[Spoiler] e-Stars League Day 1 Winner Interviews

Just epic games.

Genius Terran Nada, "Now that I'm actually playing in it, this tournament is harder than both the MSL and OSL"
"The value of winning in this tournament is huge"

- You pulled off a difficult victory against Nal_rA
▲ At first because my gameplay went smoothly I fell under the false impression that I could just play leisurely. Because I captured a lot of probes and destroyed his nexus, I thought I couldn’t lose but his storms did a LOT of damage. But I never lost hope and was able to win the game in the end.

- You finally played KwangDahlRok for the first time in a while~ how do you feel?
▲ I felt this today – Nal_rA is without a doubt a S-class progamer. He still has plenty of game sense. Every match has been so entertaining. Though today’s match was difficult, I think future games will also prove to be hard. There’s (T)

iloveoov hyung and also (Z)

sAviOr. This is definitely not going to be an easy tournament.

- Because you’re an active player you probably felt more pressure to win in this match.
▲ The pressure was huge. Since I’m an active player, if I don’t produce good results that would look extremely bad. I’m definitely going to try my utmost hardest. Just like today, I will never lose hope.

- In this tournament, who do you think will be your toughest opponent?
▲ I believe iloveoov hyung would be the most difficult opponent. I think iloveoov hyung will think I’m easy. Because he’s also good at mindgames, I keep thinking I’ll just be beaten. Since sAviOr is also an active player, I know he won’t be an easy opponent either; these are all games I don’t want to lose.

- Although this is a special event tournament, the weight of it must still be huge.
▲ Though this is a special event tournament, now that I’m actually playing in it, it’s harder than both the MSL and OSL. I really can’t afford to lose. So of course, my goal is to win the whole thing.

- Is there a player you would want to play in the finals?
▲ I think no matter who I play, the finals will be epic. However, I want to end up playing sAviOr in the finals. To play iloveoov hyung would be awesome as well. If (T)

ToSsGirL gets to the finals, I think I’ll have to lose on purpose. This is because all of Korea’s males will probably be cheering for her.

- This tournament is going to help a lot in getting out of your recent slump.
▲ I really believe it will be of a lot of help. The experience of playing in front of many spectators is very valuable. The value of winning in this tournament is huge. So I plan on working even harder and taking this tournament even more seriously.

- Words for your fans?
▲ It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve done an interview. Though recently our team hasn’t been doing so well, in the remaining part of this season I want to display good results in Heritage and various tournaments to uplift our morale a bit. I hope more people will come to show support.

- Your next match is against Kingdom who will soon become a commentator.
▲ Nostalgia isn’t a good map [for terran] (laughs). It favors protoss. I’m honestly a bit scared. I’m not sure how Nostalgia will play out now but I remember in the past Nostalgia was hard to play for terran. Kingdom hyung is also a title holder. I’ll definitely have to prepare hard.

Source: Nada's Original Interview

Storm Zerg Yellow, "I felt a lot of pressure to win"
"If I can get into the next round, I think it's definitely possible to win the whole thing"

- Your feelings on your first win?
▲ Having won my first win in this Heritage Tournament, I feel as though I’ve started off on the right foot and feel happy about it. I won against (T)

ToSsGirL, and because I’ve had issues with her in the past, I felt a lot of pressure to win. In order to not lose under any circumstances, I prepared with the mindset that this was not ToSsGirL but just any old terran I was playing. I was able to scout early in the game and I believe that was key.

- You played against ToSsGirL.
▲ Though there aren’t many games played by ToSsGirL, I searched and noticed she acts as though she is using a strategic play then just plays standard often. So in practice for today’s game, I focused on playing the mid to late game. However, because the game ended so early on, I was a bit surprised but because I won, I’m happy.

- Though you had a lot of issues with ToSsGirL, now that you look back on it what do you think?
▲ In the past, I lost to ToSsGirL in the WCG prelims. Because I heard so much shit after that loss I don’t think there’s anything I can say now that’d be good. I’m now a game ahead in head to heads and I hope I never have to play her again in the future.

