- How does it feel to decorate the first match win a victory?
▲ This is the first gate where in which we reap the hard work we have sowed in the past year, and we reaped a victory. SK Telecom is a good and strong team, but our players really put in a lot of hard work. But it's not over yet so it's too early to be happy about it.
- Overall, are you satisfied about your entries?
▲ No matter how the entries come out, I think as a foundation, my players' skills are high no matter what team you compare it to. I thought we had a definite chance of winning if we avoided our opponent's extreme entries. And our team's players always prepare for the games with confidence, and spent a lot of time analyzing SK Telecom, and I think the entries that we saw today don't go too far away from what we had analyzed. While the entries didn't play by the book, I'm satisfied with it overall.
- Where was the turning point of today's matches?
▲ To start with, the first match was very important. Even though SK Telecom could send a Zerg, I put [Snow] in the first match since I thought it had the lowest chance of a Zerg. While SK Telecom had successfully sniped us in the first set, Snow played really well despite that.
And EffOrt played his role well as an Ace, and Hydra played well for us in Judgment day. Hydra plays really well in practice games but strangely does not do well during broadcast games. I think him overcoming his weakness in such a big broadcast game is a great gain.
Finally, sKyHigh is good at all the matchups, but everyone keeps saying that he isn't very good at other matchups, so I purposely put him in the Fortress where he could face another race. And I had faith that it wouldn't matter if he played a Terran and sent him in. I think he played really comfortably because he played a Terran.
- You lost against all the SK Telecom Protosses. This could be dangerous in tomorrow's match.
▲ Now that I think about it, that did happen. I actually didn't see that (laugh). However, I don't think it'll be dangerous in tomorrow's matches, because you either win or lose in a given match. Maybe Movie was nervous in the 2nd set, but he didn't get the range upgrade. If he didn't make that mistake, he would have been able to do damage, but I think he will be able to lay well today. I also think that Iris, who played in the 4th set, had lost today, but I think he will definitely be able to play his role. What's most important is that on our road to KwangAhnRi, there are many matches we need to play and many players who will be playing. While they didn't play today, but players like Orion, Nbs, BByong and other players who can play are always ready to play. Because of that, I don't feel any pressure from the fact that we lost to our opponents' Protosses.
- If you win tomorrow, you make it into semi finals.
▲ The schedule is really killing us all so we definitely need win tomorrow (laugh). But because we won our first game, we will be able to play our remaining games without any burdens. We will have a good Strategy meeting tomorrow and win tomorrow's game so I can buy even one day of time. We will focus to play even better tomorrow.
- You recorded your first win in the postseason.
▲ This isn't the first time I played in the postseason. I was really, really, really happy that I won today. It feels like I won about 10 games in the regular season (laugh).
- You were the first one to play. Were you burdened by this?
▲ It did actually become a burden. However, I practiced even more to overcome the burden.
- Your Reaver recorded 72 kills, and your play was good overall.
▲ The Reaver was the core of my strategy. Whenever there was a skirmish on the ground, I used the Reaver every time. I wanted to use the Reaver to lead the skirmish to victory. I think my opponent held on much better than I had expected.
- Your shuttle play was impressive.
▲ Strangely, when I entered the booth, my head became clear. Because of that, my shuttle play went well.
- People are saying you are the favorite to win Rookie of the Year.
▲ I think it has some possibility. When people talk about it around me, I do get greedy about it. I will prepare with my life on the line so that through my exploits in the postseason, I can confirm the Rookie of the Year.
- Do you want to play a Terran on the 2nd round?
▲ I want to play Fantasy on the second round. We played once and I had won. Fantasy also said he wanted to play me, and I've also been looking forward to the duel. I'm confident I will win.
- CJ won the first round.
▲We prepared our matches aiming for victories in 1st and 2nd round. We managed to get ahead today so I think it'll work out the way we had planned. While I thought we were going to win, 4:0 would be pushing it, and I expected a back and forth game. I'm happy that I won in the first round as I had expected.
- How was your play today?
▲ I actually had prepared a different game. It was an impromptu play. I just played with it, and things fell in my favor and I was able to play with an advantage.
- SK Telecom used the s2 card.
▲ It feels like SK Telecom prepared for Zerg vs Zerg matches quite a bit. But I'm confident in my Zerg vs Zerg play so I put faith in my instincts and played spontaneously. I thought there was a high probability I would play a Zerg vs Zerg.
