+ Show Spoiler [Group 7 Winner] +
Piano: "My target for now is to reach the Round of 16."
"I'm still in a daze."
"I'm still in a daze."
Woongjin Stars' PianO has successfully qualified for his first MSL.
He defeated Samsung Khan's [s]FrOzean[/s]CuteAngeL and STX Soul's Kal in Group 7 of 2009 MSL Survivor Tournament Season 1, held on the 23rd of April, 1830KST at the MunRaeDong LOOX MBC Hero Center.
The following is the interview with Piano.
- Your thoughts on your first MSL qualification.
▲ I'm still in a daze. I was so busy practicing for Proleague that I only had one day to prepare for today's Survivor, which was yesterday. My coach told me to use whatever build I wanted to use, so I played with my mind at ease.
- You won both games via two consecutive bunker rushes.
▲ It was because both of my opponents went pure fast expansion. I actually wanted to go 1 factory 1 starport for the first game. But after seeing my opponent's expansion, I changed my mind. When I watched my own broadcasted games, I realised that in more than half of my games, I went no barrack double command. If I were the opponent at that time, I would have went 8 rax or expanded myself, so today I went 10 rax.
- You opted for BBS (Barracks Barracks SupplyDepot) build in the Winners' Match.
▲ It was an impromptu decision. When I was practicing yesterday, I found out that if my Protoss opponent went no gate double nexus, and went fast carriers, it was extremely difficult to win. That is why even right before the game, I was deciding whether I should play a strategic game or a macro game, but since there was still the final match (Loser of Winners' Match versus Winner of Losers' Match), so I chose to go for strategic play. I used to take up to a week to prepare for a match, but I have gotten very busy recently, so it has become difficult to prepare for a specific match. That is also part of the reason why I chose to play a strategic game.
- Do you like to use strategic plays like bunker rushes often?
▲ I tend to focus more on management-based game, and only choose to play strategically after lots of practice. My coach says the same thing too, and choosing the best strategy after practicing is my style. But in today's case, I lacked a lot of practice, and because my coach told me to play however I wanted to comfortably, I made that decision.
- This is your first MSL qualification. What is your target?
▲ My original target was the group stages (laughs). I do not know how far I can go yet. I want to go as far as possible, so for now, my target is reaching the Round of 16.
- Do you feel discouraged when you hear people rating 'Woongjin Terrans' as weak?
▲ I take those words deep in my heart. But I try not to be affected too much by those words, and practice as per normal. As long as that person is a progamer, he is playing the game well. It's just that there are players who get used to the broadcasted matches faster and perform better on stage. That is probably the only difference, so I do not take those words too seriously.
- Anything you want to specially say?
▲ Child hyung encouraged me a lot. I hope that he wins both his remaining losers' match and final match, and qualifies with me.
+ Show Spoiler [Group 8 Winner] +
Effort: "I want to secure a spot in being seeded."
"I think that the better I perform, the more effort I must put in."
"I think that the better I perform, the more effort I must put in."
CJ's EffOrt has successfully managed to qualify for his first MSL.
He defeated SKTelecom T1's Doctor.K and Woongjin Stars' GanZi in Group 8 of 2009 MSL Survivor Tournament Season 1, held on the 23rd of April, 1830KST at the MunRaeDong LOOX MBC Hero Center.
The following is the interview with Effort.
- Your thoughts on your first MSL qualification.
▲ I'm just happy. I don't feel anything special just because it's my first qualification. Because this was in individual league, I was less nervous, and hence the game turned out well.
- How was your first game, which was against a Protoss?
▲ The first game went as I thought, so it was easy. Normally, producing 3 archons is already a lot, so when I saw 4 archons, I was slightly taken aback. But I thought to myself, "I can definitely defend this." But my opponent overdid it and lost more units than he should, so I was able to win with more ease.
- Did Ganzi's build end up helping you out in the Winners' Match?
▲ No. Honestly speaking, I practiced for ZvZ in the Winner's Match, so I told myself to play safe and not be shaken by early game tactics such as proxy barracks.
- Any reason for your slightly shaky performance in the Winner's League after you received notable attention?
▲ I think I was blinded by my cockiness. To tell you the truth, I practiced less than before, so my skills deteriorated. That was why I did not perform so well.
- You seemed to have returned to your former self after the start of April.
▲ My confidence is back as it was, and I now think that the better I perform, the more effort I must put in.
- This is your first MSL qualification. Any specific targets?
▲ First of all, I want to secure a spot in being seeded. My ultimate goal is to win (this MSL), but in order to secure a spot in being seeded, I have to first of all get into the quarterfinals.
- Anything you want to specially say?
▲ It will not be long before the OSL preliminaries start, but Movie, By.Snow, Hydra and MIsO_Lt helped me out during practice, so I would like to say thanks to them.
Sources:
Group 7 Winner Interview
Group 8 Winner Interview
Also, Group 5 and 6 Winners interview here for those who have missed it.
Bonus: Confirmed players who have qualified as of today (23rd April 2009)
+ Show Spoiler [Clicking this will spoil the games] +
▶ 17th MSL Qualified Players (as of 23rd)(* = seeded players)
◆ Sorted by races:
Terran (9) - *NaDa, *Leta, *fOrGG, Shine, Hwasin, sKyHigh, UpMaGiC, Sea, PianO
Zerg (4) - *Luxury, *ZerO, *sAviOr, EffOrt
Protoss (3) - *JangBi, *Stork, free
◆ Sorted by teams:
KTF (3) - *Luxury, *fOrGG, Shine
Woongjin (3) - *ZerO, free, PianO
CJ (3) - *sAviOr, sKyHigh, EffOrt
Samsung Electronics(2) - *JangBi, *Stork
WeMade(1) - *NaDa
Hite (1) - *Leta
STX (1) - Hwasin
eSTRO (1) - UpMaGiC
MBCGame (1) - Sea
SKTelecom (0) -
Hwaseung (0) -
ACE (0) -
Source:
Fomos.kr
My thoughts:
SKTelecom, nobody?
Hwaseung, nobody?
And 9 Terrans wtf.
Enjoy, feedback and corrections always welcome!