[Interview] ACE vs KTF winners!

ACE's OversKy managed to achieve his 10th victory this season, and helped to end his team's 11 consecutive loss streak.

He managed to defeat KTF's 'ultimate weapon' Flash in the first set of the Shinhan Bank Proleague 08-09 Round 4 Week 2 Day 4's match, held on the 21st of April, 1830KST at the Yongsan e-Sports Indoor Stadium.

The following is the interview with Oversky.

- Your thoughts on ending the 11 consecutive loss streak.
▲ I think that our team's morale and mood is much better than before, starting the previous match. That is why we thought that we will win today, but we did not expect to win 3:1 and not having to play the ace match. Although Flash did not appear in the previous game, another person said in an interview that Flash prepared something special, so I was very worried. I believed that our team could win if I won, and it proceeded smoothly as I thought.

- You defeated Flash, who has a large number of wins.
▲ He is a great player, and because of that, he might have had enough confidence to play on Battle Royal, but I think that he used a strategy that was not as good as I anticipated. I practiced for today's game, but the number of practice matches was less than 20, which I thought was not enough. I practiced mostly with Private (the army's rank) ClouD, but because Flash practiced with players from many different teams, I could not even practice with CJ, who is my former team. That is why the only players I practiced with who are from other teams are MBC's 910 and Light. But Cloud played during practice almost exactly the same way as it was played today. Going for fast expand, going mech and opting for a mid-late game was almost the same strategy as what I had practiced against.

- This is only the beginning, but your thoughts on Battle Royal being labeled a Zerg-favored map?
▲ It is true that it favors Zerg heavily. But Zerg players have to constantly adjust to the variety of strategies that the Terran player can use. I think that while it is true that the map favors Zerg, Terran too can find strategies that can work to their benefit in time to come.

- This is your second consecutive victory in Round 4. What helped to change your team's morale and mood?
▲ I felt how good it was when I defeated strong players after I joined ACE. I always boosted my morale by defeating ace players from other teams when my passion for the game was lost. And because I defeated Flash today, I think that it will provide me strength and continue my winning streak. Personally speaking, I did not think that I will be able to defeat Flash because of my lack of practice. I think that I managed to overcome today's game through lots of improvisation.

- Reach managed to achieve the first ever 100 Proleague wins.
▲ I felt very sorry for win when he kept losing right in the face of achieving the 100 wins. I wish to congratulate him for his 100th win today. He must have felt very frustrated when other players are also aiming for 100 wins and catching up, so it feels even better to have achieved his 100th win and win today's match today. We jokingly said to him, "Treat us to a 100-man won (t/l note: 1million won, but I used 100-man won because of the relation to his 100th win) meal", but I think that would be impossible since we are in the army (laughs). But I hope he will treat us once we are discharged from the army.

- GoRush has joined the Zerg line-up, following YellOw. How is ACE's Zerg line up?
▲ In the past, if there were any maps that slightly favored the Zerg, we could only focus on one match up instead of other match ups that we lacked. But right now, if my condition is not good or if there is a lack of practices against other races, we have more options to choose from. And YellOw and GoRush is practicing a lot. Our team used to have a weak Zerg line up, but with the addition of YellOw and GoRush, I believe that by working together and having great synergy among the three of us, we will produce good results. That is why my expectations are high.

- The next team you are facing is the smooth-sailing SKTelecom.
▲ I heard that SKTelecom players are practicing a lot, and because the new maps allow a variety of strategies and builds to be used, I think they will adjust very quick to the new maps. I will prepare with this point in mind. We managed to win today through strategic plays, but for our next match (against SKTelecom), we will have to put ourselves in their shoes and practice with that in mind.

- Anything you wish to specially say?
▲ We have finally ended our losing streak. Even before Anytime and Reach joined us, we were not this bad. Our recent results were not that good, but we will produce good results for the remaining matches of Round 4, as well as in Round 5.

'Hero Protoss' Reach has become the first player to achieve a total of 100 wins in Proleague, writing a page in the history of e-Sports.

He managed to defeat KTF's 'Vanquisher' fOrGG in the third set of the Shinhan Bank Proleague 08-09 Round 4 Week 2 Day 4's match, held on the 21st of April, 1830KST at the Yongsan e-Sports Indoor Stadium.