- What did you think when you saw the organization of groups for this tournament?
▲ The organization of groups for this tournament was actually set up randomly through lottery draws but the groups came out as if someone had rigged them. It’s a relief that only two of us will advance (per group). Two players from our group will advance and I will have to make it so that (T)

BoxeR hyung and ToSsGirL drop out early on (laughs).

- BoxeR said that he’d never lose to you yesterday.
▲ He just normally doesn’t like losing to me. I saw yesterday’s game and I don’t know where he got the confidence to say something like that (laughs). I think he said that because the map is Nostalgia. There’s no gas in the nat and it’s hard for zerg. However, I will definitely prepare a lot. Because it’s a 4 player map, I don’t think he’ll bunker rush. Since that match will be during the latter part of the tournament, I will have to prepare a lot.

- Your next match is your teammate Reach.
▲ It’s my first time having to play a teammate after my enlistment. Because we have a proleague match today, we’re not even going to have much time to practice. But because I have experience playing on Outsider, I’m confident.

- Is there a player you want to meet at a high level (t/n: i.e.: high rounds of a tournament)
▲ I think every player has their strong/weak points. I want to meet the older players in the higher levels of the tournament. I think those matches would just soak in nostalgic aroma. However, I would also love playing a match against a very strong opponent. Later today, we have a match against Hwaseung, and I wanted to play (Z)

Jaedong. I think all progamers always want to play top-tier players.

- What is your goal for this particular tournament?
▲ Because I have two teammates in my group, my initial goal is to move on to the next round. If I can get 1st or 2nd place and play in the next round, I believe winning the whole thing is a definite possibility.

- Last words you want to say?
▲ While practicing for the match against ToSsGirL, I didn’t have many terran practice partners so it was difficult. I want to thank Samsung Khan’s (T)

Miracle, some amateur players whose names I don’t know, and amateur player Kwon Soon Bum.

Source: Yellow's Original Interview

Lol ouch - doesn't sound like he's such a tossgirl fan.

Maestro Savior, "I will work hard to win"
"I worked hard to play as safely as possible"

- Your feelings on your first win in this tournament?
▲ Being able to meet and see all my old gamer hyungs in one spot was so nice. I think this is a good opportunity. (P)

Kingdom hyung is becoming a commentator after being SK Telecom’s coach for a while, and after playing him today I think he’s still a very skilled player.

- You played Devil Toss Kingdom.
▲ I wasn’t able to play against him many times even when he was an active player. Honestly, I didn’t even know what our head-to-head stats were. Today he said he had practiced a lot, so I tried my hardest to play as safely as possible.

- From the perspective of an active player, this tournament can put a lot of pressure on you.
▲ For as much pressure I feel, I’m enjoying this tournament, and rather I believe being an active player gives me an advantage. Since I have the fortune of being an active player, I don’t think it’s accurate to say I only feel pressure.

- Your fans overseas chose you as a strong candidate for winning this tournament.
▲ I’m very thankful to hear that the foreign fans feel that way. In order to live up to those expectations, I will practice hard for this tournament. It’s a short tournament, and I’ve always performed strongly in these types of tournaments. Because I have good memories, I will work hard.

- Did you see today’s match of active player vs. retired player / NaDa vs. Nal_rA?
▲ Honestly, if it’s a player who was of a certain caliber, even if he hasn’t played for a while, it shouldn’t be hard for the player to increase his level of play again to a certain level. Today, Nal_rA hyung wasn’t one-sidedly defeated by NaDa hyung. Although the retired players are not active anymore, these players are definitely players I can still potentially lose to. In terms of the players who are active, though there is the advantage of knowing their current play style, I will definitely not lose focus for that reason.

