affection for the guy.


This was the game that really cemented my love of the guy’s play and the uni-directional love affair just blossomed from there. You’ve got to be a pretty good Protoss player for Idra not to talk smack at you! He really abused aspects of Metalopolis, especially the smoke vents when it came to warpins, but the way he split his armies and did things with small groups of units really caught the eye as exceptionally good play. Was something of a sneak preview of how he’d approach the matchup moving forward too, you can see the strands knitting together gradually over the next year or so from this early showing of his.

Before HerO joined Team Liquid, what did you think of him? Any memorable moments?

Weirdly enough, I (along with most other honest people) hadn’t really formed an opinion on him, or even knew much about him. Like many, for me Nazgul’s rather excellent write-up upon him signing was the source of much of our knowledge of him. You have to remember that HerO joining Liquid was in an era where the sheer depth of the Korean scene hadn’t quite been truly unveiled. It sounds strange looking back and no disrespect meant, but the question on the lips of many was ‘is HerO going to be an adequate replacement for Huk?’ which might seem odd to think now given how things have panned out. He was known for being talented, but prone to nerve issues. Luckily for us Liquid did their homework and it feels both the team and the player have mutually benefited from his pickup.

What do you think has been HerO's most epic, or important, game in WCS this year?

For sheer quality of play I think it was his series against Scarlett in the Ro16 from Season 1. She’s no slouch in that matchup but he really eviscerated her with precision, especially the Akilon game. If memory serves, he just outmaneuvered her for the entire game while she tried to get up the dreaded Swarmhost/static defense combination and made an extremely able player look silly in doing so.

His series against Alicia is worth a watch too, from the Quarterfinals of that season, he really just showed his overall class. The game that Alicia took had HerO so far behind in build choices and that he took it so close was a real showcase of his mechanical ability.

Aside from WCS, HerO’s had some excellent series internationally this season, I recall some epic PvZs vs Hyun and Jaedong at various foreign tournaments. Apologies my internet is too ropey to find them at the current time!

HerO opens this tournament with a PvP against sOs. He's recently shown some a bit of trouble in this matchup - will sOs prove a tough challenge? How will the series go?

It’s hard to really judge. HerO has rather ebbed and flowed in his proficiency in the matchup of late, indeed it’s something of a pattern of his. He’s been at various stages very good at PvZ, PvT and PvP, but rarely good in all three simultaneously for whatever reason. His reputation as a PvZ expert has tended to stick over and above his other two, but apparently his PvT peak has the highest value ever on Aligulac and his PvP was solid enough to take out the other hero a few times in PL! I think he can definitely beat sOs, but it depends how he approaches Blizzcon. If he puts all his eggs in practicing PvP, he’s definitely got the chops to take him out, but it might hamper his chances of advancing further.

HerO has an advantage in that it’s best-of-five, at least from where I’m sitting. sOs is a tricky customer and gains a lot from his build choices, but I believe HerO has the superior micro and fundamentals. In a Bo3 I feel sOs’ trademark wackiness might carry him to the victory, but with it elongated I think HerO will show his superior mechanical skillset and grind out a 3-2 victory.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about HerO that we might not know!

It’s relatively common knowledge, but HerO, like myself has a penchant for smoking fine tobacco products. I saw him quite a few times out being chaperoned by Ret at Dreamhack Winter 2011 as the two Liquidians enjoyed their smokes in the crisp winter air of Sweden. Word on the street is that it’s to deal with his oft-mentioned nerve issues, but I reckon it’s the much more prosaic coolness factor at work. There are a few example videos on the site somewhere but his English is also among the better of the Korean pros.

If you could tell HerO one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Just keep cool and let your skills do the talking. Even in the unlikely event of failure I and your many fans will still love you, and you can always return to Dreamhack Winter and take that home for the third time! Not a bad consolation prize for sure.

Any last words or shoutouts?

Cheers to opter for giving me a chance to unleash my inner fanboy! To DarkLordOli, perhaps a bigger fanboy even than I. To my ‘many’ fans worldwide and to the game of Starcraft and TeamLiquid: One of the few online communities that I don’t find insufferable in this day and age ☺

Hey, FrvPssn. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a Polt fan.

