[Int] GSL July Code S Ro16 D2

HongUn
‘I will try not to mention that I am hurting.’

- You made the round of 8. How do you feel?
My feelings are mixed. My body feels unwell, but the results were good, so I guess I am happy too.

- How is your wrist situation?
It still hurts a lot.

- So, how much did you practice?
I tried to avoid it as much as possible. I also practice by reducing the amount of movement I do with the mouse.

- Were you in pain during the match?
I was hurting during the match. But my opponent likes to prolong the game before attacking, so I didn’t think I was particularly in any disadvantage.

- It looked like you just did your thing, without much regard to your opponent’s play.
I just played by my own pace. And I took the reins in this match because zerg is a defensive race. I had a lot of mistakes, but I won, so it went well I guess.

- You will be facing a protoss in the next round.
It doesn’t matter who it is. Since my PvP in official matches is 0 percent, it doesn’t matter.

- Does that mean you give up?
I am about halfway there. But I will get the chance to play the game, so we will see how the match goes.

- Do you still want to win even though you are hurting?
My mind still wants to, but because of my hurting body, my mind’s resolve weakens.

- Do you have any plans to stop playing to get treatment for your wrists?
I think if it gets to there, I will probably retire and do something else. To be honest, being a progamer was my 2nd dream, and I still have something I really want to do. People are having a hard time just getting up to code S, but I am still sitting here. And since the fans are always looking for great matches in code S, when it becomes the day that my body cannot meet those expectations, I will probably retire. Of course, until that day comes, I will do my best.

- Any last comments?
I really want to thank my parents. I also want to say sorry to have filled up the interview with my body complaints rather than crying about my race. I will make sure I stop complaining next time.
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MC
‘My mind is already at the semi-finals.’

- Your thoughts on making the round of 8?
I have repeated victories then getting out early and now, I am in the round of 8 again. Since my opponent will be HongUn who is protoss, I will be able to prepare without much worry. My semifinal opponent will be a zerg. A lot of protosses are having a tough time against zerg opponents recently, so I will show them how it is done. My mind is already at the semi-finals.

- So you aren’t worried about the round of 8?
I have lost to Alicia before but other than that, I have never lost a PvP.

- Are you always confident in your PvP?
I would say against everyone except Inca. Well, not that I wouldn’t be confident against Inca, it just would be a tougher match.

- It looks like you are oozing with confidence.
If I had to face a different race today, I may have lost. Because of the NASL I have not had that much time to practice. But in a mirror match, I don’t have to practice that much. Also, Huk said that he also did not practice so that he could be on equal footing with me for today. I don’t particularly want to say thanks, because I never asked for that. As a pro that seems dumb, but as a friend, I can appreciate the gesture.

- You had a disappointing finish as 2nd place at the NASL.
In the beginning of the finals, I had the same ominous feeling as I did before I lost to Idra in the first match of the MLG. And it seemed to increase as I got into the booth. I was in a panic state after losing the 1st set, but after winning the 4th, I thought to myself that I could do it. But as it got to the 7th, the maps did not go my way. I thought the 7th map would be Typhon Peaks, but when I heard that it was crevasse, I was extremely disappointed. I think overall the balance between protoss and terran stands at 50/50. But the maps can make that change. And any maps with less minerals and gases stand to favor the terran. Especially with the patch, ghosts cost less gas, plus terrans are able to mine gold bases with mules. Smaller maps also tend to favor terrans.

- It looked like you were a bit sluggish today.
My confidence level has dropped since I last won, and I fear that I may lose. But I am trying to enjoy the game as my manager, coach, mother, and girlfriend have told me to. Although I lost in the NASL finals to Puma, it was an enjoyable match, and I am getting better at that. I feel like I can win this season though.

- What do you think about the nickname “Obama-Toss”?
Since I am the protoss president, when I was in the US I called myself the “Obama-toss” and it seemed like the crowd got into it. I can call myself that in the US, and in Korea…

- GSL Oct. finals will be held at Blizzcon.
I want to participate in at least one of the two, either in Blizzcon for the GSL finals. TheStc has mentioned that he would also love to go. I also would love to go to both of them. My current rank is 3, so I need to beat NesTea this time around and win against MVP in the next season to raise my ranking. I may end up losing against the terran, but I feel like I can get to ranks 1 or 2 with NesTea to participate at Blizzcon.

- Are terrans your enemy?
Yes. On the ladder, 1st through 10 are all terrans.

- If you get past the round of 8, and the semifinals, who do you predict will be your opponent in the finals?
I believe it will be a terran. Trickster and LosirA are doing well, but Nada and Bomber are so strong so that I think one of those two terrans will get to the finals. But if it were up to me, I wouldn’t mind facing Trickster in the finals.

