As part of the NA Summer Starleague, we're here to give a face and voice behind the names of our players! Meet Crossy, Korean-Canadian, aggressive Zerg, and new arrival to the foreigner scene. Be sure to catch Crossy and others play this weekend, August 9th @7:45 PM EDT and August 10th @6:45 PM EDT, to see groups A and B play out on https://twitch.tv/DocHoliday_TV
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Age?
I am 25 years old, born in 1993.
Where are you from?
I am from South Korea, but I study abroad now in west coast of Canada. I still have a Korean citizenship.
When did you move to Canada?
I moved to Canada when I was 17. I went to high school in Alberta then I moved to the west coast of Canada for university.
When did you start playing?
I started playing starcraft in 2014, just before I joined Korean army. I used to play some 2v2 or 3v3 with my friends in Korea prior to 2014, but 2014 is when I really started to play starcraft.
How did you come up with the ID Crossy?
I was using Wico`cRoSs in Korean gateway as a part of Wico clan. I tried to create an ID ‘cRoSs’ but that nickname was already used, so I just put ‘y’ at the end and became cRoSsy.
Favorite matchup? why?
My favorite matchup is vs T. It requires technique, quick decision making, and micro. As 2 hatch play is normal now against terran, lack of larva makes zerg have to be smarter with larva use. Clearly, versus terran is the hardest matchup for sure, but I like challenging stuff.
What other tournaments have you played in?
I only participated qualification of Corrupted Cup but I didn’t make it. I would like to participate in more tournaments.
Who are your practice partners?
I mostly play with Wico, Sarin clan players from Korean gateway. In US west, I mostly play with asdjkasd for the practice.
I want to give a shoutout to asdjkasd and gamvit(Jarvis) who are very underrated. I think asdjkasd watches pros’ streaming a lot. He follows new trends. Clearly he is not the top level at the moment, but he is improving so fast. Gamvit is more likely a cheese player that NA players underrate. But good all-ins come from good sense and understand the timing of the game as well as micro and macro. I recently became friends with two of them playing many games with them. They are both Koreans who recently came into the foreign community.
When did you enter the 'foreign community’?
I didn’t even know about ‘foreign community’ until I asked models for a few games on Twitch. That was like only 4,5 months ago. I guess. Twitch is not very popular and some people don’t even know about twitch in Korea. I went into Twitch for the first time and I saw models streaming. I remembered that I played him several times in ranked and I asked for a few games. That was when I first entered the community. I am still not very familiar with the foreign community, but I want to be a part of it for sure.
What are some differences between playing Koreans and NA players?
Obviously, it's so different playing against Koreans and NA players. I feel that Koreans try to follow the new trend, but NA players have their own way of playing that they don’t want to change. It is very hard to see now in Korea that protoss does gate expo or terrans do rax expo, but in foreign stage, it is actually hard to see protoss doing forge expo or factory play. I think it's because of many foreigners cannot understand what pros say in stream. Also, NA players don’t value ‘All-in’ play. If they lose against All-ins or abnormal play, they think they wouldn’t lose if they play normal play. But I think there is no ‘normal play’ in starcraft. Starcraft is strategic game. All-ins and normal play are part of the game.
Who do you think is the best player? Best player in NA?
There is no doubt that Flash is the best, but as a zerg player, I want to give credit to Soma (As Soulkey joined army a few days ago). Soma is leading a new trend of zerg these days. For example, 2 hatch play vs terran’s factory play or 2 hatch play vs protoss. His play is very aggressive as he wants to keep control of the game. Even when he is behind, he keeps plays aggressive to earn time. Soma keep doing mind game and makes it hard for opponents to know what he is doing. As JD said, zerg is the race that has to keep attacking, now Soma is leading the new trend and all Zerg pros are following his way of play.
There are lots of good players I can think of in NA: Mr.plow, Nyoken, Models, Dragon, Jaeyun, Tim, SuGo, Hawk, etc. But, I think Nyoken is the top of them. His game follows the trends in Korea. I haven’t seen his other matchups, but his vs z is very high level and I think he is the only one who can compete in Korean clan competitions.
What do you do when you aren't playing SC?
I am a full time student in University and also I am a competitive soccer player playing for the high amateur league. I like to be around my favorite people, drinking and doing some activities.
Interviewer: Seriosity