Hi, I'm FrvPssn, currently living and working in Singapore. I'm a gold league scrub who started playing SC2 about 5 or 6 months ago. After finding out about the pro scene, I've been following and watching every match in every premier tournaments this year, LIVE!
+ Show Spoiler +

I'm a new player, so naturally I play Terran. I was getting facerolled pretty much every game, so I started digging around for strategies and builds. Then I found a list of dominating Terran programers, with their replays. And I chose Polt! Because of a rather illogical reason: I felt that Polt has some kind of aura of a smart person around him, "he's smart, so he must be good!"

Polt didn't let me down, thankfully. He's not much of a strategist, but his decision making is undeniably scary, a tactical genius. His games were interesting to watch, helpful for me to keep following. So I immediately became a fan.

Polt's had a long, distinguished career. He was initially called out by Jinro, and lost to him shortly after. However, the Super Tournament was the first major title that Polt won. What did you think of his progress in 2011, and how has he progressed since?

I know about this incident while lurking around reddit and TeamLiquid lol. He was like the villian, a bad personality who was hated by lot of foreign fans. But if we put it into nowadays perspective, it's just some kind of pregame trashtalking. Nothing serious.

During 2010-2011, Polt's performance while he's in Prime was quite impressive: 1st place in GSL ST and Ro4 finisher in GSL August. He even beat BoxeR and MC once during that time. But after he joined SCV Life, he struggled quite a bit in Korean scence. He managed to perform very well in foreign tourneys however.

He had really improved during 2012-2013, and gained alot of fame and fans during this period. Then he came to WCS AM. Being able to use fluent English to interact with fans help him becomes a fan-favorite. Everyone seems to forget the past incident haha.

TL;DR: Polt has improved a lot since then and become a prominent programer, both in term of skill and PR. He looks carefree but confident in his own skill.

Polt's won many tournaments. Which one of those has been your favourite to follow?

Like I said, I only started playing and watching tourneys when HotS had been released for a while, so I'm not really knowledgeable of prior events. I did watch some vods here and there, one of them is GSL ST. I think it's my fav tournament following Polt progress (I knew beforehand that he won it though, haha). It's so nice seeing him beating LosirA, HuK, Alicia, TOP and MMA and won it all. I'm not very fond of WoL but that tournament was so nice to watch.

What do you think of Polt's move to WCS AM?

It's perfectly fine IMO. I'm not a fan of region locking. Furthermore, Polt is not only a progamer but also a student. Moving to WCS AM helps him to pursue both of his goal, so why not? People normally says WCS AM is WCS KR Tier2. I don't think so. IMO, in term of game quality, from Ro16, WCS AM is not behind WCS KR at all. Competing with players like Jaedong, Taeja, HerO etc. will keep Polt staying relevant in the top tier SC2 programer.

On the side note, I found it pretty silly when fans call him the American hero, haha.

What do you think has been Polt's most memorable game in WCS this year?

Two most memorable game actually:
Polt vs Taeja WCS AM S2 Ro4 Game 2 on Akilon Wastes
Polt vs Byul WCS AM S3 Final Game 4 on Derelict Watcher

First game: tactical genius in its finest moment, awesome decision making. His siege tank positioning and marine movement are top notch. Second game: incredible map awareness and multi-tasking. That game was so awesome I think it's his best vZ this year.

Polt's first match this tournament is against aLive, who surprising has the H2H lead against Polt. How do you think this match will play out?

Actually, in HotS,Polt only met aLive once, where he lost 1-2 (WCS AM S1). One series is not really enough to say that aLive is stronger H2H. And again, in HotS, aLive hasn't performed particularly well, 12-17 in games and 7-9 in matches vs Korean Terran, while Polt has 33-22 in games and 11-6 in matches vs Korean Terran. So if the match plays out normally, Polt will win for sure. No one can beat Polt in a Bio-Tank tug of war.

Having said that, however, even though he's an "invisible Terran", aLive is still a very strong Terran. And Polt's build is predictable, his banshee play is not very outstanding. Therefore if aLive pulls some stunts in a row, like mass reaper then proxy 2rax, upset might happen. I hope not though. We all know that when Polt's behind, he'll win. Let's hope that Polt can demonstrate his tactical genius and win convincingly.

What do you think of Polt's chances in the tournament after his opening match?

