[Interview] Survivor Group 1's and 2's Winners

Shine has managed to defeat the 'Survivor King' Canata and has successfully qualified for the MSL.

Shine has finally managed to qualify for the MSL after 4 seasons, after defeating Hite Sparkyz' YellOw[ArnC] and Canata consecutively in the 2009 MSL Survivor Tournament Season 1, Group 1 which was held on the 16th of April, his last MSL qualification being the GomTV MSL Season 4.

He managed to make a good impression of his skills against Zergs after defeating his former teammate Yellow[Arnc], and ended up as a draw against Canata in the winner's match, which lasted over 1 hour 16 minutes. Shine defended calmly against Canata's attacks, and used dropships aggressively in the rematch, which eventually caused Canata to finally taste his first defeat in the Survivor tournament.

The following is the interview with Shine.

- Your thoughts on your MSL qualification.
▲ It's a very meaningful qualification. It has been a long time since my last qualification. It has been a rough time lately, so today's qualification is even more meaningful.

- You played a very tough game against Canata.
▲ Honestly speaking, I was at a serious disadvantage, so I quickly wanted a rematch. But, Canata being at an advantage, he did not want a rematch. I was just calmly thinking of my next match.

- Your thoughts on the change in the format of the Survivor Tournament.
▲ This might be good for players who are active on both individual leagues and Proleagues. But for players like me (who are not active in the Proleague), it might be a shaky month ahead. But in my opinion, being able to prepare precisely for the remaining matches is an advantage for me.

- Did you receive any advice from your coaching staff after the draw?
▲ They told me that I should play according to my own pace, as they said it was okay for me to drag the game longer. They helped me to focus and control my mindset, and Hoejja, who played later, helped me too. It helped me to relax.

- You seem to have defeated your close friends one after another to finally qualify.
▲ I defeated HoGiL a few days back, and today I defeated Yellow[Arnc]. I also defeated Canata, who I am quite familiar with. Because of that, I feel that I have to do even better.

- You seem to be playing well recently.
▲ I do not know if this is just my own thinking, but I think I did pretty well during the preliminaries. I made good use of what Flash taught me. Both of my games today reflected that.

- Does this mean that you are learning how to play like Flash well?
▲ fOrGG has a totally different playing style from mine, so I am not interested (laughs). At first, I learnt from Flash by watching his games. He was ranked number 1, and his playing style was similar to mine. When I was in OnGameNet Sparkyz (now Hite Sparkyz), I tried to learn from Leta, but it was very difficult. On a personal scale, I feel that I am learning a lot from KTF, and despite sharing the same room with Flash and forGG, I do not feel stressed at all, and it is very fun to be with them.

- Any final words?
▲ It has been too easy. I have been playing so well that I am starting to think that it is weird. Everything has been going well after the preliminaries. I feel that I can go pretty far because of this good feeling.

'Lightning Emperor' Free has successfully qualified for his 8th consecutive MSL.

Free has placed his name in the MSL after defeating SKTelecom T1's n.die_soo and HoeJJa in the 2009 MSL Survivor Tournament Season 1, Group 2 which was held on the 16th of April at the MunRaeDong LOOX Hero Center.

The following is the interview with Free.

- Your thoughts on your 8th consecutive MSL qualificiation.
▲ I could not practice well this time. I did not prepare for the winner's match, but I think luck was on my side. I feel that MSL is something that I will always qualify for. I must definitely be seeded in this MSL so that I do not have to participate in the next Survivor Tournament.

- You waited very long.
▲ I was tired. I thought that matches will end quicker after the change in the Survivor Tournament's format, so I came early. But the (earlier) matches ended way too late, so I was very tired.

- If you were to rate the new format?
▲ Progamers are usually tight on schedule. I think that it is okay for busy progamers. I came today thinking that 'it's okay to lose today, since I have another chance next time.'

- How were your matches today?
▲ I played so badly that I felt disappointed in myself. I barely lost while practicing for the first match, but I did not play as well as I thought, so I was very disappointed. I will practice hard to show you my fullest in the MSL.

- Your matches against Zergs were impressive. Did you think about playing against 3 Zergs in the MSL?
▲ Even if I wanted to, the seeded players won't help me (laughs). I will practice hard for games against Terran and Protoss so that I will be confident no matter the match up.

- There is still a lot of time left til the MSL. How are you going to plan your practice schedule?
▲ There was a moment halfway through the Proleague season when we were first. Everyone is practicing hard to achieve that once again. I will practice mainly for Proleague, but of course, I will not neglect practicing for the individual leagues.

- Any final words?
▲ A member of my fan cafe (mini fansite) by the name of 'offgeegi' is celebrating his birthday today. I hope he will remain active. Our team is currently ranked 7th in the Proleague rankings, and we are practicing really hard to show what we are truly capable of in future matches. Also, Masio from our team was recently promoted from B Team to A Team, only to fall ill and to return hope. I hope that he recovers quickly and joins us soon.