- You played in Neo Heartbreak Ridge.
▲ I don't quite understand what my manager was thinking. He discussed it with the players and took their opinions into consideration when he made the decisions. To be honest, the Post Season is a best out of seven so there aren't many players you can practice with. Because Neo Heartbreak Ridge was a map that hasn't been used recently, it was really hard to practice.
- Did you look forward to a duel with Bisu or Fantasy?
▲ I thought it would have been great if I dueled with the opponents' aces. If there is such a duel in tomorrow's 2nd round, then I will show an amazing game where I win.
- If you had to predict the 2nd round?
▲ It's hard to predict scores. But we will win. I think we showed it with today's game. We got a head start over our opponent so I think we be able to win even more easily tomorrow. As long as we don't let our guard down, we can definitely win.
- There was a lot of commotion yesterday because of Group Selection.
▲ I didn't put much thought into it. Whether I practice or not, I think what was important was your attitude. I definitely would have been able to win even if I went to the Group Selection (laugh).
sKyHigh
Source: Fomos
Q: You closed out the game, how do you feel about that?
A: I’m glad I was able to get a win as the closer. Even better since I beat the other team’s ace. Having momentum going into game two is big as well. All in all, everything went well.
Q: Did you expect to play TvT?
A: It’s nice to face Terran players, but I didn’t desperately hope for it. I practiced a lot for the other races, too. I focused slightly more on TvP and TvZ than I did TvT.
Q: You probably knew you were going to face Fantasy after game five.
A: I thought “So it’s a TvT with Fantasy.” Fantasy is an acquaintance of mine, so I thought it would be a fun game. I’ve been asking him to play me for a while, so it was good to face off here.
Q: You have a favorable head to head record against him.
A: I’m confident against anyone in TvT. It doesn’t matter who it is. Things have been going well for me lately, so I was confident.
Q: You seem to be a good post-season player.
A: My post-season record is pretty good. I’m glad because that means I’m good player on the big stage. It also helps my team out. It feels good to go out for important games.
Q: But you would like to win a non-same race matchup too?
A: I’d like to win in any game. I want to show people my improved game. If I meet a Zerg or Protoss player tomorrow, I’m going to beat him for sure.
Q: What do you think will happen in the second match?
A: I think we’re gonna win. Having the momentum is important. Just like game one is important, winning the first match is important. Mentally, we’re way ahead because we won. All around, I think we have the advantage.
Q: Any final comments?
A: Thanks to the fans for cheering for us as always. You guys are cheering for us to reach the finals, and we’ll make sure that happens.
Hydra
Source: Fomos
Q: You marked up your first post-season win.
A: I was pretty bad in the regular season. It made me want to make up for it in the post-season, so I’m happy I was able to get a win. It’s a start. I’ll have to keep doing better in the future.
Q: What race did you expect to play?
A: Judgment day has an even race distribution. But I prepared primarily with ZvZ in mind. Hyuk faced off against Snow when we last met in Round 5. I thought he might have an unused ZvZ build left.
Q: Your opponent used a 3 hatchery zergling all-in strategy.
A: I think he was forced into it. From what I can tell, his original build was 2 hatcheries in his main. I started off with the advantage in the build order battle, so he was probably forced into trying the zergling all-in.
Q: You were very cool and collected when you stopped his zergling attack.
A: I was put in similar situations many times as I practiced that build. I think I’ve been in that situation more often than my opponent. So that helped me deal with it calmly. I was never worried about losing at any point in that game.
Q: Anyone you want to face on day 2?
A: If I play, I’d like to play another ZvZ. I’m confident against Zerg players.
Q: Do you think you’ll do well in the post-season?
A: I practiced harder than usual for today’s game. I’ve been poor in the regular season, so I wanted to do better in the post-season.
Q: Do you feel there’s any of friendly competition with Snow?
A: Nothing like it. I’m happy for Snow when he does well. I just want us to do well together. I was so happy when he won game one today.
Q: Anything else to say?
A: There’s still a long road ahead in the post-season. We’ve started off well with a win. Thanks to my teammates who helped me practice, and thanks to the coaching staff as well. I hope we can all work together and play some good games. CJ Entus fighting!