[Grilled] Ambition Interview

The interpreter's time was severely limited, so I had to make do with what I got. With that said, I think if people imagine this as "part 1" of an Ambition 'Grilled' then it makes sense to include it in the series. If I get the opportunity to interview him again I'll record another episode. Fear not Ambition fans.

On March 19 2013 12:23 Letmelose wrote:
Insight withdrawal of sorts for me. There's usually so much information and insight in your interviews that this interview felt a little lightweight for me. I believe the lack of time, Ambition's politically correct answers and the language barrier preventing you from pushing for more in depth answers.

Ambition essentially carries CJ Entus Blaze, and it was a combination of Reapered killer orders, and Ambition's presence in mid-lane that shot Blaze to success during their early periods in my opinion. For example, I've heard rumours that Helios was basically being "micromanaged" by Reapered. Especially during the early days, I believe every team in Korea focused all their early pressure on Ambition because he was the greatest threat on the team that allowed Cpt Jack to "carry" the late-game.

Here are some of the questions I wished were pushed stronger for more in depth answers, or questions I feel were not touched on because of the time restrictions.

1) There are so many speculations on why Reapered left the team. Some say it was simply because Blaze had failed to qualify for the S2 World Finals after dominating the Korean scene for so long, and someone had to go. Some say that it was because Reapered got slaughtered by Maknoon, and Blaze needed a stronger laner. While others say that Ambition and Reapered clashed big time, and Ambition, being the more irreplacable of the two, stayed on the team.

No Korean interviews has managed to get any real answers, but Reapered was slightly more insightful, citing some reasons such as him feeling that his talent was more required and appreciated elsewhere, that he wanted to try a metagame that did not suit Blaze's style, and such and such. It makes me feel as if Reapered had all these ideas he wanted to try out on his players, but since his standing as the "uber-shot-caller-god" was under question after Blaze's failures, he wanted to try them out on younger, less experienced players. How can you tell Ambition what to do when he's stomping his lane and carrying the team?

It'll certainly be hard to push him for answers on this issue I feel.

2) One of the reasons why Ambition is regarded as the best mid-laner in Korea is his ability to out-farm his opponents during the laning phase, regardless of the skill of his counterpart or the influence of the junglers. I think he touched on this issue when he cited that he felt he out-farmed Alex Ich only to find out that he hadn't when he checked the numbers, and that came as a shock to him. Could you push him for more specific names that he has trouble racking up a CS advantage over? I feel Ambition is one of the best mid-laners (if not the best) in this particular aspect of the game, and his acknowledgement over this specific quality in an enemy mid-laner would hold great weight for me.

3) I feel one of the benefits of interviewing a Korean player is not only his understanding of the Korean scene, but the Chinese scene as well since top teams from the two regions practice with one another. Could you ask him about his thoughts on some of the more well known players in Asia such as Zz1tai, Misaya and Toyz? Please press him for particular strengths, weaknesses and traits he noticed on these players because I have the feeling that he won't delve into the specifics unless he feels is worth mentioning.

Thanks in advance, and keep doing your quality interviews, they really are something.