Polt's bracket quarter is hard, especially for him. After aLive, he'll have to play sOs/HerO, and after that, probably Soulkey.
Like I said, Polt's build is predictable. He might die from early aggression. And Protoss has many kind of early aggression, so it will be tough for him. Hell, I even remember he lost a map to HyuN during IEM Shanghai because of a proxy hatch.
But it's not like he has no chance. If Polt defends well, it will be another story. When he's on form, his map awareness is incredible, he just won't die in mid or late game.

During WCS S3 Final, his map awareness disappeared, you could clearly see it in his match vs Soulkey, and in the 3rd map vs Hack. I hope that won't happen again, and he can concentrate and perform at his best this weekend.

TL;DR: it will be very tough, but feasible. Go Polt!

Tell us one thing, or a story, about Polt that we might not know!

Probably not something you don't know, but something you didn't notice: like most of Asians who use English as a second language, Polt uses many adverbs to begin his sentences: "actually, I...."; "however, I...". Now go find his interviews and watch again hehehe.

If you could tell Polt one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

Play it safe and play it cool. First match is in your bag.

Any last words or shoutouts?
The Terrans will win this tournament. Any resistance will be futile!

Hey, ffadicted/LittleChimp. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a Jaedong fan.

ffa: If you were watching WCS Season 3 finals, I was one of those guys that kept screaming Jaedong at completely inappropriate times before, and quite a while after, JD had been eliminated. I am not sorry for ruining your viewing experience (I'm looking at you, guy that kept giving me dirty looks). I'm not ashamed to say I'm a new age JD fan, someone who has fallen in love with his play despite not watching a single live game from his BW days. I am the living proof that despite his rocky start and without his BW fame, the king JD is still bring in many loyal fans and admirers alike. I mean, for crying out loud, who else could make me enjoy EG? EG!@!#!

LittleChimp: On the other hand, I was a BW junkie... I was one of those guys watching VLC streams back in the day, reading pimpest plays, and playing on ICCUP (D+ oh damn). My first view of Jaedong was in the GOMTV Star Invitational. I heard big things about him, so I looked up his championship vods. His 3-1 vs. Stork in the OSL finals, and him crying in his mom's arms after winning made me a big fan. The guy has the talent, the work rate, and the charisma to go with it. Him and a select few take eSports to the next level and make it better.

It's hard to talk about Jaedong without mentioning his BW career. What were the biggest moments and stories there?

ffa: Brood War huh... yaaaa... about that lol...

LittleChimp: With his first OSL win already mentioned, off the top of my head, his match vs Lomo in the GOM Classic was something else. Jaedong's lurker fun house, his double muta groups vs. Upmagic, and his muta/wraith wars with Light. His 3 hatch spire into 5 hatch was the ZvP build I blatantly copied for months, to far less success.

ffa: Oh ya I've seen some Muta micro... sick nerd baller JD #bwnoob

Jaedong is one of the more successful KeSPA players to switch. Why is this so?

ffa: The three P's: Practice, Passion and Perseverance. Nobody can achieve the level JD achieved in Brood War without the level of practice he puts forth. And it's not just the amount of practice; I could sit in a room and play Starcraft for 8+ hours a day and I'd still suck. It's how he practices: his intelligence, his game sense, his preparation and his mindset. Developed through years of hard work, they give him an advantage over others before, during and after matches.

His passion is beyond normal as well. JD loves SC, he loves his fans, he loves the competition, and above all, he loves winning. It's what drives him forward, and drives him to the best of the best.

Lastly, his perseverance. When JD started SC2, let's be honest, he was kind of a joke. He came in as a poster child of the soon-to-be KeSPA dominance, only to later turn into the go-to target for all wants to say "I told you that was a ridiculous article" to the Elephant supporters. But embarrassing loss after loss (0-1 against Lure in Code A? 0-2 against theognis in WCS Challenger? THEOGNIS?!) was not enough to stall the Tyrant, and he continue on with his training and his will to compete, eventually turning from laughing stock to Championship caliber Zerg; one of the best in the world. These are the things that have made JD as successful as he is, and the things that have made me fall in love with both his person and his play.

