DeadVessel:
First off what is your full name and age?
NonY:
Tyler Wasieleski, 21
DeadVessel:
You've been to WCG events before, but in the past you haven't done as well as you did this year. What did you do differently training wise or game wise that helped you this year?
NonY:
The main difference was my state of mind on the day of the tournament. With my past LAN experience, I knew how to get myself ready to play well when I needed to. I adopted the mentality of thinking of my opponent as "just a zerg" and I played as though they were practice games.
DeadVessel:
Besides WCG LANs what others have you been to? Any on the level or close to of WCG?
NonY:
I haven't been to any other major LANs. I went to a small LAN in Texas years ago where I took 2nd place to Whear.
DeadVessel:
Cool. Now on to the competition you faced . Who was your biggest challenge and who do you think will be the biggest challenge from the other regions?
NonY:
My biggest challenge that I faced was definitely Day[9], although the only reason for that may have been that lastgosu was out of practice. Also, I'm certain that Artosis's TvP would have presented me quite a challenge if I had faced him. As far as players coming from the regional events, it's always hard to say. There is a lot of talent in the US and it's often a matter of who practices enough. Froz, Skew, and Assem come to my mind. My practice will definitely shift heavily toward PvT to prepare for finals.
DeadVessel:
What are your plans after WCG? Many players tend to drift away from BW after WCG time, will that be the case for you or will you continue you practicing for next years WCG?
NonY:
It's hard to say without knowing what big events will be available to me post-WCG and what the timeline for SC2 is. With TLT3 in the future and WGT coming around, I might be interested in continuing SC through the fall and winter. But if there's nothing to compete in, I'm sure I'll drift away. I suppose SC2 beta won't be as soon as this year, but if it happened to be, that'd definitely draw my attention away from SC.
DeadVessel:
Before we get to the SC2 questions there is one final question about the WCG event. Last year there were some complaints about the quality of the event and so on. Was the event much better this year?
NonY:
power went out
DeadVessel:
Haha
NonY:
ok, i'll write a shorter answer
NonY:
I've been to the Finals last year and the Open this year, so I don't think it's fair to compare the two. However I think both were good. The only complaint I have about WCG USA is the dwindling numbers: the Finals have gone from 16 to 12 to 10, the Open from 8 to 4, and we are too often sending only 1 SC player to the Grand Finals. We should send at least 2.
DeadVessel:
Many players can't make it due to school and other obligations, do you see a way to make it so more players can attend? Make the Open and Qualifiers a little before exams and such?
NonY:
I don't think there's any easy solution for WCG's scheduling. If the majority of the top players were unable to attend, there'd be a big problem. As it is, attendance is pretty good considering all the other priorities players have.
DeadVessel:
Ok, now on to SC2. What kind of impact do you think it will have on the Pro Scene? A Pro (I think Boxer) said there should be a seperate league for BW and for SC2. Do you think this is a good idea or possible?
NonY:
I think it's definitely possible in Korea, but if SC2 is a good competitive game (and that's what Blizzard is aiming for), then BW will phase out in the non-Korean world and SC2 will be the big RTS for everybody. I see SC2 as an opportunity to bring RTS progaming to the forefront in the non-Korean world. I see it as a chance to bring us up there with the FPS gamers.
NonY:
So, it is possible that the current professional StarCraft scene will linger on, but the fact is that an entirely new professional scene will be created for SC2 and that will take up all our attention, especially since we can expect to see more big-money tournaments outside of Korea.
NonY:
To put yet another way, I'd say that it'll just be silly for a non-Korean to continue to pursue SC once SC2 comes out. The Korean community has the strength to continue SC but I don't think it'll be wise at all for non-Koreans to continue to pursue SC.
DeadVessel:
It would be nice to see games from BW and SC2 but if it comes down it hopefully the big names in the proscene will go to SC2.
DeadVessel:
Ok, what are you hoping to see in SC2?
NonY:
I'm hoping to see the same level of balance we have in BW and the same skill-sets emphasized. It might take a couple years of patching but the community is ready for it. Also I'd like to see some different dynamics in the strategy, so that it's not just SC1 all over again. As far as I can tell, Blizzard is doing all they can to fulfill these.
DeadVessel:
Well, that brings us to the end...is there any thing you would like to say? shoutouts?
NonY:
Hmmm, failsafe has been my main collaborator for my strategy so thanks to him, thanks to rC and thanks to WGT for putting up their beta season since I played about 200 games on there prior to US Open.
Photo credit to mnm
WCG US Open Replays
Replay credit to mnm
NonY's Team - RedCode
http://www.duke.edu/~tjw4/pvp gaia.avi PvP FPVod NonY made for you guys (with commentary)