- Any last comments?
I want to thank our new sponsors Fulpot game and Mom’s Touch. As I said before, I will be temporarily not going to foreign tournaments after the NASL, so I hope my foreign fans can watch the GSL. I also want to thank my manager, coaches, mother, girlfriend, and teamhouse caretaker.

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Byun
‘I will make sure I can raise a dog.’

- Your thoughts on making the round of 8?
I am really happy because I only need one more win before I can raise a dog.

- Your opponent was Nada, were you nervous at all?
I have faced him a lot on the Ladder and I don’t think he is particularly that strong. But Coca also said that he was confident in facing Nada in the Supertournament because he had beaten Nada many times on the ladder. But in the booth, he said that “that” player was different than the usual Nada online. So I was a bit nervous coming in. After winning the 1st set though, I felt like that is the “ladder Nada.”

- Unlike your usual, you showed off some variety and quick games today.
I think I still played my style. I thought that the 2nd set would not turn out to be very fun. And I put a bit of a twist on my style in the 1st set.

- Do you think you were ahead in the 2nd set?
I didn’t have an expansion so I was behind.

- You will be facing another terran in the round of 8?
I don’t want to face either of them. One of them is the code A champion, and the other is the Supertournament champion, I don’t want to deal with either of them. I hate terrans.

- Why do you not like facing terrans?
Terran is OP.

- But you are terran?
That is why I switched races.

- Your chances at raising this dog?
Because it is a TvT, I feel like it stand at around 10% right now.

- But you beat Nada.
Well, Nada isn’t a champion (in SC2) yet… when I face other champions I feel more overwhelmed.

- You were also sent out against a terran in the team league.
It may sound like an excuse, but my mouse settings were not correct in that match. Since we needed to start the match, I just played.

- Does that mean you think you would have won with the correct settings?
I am confident in my TvT, it just happens that I hate it.

- If you get to the semifinals will you be bringing the dog into the stadium?
Maybe not in the individual league, but for the team league. PlayXP has told me to name the dog “Semi-finals” (there is a play on words in Korean in this name).

- Any last comments?
I want to thank fOu’s GuMiho, sC, SlayerS Taeja, MMA, my team’s Hack, Issue, and PRIME’s Marineking for all helping me practice.

- You mentioned MMA on that list, he is also a former champion.
I have lost a lot of games in the past two days, but that trend has shifted more toward my favor toward the end. Also MMA isn’t a GSL champion yet.
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Bomber
‘My goal is the semi-finals.’

- Your thoughts on making the round of 8?
My goal was the semifinals when I started code S. So since I have not gotten there yet, I will try really hard to get there.

- Were you nervous at all facing Polt (Optimus)?
I wasn’t nervous at all. I have even beaten MVP before so I had no worries for today.

- In the 1st set, you showed some air play.
I ended up having more vikings than usual so I ended up doing something unusual, I felt like that may have resulted in me not having much ground units, so in turn it worked out for me.

- Did you get upgrades, expecting a battlecruiser fight?
I predicted that could happen, so I got my upgrades earlier.

- Was your 2nd set hellion drop trying to end the game?
I was trying to hurt him, but my opponent’s build was bad against it. I was lucky. During the game, I did not know he had made a mistake.

- You will be facing Byun in the round of 8.
I don’t like TvT either, but it’s not like I don’t have confidence in it, so it will be ok.

- Why is TvT difficult?
A lot of the match comes down to a build order fight, so even if you are much better than your opponent, you could be far behind due to your build. I don’t like that. For example, I don’t think I just won that last 2nd set match because of my skill.

- The GSL Oct. final will be held at Blizzcon.
I didn’t get to participate in MLG Anaheim, and since it will be held once again at Anaheim, I want to go. I want to participate in both events, but I don’t think I can get to Blizzcon because I don’t have enough points. I will try to make up for not going to MLG by the GSL.

- Who do you want to face in the finals if you get there?
I feel like NesTea will be the one I will have to face. I don’t think there is anyone on the other side of the bracket that can beat him. If MC can beat NesTea and get to the finals, I will thank him. I am not particularly confident in my TvZ.

- Your ambition for the team league?
Of course, I want to be active. But with 2 wins and 3 losses, my win rate isn’t too good.

- Your father seems like he cheers you on through twitter pretty often.
He also texts me a lot, and he knows enough about the game to give me solid advice. I want to thank him.

- Any last comments?
I want to thank IM’s Yoda, Happy, TSL’s Heart, my team’s Virus, and Sound for helping me practice. I also want to thank my coach for helping me so much during practice.
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