LittleChimp: Jaedong is a natural work horse. He's a nice guy but I'm pretty sure he wants to literally murder his opponents while he's in that booth. The guy sweats and frowns with every loss, and won't settle for less. I believe the guy would be great to excellent at anything he had real passion for.

ffa: Oh, and he's DAMN handsome too. That probably had something to do with it... definitely had something to do with it.

What do you think has been Jaedong's most memorable game in WCS this year?

ffa: Getting revenge on Naniwalk in the Season 3 finals after losing to him in both MLG Spring Championship (0-2 in the Ro8) and Dreamhack: Stockholm (1-2 in the Semis). Sweet revenge, sweet & delicious Nani tears were had. Too bad we can't look back at it and say "hah! that's why you didn't make it to blizzcon!" (lol I'm just kidding, gogo naniwa, foreigner power unite!)

Hopefully this weekend will surpass that by a mile.... 100,000 miles to be exact...

Jaedong's first match is a big one - he's up against Mvp. How do you think this series will play out?

ffa: I think one would be hard-pressed to give Mvp the advantage here. Despite being well known for career comebacks and his live BoX planning ability, JD has just been the superior player since WCS Season 2 in every way. And if there's anybody that can rival Mvp's level of preparation here, it's the Dong. Jaedong should "outplay" him, and while Mvp is known for "outsmarting" his opponents, do you really want to put your faith in outsmarting the Tyrant of StarCraft? Didn't think so. 3-1 Jaedong.

LittleChimp: Mvp is a guy that always surprises me in big match situations. Jaedong should be fine but I think it will be close. I'm going to say 3-2 Jaedong, in a surprisingly close series.

What do you think of jaedong's chances in the tournament after his opening match? Is this Jaedong's tournament?

ffa: I could sit here and tell you that Jaedong had a tough draw in his bracket, but let's be real, EVERYBODY had a tough draw in their brackets, this is the finals of the finals (of the finals...??) of WCS. A win against friggin Mvp would reward Jaedong with a matchup between either TaeJa or Dear... TAEJA OR DEAR. That's enough to make any fan sweat, and it doesn't even get easier from there. There is also a high possibility JD will ONLY play terrans all the way to the finals of blizzcon (Mvp -> Taeja -> Maru/INnoVation), which makes me even more worried about his chances. But I'm willing to believe and cheer. JD will have a tough RO8, but if he makes it through there... the sky is the limit really, he becomes an insta-favorite if he's in that kind of shape. It will be his signal to the world that the Dong came here to play, and he's hungry for a title.

LittleChimp: I'm going to predict that Dear busts through TaeJa. With that in mind, I'd say JD's toughest match will be his second one, by far. INnoVation and duckdeok aren't pushovers either. I think the further he gets, the better his chances. The second place curse is just BS, Dong won't be held back by superstition, he's just too good.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about jaedong that we might not know!

ffa: I almost got kicked out of WCS S3 for taking this picture after being told a trillion times in lineup for signings that there were NO PICTURES ALLOWED AT ALL WITH JD (srsly, what's up with that NASL...)

LittleChimp: I have a flask with Jaedong's signature on it from WCS Toronto. What a mad baller. I also at least hope most people know about this

ffa: I also told him I loved him and I was sorry he fell so early, and he (through his translator) said that it was ok, that the crowd support and love revitalized him to keep trying his hardest, and to watch for him at blizzcon! CANADA SAVED ESPORTS!

If you could tell Jaedong one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

LittleChimp: That he still has tons of fans out there that sit with excitement at his matches. I have a feeling a lot of Brood War players are sad/complacent they don't get cheered like they used to, and that needs to change.

ffa: I would show him this masterpiece I drew for him during WCS: http://i.imgur.com/S66FBn5.jpg

LittleChimp: Then this one... http://i.imgur.com/SR4iJKV.jpg

wow JD
so skill
much handsome
very entertain
certain victory
such majestic

Any last words or shoutouts?

LittleChimp: Shout out to ffadicted for letting me get in on this, I'm super excited for the games. Shout out to Memento as well, a guy that needs his SC2 #passion restored. Thanks for the questions

ffa: I've been working on re-designing the JD fan club and bringing it back to life. PLZ come support it! I'd love to add some older materials (such as interviews, articles, historic games, pictures, fan material, etc). Come contribute and support the great pimp of all pimps!

Hey, Rescawen. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became an INnoVation fan.