The following is the interview with Reach.

- You have finally succeeded in hitting the score of the first ever 100 Proleague wins.
▲ Actually I thought that it would be great if I could achieve 100 Proleague wins first. On the other hand, I thought to myself whether 100 wins was indeed so great. There is still a long way to go, so I will not be satisfied, and rather, I'm more happy with ending my losing streak. I was very burdened by people talking about me achieving 100 wins, but now that I have succeeded, it feels like it has been reset to 0 wins, and with that thought, I can play with my mind at ease.

- You were at a 3-game losing streak with 99 wins. Did you feel pressured by your opponents?
▲ My honest feeling was that I wanted to quickly achieve 100 wins and get rid of any feelings that could burden me. But trying not to be pressured by what people were telling me one-by-one was much harder than I thought. That is why I could not say I was not interested in the results that Jaedong and NaDa were producing. I think that is just my personality. If it were another person's personality, he may have enjoyed it, but I honestly felt very burdened.

- What thoughts did you have as today's game slowly approached?
▲ It was the same thought I had since the start of Round 4. I wanted to empty my mind, but I kept on being burdened by what people around me were saying. That is why I kept thinking to myself to empty my mind and play according to how I practiced. Today's strategy was due to the help of everyone's contributions.

- You opted for a proxy robotics facility.
▲ Today's strategy was recommended by Samsung Khan's JangBi. To tell you the truth, I did not practice enough due to the many matches that took place recently. But then, Jangbi asked me "How about a proxy robotics?" and I tried it out during practice, and it was quite a good strategy. Before this, I played normally, and did not harass my opponents at all, which allowed my Terran opponents to play as they had planned. That is why I chose a proxy robotics in order to constantly harass my Terran opponent and not allow him to play as how he practiced. Also, during practice my proxy robotics was always discovered, so I decided to build it right in the center, where it was rarely scouted. My prepared strategy worked well, and overall the game proceeded smoothly. I wanted to end it with just one single blow, but there were some dangerous moments for me mid-game. Anyway, I won and our team won, so I'm happy.

- Any new targets, since you have achieved your 100 wins?
▲ I think to myself that today's win was not the 100th win, and that my total wins is 0 instead. I want to start off again with '0 wins', and be the first to achieve '100 wins' again. I want to play with that thought in mind. I want to speak out loud and firmly readjust my thinking before I start playing again.

- Your most memorable victory among the 100 wins?
▲ My match against Stork was the most memorable. I was at a 13-game losing streak, and there were some games that were so bad, even I thought to myself, "Did I really play such games" as I watched them. But through that day's victory, I managed to gain a lot of confidence. I think that it is because of that day's victory that I was able achieve my 100th win today. That game (against Stork) was my 91st win, but even then, there were many people who wondered if I would stop at 90 wins. But I managed to win 10 games after joining ACE.

- What was your most difficult period during your life as a progamer?
▲ It would be the time when I was at a 13-game losing streak (t/l note: 1v1s only, 2v2s not included). That was the most difficult period of my life, and I think that my first win after joining ACE was the turning point of my life. That was how much that game meant to me, and led me thinking that "Anything is possible, as long as I try". It was through that game that I gained self-confidence and allowed me not to give up so easily in-game. It was because of Stork that I started slumping, and it was also because of Stork that I managed to recover from the slump. Stork gave me both sadness and happiness (laughs)

- Your opponents today who helped you achieve your 100 wins was your former team, KTF.
▲ From KTF's perspective, the third set was an important game for them in order to win today, so I feel a bit sorry for them. I wanted to smile wholeheartedly, but it was because of that fact that I could not be so happy. KTF always took good care of me (while I was there), so I felt sorry.