- Is there a player you specifically want to play if you get to the finals?
▲ I want to play (T)

BoxeR hyung. BoxeR hyung has left the army, and he is currently working very hard in SK Telecom. Though I wasn’t able to see his game yesterday, I heard he lost very unfortunately. Hearing that he lost “unfortunately” is proof that he hasn’t lost his gaming abilities. I will definitely get to the finals – I hope he will meet me there.

- All the matches in this tournament seem like they will draw a lot of interest.
▲ There are a lot of old players here, and all of them have impressive title holds. They also have a lot of fame and recognition. I’m so happy that we can meet together like this after such a long time. I also talked a lot with them. After working in different fields, I’m happy that we can meet again as players.

- You’re facing a match with iloveoov next.
▲ I was initially calm about it. However, my fans sent me a request to please win. But even without such requests, I will win. Because tomorrow we’re meeting player to player, game to game, I hope I can do well.

- Last words you want to say?
▲ It was so nice seeing so many players after such a long time. Though I’m pretty young, I’ve become more associated with the older gamers. I’ve played a lot of games with these older players, and though I’m kind of in the middle (t/n: in terms of old gamers/new gamers), it’s really been so great seeing them all again and remembering old times.

Source: Savior Original Interview

Emperor BoxeR, "The game played out better than I thought it would"
"It seems like everyone is working hard to enhance the image of the tournament"

- Your feelings on your first win in this tournament?
▲ Before the game started, I asked if in-game chatting was allowed and was told no. Since there was a referee, I already anticipated that this would be a serious tournament (laughs). I took it seriously and practiced a lot. Though my winning percentage during practice wasn’t so great, because I did well in this tournament, I’m satisfied.

- You won in a macro battle.
▲ I had been building the tech necessary for 2-1 upgrades, and I felt that my location was slightly disadvantageous. It was hard trying to secure a line, and (P)

Reach was able to break through that line using this advantage. However, once I got past that danger, I was able to win by leading in the macro game.

- Your macro today was impressive.
▲ Today just played out very well (laughs). I recently focused on working on macro and I think that helped a lot. But today, I feel like I was able to play well without superfluous decisions.

- In an advantageous situation, you never overdid anything and were careful.
▲ Today when I had almost won I thought of yesterday’s game and made sure not to overdo anything. Because there was nothing for Reach to do at that timing except recall, I made sure to prepare for it as securely as possible. I tried my hardest to complete only difficult plays and it’s a relief that things played out the way I intended.

- How is it to see all these old gamers in one spot again?
▲ The people that are now commentating, the people that are now coaching – I thought all these players would lose against the active players. But I think everyone has practiced very hard. It makes me happy to see that the players are working hard to enhance the image of this tournament

- Your next match is against Anytime.
▲ I will go home and practice hard again. For today’s game, an online trainiee player named Suk Tae Soo helped me a lot. I lost a lot to him (laughs). There was the game yesterday that I almost won but ended up giving away, and because my strength and spirits were down I purposely avoided practicing with (P)

Bisu and

BeSt. So I was going to practice through both winning and losing, and it seems the online trainiee player skill levels have raised a lot.

- Is there a player you specifically want to play if you reach the finals?
▲ (Z)

YellOw? I want to advance out of the group together and pass the Ro4 and meet him again in the finals. Though I am taking this tournament seriously, since this is a special event tournament I want to play the player who will create a match that will garner the greatest amount of attention.

- Words for your fans?
▲ I hope you can forget yesterday’s game and only remember today’s game. I hope you will only think about how I will play in the future~

- Last words you want to say?
▲ In terms of getting to the Ro4, I expected Reach to be my biggest obstacle. Because I feel like I’ve passed my greatest obstacle, I feel more comfortable now. I won’t lose focus and will definitely make it to the Ro4 and will work hard so that I can show great performances until the end.

Source: BoxeR Original Interview

Yellow's interview was the best haha
Please let me know if mistakes are spotted/feedback welcome and appreciated!

[Spoiler] e-Stars League Day 1 Winner Interviews

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