Anyway, Fomos did an interview with the first ever Terran to win on Battle Royal, Light. This weekly interview section is called 'Weekly Ratings'.
Light: "As long as my opponent is a Zerg on Battle Royal, I have full confidence in winning."
"I was prepared for any strategy."
"I was prepared for any strategy."
Weekly Ratings is a corner that focuses on matches that are highly rated by both Fomos' reporters and netizens alike. One match will be selected every week (from every Monday until the end of the week), and not only does it have to have a high rating by the netizens and reporters, but it is also picked based on the players' performance.
The third issue of May will be focusing on the match where 'Super Terran' Light defeated Woongjin's ace member, ZerO on the map called 'Battle Royal', also dubbed 'The Zerg's land'.
On the 17th of May, 2009, history was written as a Terran player defeated a Zerg on Battle Royal for the first time, in the first set between Woongjin Stars and MBCGame Hero, held in the Yongsan e-Sports Indoor Stadium. Light played differently from other Terrans who once challenged the map, opting for bionic build instead of mechanic build, and after he easily fended off the two lurkers that went to harass his natural expansion, he played safely and took the win. With his win that day, he ended his losing streak and did what no other Terrans - KTF's Flash, eSTRO's UpMaGiC, WeMade FOX's NaDa and others - could do - defeating a Zerg on Battle Royal.
In the Winners' Interview, Light revealed that when he was sure that he had won the game, he was "suddenly reminded of all the difficulties he had faced during practice", and that he was "almost on the verge of crying".
Light's play received a perfect 10 out of 10 by Fomos' reporters, and also received an average of 9.1 out of 10 by the 26 netizens who were asked to rate his play.
The following is the interview with Light.
- How do you feel to be selected for 'Weekly Ratings'?
▲ Putting the map aside, I am happy that our team won 3:0 through my victory. I have lived a long life with titles to my name, but to be picked for 'Weekly Ratings' is something new (laughs).
- It must have been a meaningful game, as you have become the first Terran to win on Battle Royal.
▲ I wanted to be sent out, despite the fact that there has never been a Terran who won on this map.
- All the Terrans up til now have chosen to go mechanic build (T/L note: I'm guessing they're talking about skipping Valkyies, since Nada and a few others went Valkyrie -> Marine and Medic.), but you chose to go for a bionic build. What was your reason?
▲ If one goes for mechanic build, they are giving the Zerg too much time to prepare, so they end up playing with a large economy. If one chooses to go bionic and his assimilators aren't destroyed, the rush distance becomes significantly shorter, and hence, Terrans can hold their on on their map. I think my mindset of not allowing the Zerg to get as much gas as they want helped me greatly.
If the Terran goes for the mechanic build, they have to hope that the Zerg doesn't go certain builds or else there will be a high chance that they might lose, although it is true that mechanic builds are very strong against Zerg. That was actually what I had prepared, but if I had played mechanic yesterday, I would have lost too. I think choosing bionic over mechanic yesterday was the key reason why I was able to win.
- Your defense against lurkers was perfect.
▲ I already experienced such situations during practice. I practiced against every possible scenario, and amongst all, playing against lurker build was the easiest for me, so if it were to come out in a live match, I was confident I could defend against it.
- Practice must have had been very tough.
▲ On other maps, the winning rate should be around 70, 80% but on Battle Royal, it was only 60%. Fans may say, "Isn't 60% win rate very good?", but I believe that when one has to play on stage, they need to make sure their strategy is close to 100% success rate, hence I was very nervous. That was because my practice partners were only helping me with practice, and if I couldn't even defeat them, my actual performance on stage would be much, much worse.
- Your recent matches have been solid, yet you have suffered many losses.
▲ I have stopped being nervous recently. That wasn't the problem however, and I think it had to do with my complacency. My recent games have been good so I got complacent a lot, and I think that was the reason for my many losses. I am working hard on that.
- Any final words to your fans?
▲ I managed to defeat a Zerg on Battle Royal, so who wouldn't I be able to defeat on any other maps? I will work hard, so I look forward to your support in the future.
Source: Fomos.kr
tl;dr: Zergs should not go lurker.