Hello, my true identity is Wenlei ZhuGeLiang Dai. I am hopefully a upcoming Zerg from Finland. I was born here around 19 years ago but, both of my parents are from China. I am behind other Zergs from here such as Serral and Protosser. I am currently studying just a bit to earn a Bachelor degree in computer science in Helsinki University. Most of my time and energy goes into exercising and improving my health and practicing a few hours of SC2 a day! My biggest passion lies in SC2 and then in computer technology. Also like to cook and dance. Hence due to my love for SC2 and computers, I feel the way INnoVation plays is sort of "frameworky". Where he uses 1 build or a few basic builds and diversifies it based on dynamic information in the game. He would be a great programmer

Did you follow innovation's career in BW much? What did you think of him then?

Sadly I did not follow BW and of course not INnoVation back in the BW days. I have heard so many great things about BW, but back then I was a computer rookie nerd and was interested in computer graphics, so I overlooked the strategical depth of BW. However I did come from Age of Empires 3 community.

Let's humanise the robot for a moment - what's your favourite innovation nickname?

One thing that stands out and is also a huge reason why I love INnoVation is his conviction during his play. Hence I like to be a fanboy to think of his as Convictus Innovativus Bogus!

What do you think has been INnoVation's most memorable game in WCS this year?

I think the most memorable game was his absolute dominance during the early days of him perfecting the parade push. A game against HyuN on Bel'Shir Vestige, where he showed absolute and complete dominance in such a perfect manner. His game against TaeJa in season 2 finals Newkirk Precinct TE game 3 of the series was probably the most entertaining game this year.

INnoVation has possibly one of the easier matchups in the RO16, as he faces duckdeok. What you do think of the match?

duckdeok is player with decent macro play and strong all in play. However Korean ladder has been dominated by Protoss for a while now, so I don't think Innovation could be taken off guard more than once. In the worst case scenario where he gets a map with an all in or plays really well in macro, Innovation should still be able to close it out 3-2.

After duckdeok, he may have to face the Terran that 4-0'd him, Maru. What should INnoVation look out for, and how should he prepare? What do you think of INnoVation's chances in the tournament after his opening match?

I guess Dear will be someone that is daunting and has a fearsome reputation as of late. They train with each other and respect each other, so that will be a close call. TvT is a very big question mark, but INnoVation is confident in it. Maru will be tricky assuming he beats MC. And if Bomber or MMA are in prime condition to meet INnoVation in the finals, it will be a very difficult match for him.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about INnoVation that we might not know!

Every game in a Code S level finals I have cheered for INnoVation, he has won. So let me tell you a story about INnoVation vs Soulkey in GSL finals. It was the same day as my high school graduation ceremony. I was watching it on iphone in the morning in the last day of school. I was quite happy and very confident. He has leading 1-0, then 2-0 and then 3-0. Sadly I had to put the phone away as we entered to the auditorium. I could not watch due to social tension and pressure. The principal was on the stage and everyone was quiet. I so desperately wanted to watch, but could not due to being so easily spotted out of crowd of silence and heads staring at the same direction. I started to feel a little weak and suddenly I looked up and had this mysteriously special feeling of the angel falling (not literally), soon after the ceremony ended and I walked out. Immediately I took out the phone, and opened up TL livethread. I clicked on results and for the first time ever there was a sub-spoiler inside the results spoiler. So I clicked it and fainted a bit. I felt so sad with a bit of guilt and disappointment. To be sure I even checked liquipedia. After a week summer vacation started and I watched INnoVation vs sOs finals all the games super excited, he won all the games. Btw TaeJa tvt too good :D and DH not code s level final :D

If you could tell INnoVation one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

I really hope INnoVation takes a step back and starts using drops way more again. When it comes to Terran drop play INnoVation and MMA are the very best. However INnoVation is also really strong in his main battle control while MMA lacks in that. Even though Terran seems be to weakest in terms statistics at the moment, I hope INnoVation can stretch Terran once again into the race it is meant to be where you can drop and push at the same time with high tempo and show complete dominance!

Any last words or shoutouts?

Shoutout to Gumba for being such an awesome Innovation fan. Shoutout to the community for being so positive and hyped for Blizzcon this year! Please follow me on twitter @Zhugeliangsc2

Hey, Shock710. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First off, give us a small introduction about yourself, and how you became a Soulkey fan.