- Any last words?
▲ I have so many things to say. If you do not want to win anymore, then you should give up being a progamer. But after I achieved my 99th win, I felt a great amount of burden. After that one win against Stork, I did not think too much about the games that I was going to play in, and I was able to practice with a clear mind. But after my 99th win, I had too many complicated thoughts about my games, and felt so burdened that I could not sleep well. Other players might face the same difficulties, but for me, after my 99th win, the burden was very heavy, and my state of mind was in a mess. I think that I do not perform as well under pressure, so from now onwards, I will be able to sleep well and play without any pressure.
Among the players I would like to thank are Jangbi and Stork. I always seek for advice from the two of them before my matches. We are on good terms, and those two give me a lot of help. They managed to help me through something I have never thought of, and for that, I am very grateful. I am also thankful towards my teammates who noticed that I was under a lot of pressure in the face of 100 wins. I should have won faster, but I could not, so I was very sorry for that.
I would also like to thank the players of KTF MagicNs. The KTF players helped me greatly in helping me achieve 100 wins. I am also on close terms with Ongamenet's camera director, and he gave me some mint candies and Choco-pie (t/l note: a delicious snack, try it someday) today, telling me to achieve my 100th victory. I think I managed to achieve my 100th win today because of his mint candy, and because of that, I am grateful.
There are many more people who I would like to thank, but there is too many to thank them one by one.
Last but not least, I am thankful to all my fans. Thinking that I may feel pressured, they supported me silently, and gave me a lot of strength. During my first attempt to achieve 100 wins, they even prepared rice cakes, but because I lost that day, they stopped bringing the rice cakes (laughs). It was because of my fans that I was able to perform well, and I look forward to your continued support. I can now play without feeling any pressure, and my fans too can likewise watch me play without feeling any pressure.
Oh, I almost forgot. I also want to thank everyone who continues to look out for and supports our Air Force ACE team.

Casy capitalized on his opponent's early scouting mistake and claimed victory, finally ending his team's 11 game losing streak.

He managed to defeat KTF's FireFist in the fourth set of the Shinhan Bank Proleague 08-09 Round 4 Week 2 Day 4's match, held on the 21st of April, 1830KST at the Yongsan e-Sports Indoor Stadium.

The following is the interview with Casy.

- Your thoughts on ending your team's 11 game losing streak.
▲ I feel very emotional. Everytime I looked at our team's record, I felt embarrassed, and even felt frustrated. I feel sorry for my coach, and I am so embarrassed in front of my fans that I do not know what to say. We finally managed to end our losing streak. Our future matches will be very important, and I will need to many games in order to get rid of my sense of shame for all the recent losses.

- You must have started off not knowing about your opponent's drone scouting mistake.
▲ I did not know about it right until the end of the game. Rather than calling it a mistake, I think that he was just way too cautious about my proxy 8 rax.. I think that is why he only scouted if there was a proxy barracks. My build today involved a lot of mind games with my Zerg opponent. I went for 9 supply 9 rax, so even if the Zerg started off with more economic advantage, my barracks was fast, so I was able to do some damage early game. The many different combos that I used after using my vultures played an important role in the mind games.

- You finally managed to win after a long time.
▲ I did not perform well recently, so I was very sorry for my higher-ranked and lower-ranked teammates. If I was able to perform well when Private First Class Reach and Anytime were performing well, then I think we would have done much better. I was nervous even until right before the match today, but luckily it turned out well

- Reach managed to achieve the first ever 100 Proleague wins.
▲ Private First Class Reach went through a lot of hardship. He really practiced hard, but I think the fact that he was close to 100 wins was too much for him. He played today once again trying hard not to think too much about it, and I am glad that he managed to win. I hope that he can continue and even achieve 200 or 300 wins.

- GoRush will be joining the players' bench, starting today.
▲ I played a practice match against him, and I was very amazed by his performance. He managed to adjust very quick, putting aside the fact that he managed to rest a lot in the training center, and because he managed to do well in the army as well, I think he will able to play pretty soon. I feel reassured.

- Everyone did perform so well in the Winner's League. If you were to pick the cause of that...
▲ We did not feel so good right from the start of the Winner's League. We were very uncomfortable during practice, and there were many times when we played without hardly any practice. There were so many maps that we needed to practice on as compared to the Proleague format, so it felt as though we had no organisational structure. Also, the fact that we had to prepare for all 3 racial match ups on each maps made it extremely difficult for us.

- Any final words?
▲ I would like to thank WeMade FOX's keke, RorO and Shine[kaL], as well as Samsung Khan's Rarity who helped me out during practice.