Hi, I'm me lol. Love bw, love sc2 (Soulkey especially ) I normally hang out with ABL people (dont think badly of me ) Im on TL like literally 10-12 hours a day, so shoot me a pm to chat I'm very nice and I love getting pm's<---that apostrophe is very important.

I don't remember the exact point I became a Soulkey fan, I played zerg in BW so I always rooted for the Zerg players (Calm, Jaedong, Zero were my top favourites for a while) and Soulkey was Zero's teammate so naturally YEAH! Another Zerg to cheer for (also Zero and him were the starters of the queen play vs mech, but there was this one game vs Bogus (or INnoVation now) on Ground Zero, it was this epic epic game of mech vs zerg, Soulkey played absolutely amazing, amazing control, macro, multitasking harassment it was beautiful and showed how a mobile army could just dance around an immobile mech army. While I was already a Soulkey fan by default that game, I guess that game cemented my love for soulkey.

Did you follow Soulkey's career in BW much? What did you think of him then? Tell us about a particularly memorable game of his.

Er...i answer some of this in the bit above oops. I definitely love him I cheer for him every time I strongly believe one of the best, I can definitely see him winning the WCS Global Finals.

Seeing as I did one memorable game from BW, ill say one about SC2 even though Soulkey lost this game to INnoVation (a while back it was on Whirlwind) that game Soulkey played perfectly through out the early and mid game, shutting down Bogus and every turn and constant ling-bane runbys, but a slight miscontrol where Bogus set a drop at his 4th while attacking at his 3rd, sSoulkey had sent a group of ling bane to deal with the drop, but when he saw the force approaching the 3rd he pulled everything back (maybe control group mistake or he just used the army button which grabbed everything) and from there things were just over, continued solid play won Bogus the game, but I wanted to point out that without that misstep Soulkey would be heading into the lategame with a solid advantage. I'm sure he's ironed out his play for the world finals

What about Soulkey's play has made him one of the best KeSPA zergs in SC2, while other strong KeSPA BW zergs aren't as good?

Soulkey just has better mechanics, his understanding of early game and mid game ZvTis just amazing. Even towards the end of BW Soulkey was starting to shine through, even past his old mentor and teammate ZerO, it's definitely carrying through into SC2 so thats nice

Better mechanics, better understanding and an quenched thirst from his rising BW days.

What do you think has been Soulkey's most memorable game in WCS this year?

I think everyone remembers Soulkeys last game vs INnoVation in the Season 1 finals, while INnoVation did make a blunder it shows Soulkey's ability to capitalise on mistakes. INnoVation fell behind, and Soulkey crushed him without giving an inch.

As the #1 seed, Soulkey is up against the foreign hope of this tournament in the RO16, NaNiwa. Is this an easy match for Soulkey? How will it pan out?

Hmm everything seems to be in Soulkey's favour for this match, losing 0-4 to dear isn't something you can take into account imo, after the first games it didn't feel like Soulkey, I'm 100% sure we'll be seeing the true Soulkey at the finals (O_O that's right calling him in the finals).

If Soulkey gets deeper into the tournament, which players are you most concerned about for him? How do you think his chances of winning look like?

The bracket looks really nice for Soulkey, INnoVation is all the way on the other side, and no other Terran will be a threat to Soulkey, they only look good cause they haven't been playing vs him

Let's say Soulkey makes the finals. Which opponent would you like him most to face?

hmmm Soulkey vs Mvp would be nice, with Soulkey of course winning hehehe time for a new king.

Tell us one thing, or a story, about Soulkey that we might not know!

Artosis thinks he looks like a monkey

If you could tell Soulkey one thing before his match at Blizzcon, what would it be?

hmm...don't press the army button.

Any last words or shoutouts?

okkayyy i have a ton, cause i dont some people might kill me...shout out to aerisky, divinO, shiroiusagi, motbob, vGl-cow, cam connor, quails, dravenor, blind-rawr, archas, brain, jasper, palmar, mysterymeat1, marttorn, azera, farvcola, aimhere, blazinghand, dna, firebolt45, stonajakey, thomasjservo, packrat386...um i starting to forget i think thats all...i deliberately left out two people their shoutout is in here
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