Day[9] Daily #100 "My Life of Starcraft" Subtitled - Page 8

Hallo meine Damen und Herren. Heute ist der 13.te April 2010… und es ist Day[9] Daily Nummer 100. Seht wie meine Kamera sich ans Licht automatisch anpasst. Ich hab sie zurück an ihren alten Platz gestellt…Bei Daily 99 hab ich sie auf meinen Monitor gestellt aber hab einfach aus Gewohnheit weiter nach hier unten geschaut. Und ich bin sicher viele von euch kennen das Diablo 3 Poster. Und jetzt da ich eine HD-Kamera hab könnt ihr sogar das Starcraft 2 Poster sehen, das ist ziemlich genial. ..

Also heute… Heute ist ein unglaublich besonderes Day[9] Daily denn zu allererst, die Dailies ab jetzt sind dreistellig. Und dreistellig ist cool! Außerdem werden wir keine Analyse von einem Spiel heute machen: kein Spiel in keinster Weise. Es wird nur um mein Leben um und mit Starcraft gehen. Denn ich glaube Leute können gar nicht abschätzen wie sehr ein Spiel ein Leben beeinflussen kann[?]. Ich bin mit Starcraft aufgewachsen. Die Dinge, dich ich beim Spielen von Starcraft gelernt habe, haben mich zu der Person gemacht, die ich heute bin. Ich möchte den Leuten aus der Community eine Widmung geben, sagt einfach „Leute seid stolz darauf Starcraft Spieler zu sein“. Denn es gibt nichts Cooleres als auf das stolz zu sein dass man liebt. Und es war wirklich…es war nahezu richtig emotional, als ich heute durch die ganzen Erinnerungen gegangen bin, die ich durch Starcraft habe und ich versuche… sie zu zusammenfassen zu etwas, dass ansatzweise unterhaltend ist. Also, wie ihr bemerkt habt, habe ich hier Notizen gemacht, damit ich auch ja nichts auslasse.




So lasst uns über Starcraft reden. Lasst uns ganz am Anfang starten, als ich Starcraft das erste Mal gekauft habe. Ich kann mich immer noch daran erinnern. Ich bin in einer kleinen Stadt in Kansas aufgewachsen, Leawood. Das ist mitten im Nirgendwo. Aber es ist doch in Kansas? Ja es ist ein Teil von Kansas City aber trotzdem ich bin aus Leawood, Kansas, wo das Land flach ist und Evolution immer noch eine Theorie ist. Das sag ich immer wenn mich jemand auf meinen Heimatort anspricht. Wir lebten in einem tollen, kleinen Haus, das gleich neben einem Einkaufszentrum war zu dem Nick und Ich jeden Tag rübergehen könnten. Und natürlich war da ein Computerladen in dem wir all unsere Elektronikartikel gekauft haben. Und wir waren total aufgeregt für Starcraft, denn WIR spielten Warcraft 2 Baby… Ja wir sind wirklich Warcraft 2 Spieler! Und wie jedes Kind geht man zu seiner Mutter und sagt: „Mama! Mama!“ und du erzählst ihr all den genialen Blödsinn, der dir grad durch den Kopf geht. „ Mama, wusstest du dass in Warcraft 2 Katapulte weiter schießen können als Türme?“ Oh Baby Baby! Jetzt… Jetzt auf einmal kann ich nicht mehr gegen Türme verlieren. Ihr wisst schon, diese einfachen Sachen wie das grad. Wir waren diese normalen kleinen Anfänger, mein Bruder und ich…

Also mein Bruder Nick, der wahrscheinlich bekannter als Tasteless ist in der Starcraft Szene, aber in dieser Geschichte soll er Nick sein… Also mein Bruder Nick und ich, wir gingen rüber zum Einkaufszentrum und wir zahlten ungefähr 52,36 für unser erstes Exemplar von Starcraft. Und es war so lustig, denn der Typ hinter dem Tresen war auch so ein Riesennerd wie wir. Darum war er genauso aufgeregt für Starcraft wie wir. Daher wusste er den genauen Preis ohne nachschauen zu müssen. Ich glaube, das ist sehr typisches Zeichen für Nerdheit… Also Nick und ich kauften unser allererstes Exemplar und wir besaßen nur einen Computer in der Familie. Denn heutzutage sind wir reiche Prolls [?] und jeder hat seinen eigenen PC. Aber damals mussten wir uns die Zeit am PC aufteilen, also haben wir versucht uns vorzudrängeln, damit wir mehr Spielzeit hatten, oder zumindest mehr Rücksitzspielzeit. Ihr wisst schon: „Bau Zerglinge! Die sind genial! Glaub mir!”. Wir wussten nicht worüber wir redeten..

Also, ihr wisst ja, ich habe sehr viel Starcraft gespielt. Das war damals als ich in der, verdammt… ich muss in der fünften oder sechsten Klasse gewesen sein als ich Starcraft das erste Mal gekauft hab. Ich bin mir sicher dass ich in der 6ten Klasse war! Und… Und mit der Zeit, während ich immer mehr und mehr spielte, es, es ,es bekam immer mehr zu dem was ich tat: Ihr wisst schon als der Typ erkannt zu werden. Denn ich würde das Prisma Starcraft Strategieheft mit in die Schule bringen und würd es lesen. Ich war einfach, ähmm… Ich weiß welche Einheit gegen diese Einheit stark ist, laut Prisma, ihr wisst schon… „ Oh schaut her! Das ist der einfachste Weg die zweite Terranermission zu erledigen“, stimmts? Ich war derjenige, um den es sich in der 6ten Klasse gedreht hat! Ich hatte es! Hmm, und dann habe ich angefangen mit meinen, mit meinen großartigen Freunden Shawn und Charlie zu spielen. Und wir sind zu unseren Zuhauses gegangen und wir haben gespielt. Und das war meine erste, man kann es LAN-Erfahrung nennen. Ich hatte nie zuvor gegen einen Menschen gespielt. Ich meine, ich hab eigene Spiele gemacht, die normalerweise 2 bis 3 Tage dauerten bis diese beendet waren. Denn, wisst ihr, ich wollte sicher gehen, dass jede Einheit einen Namen hatte, Und falls sie unehrenhaft handelten wurden sie exekutiert. Und ich würde mit ihnen reden. Ihr wisst schon, so ungefähr: „Hmm. Oh ja. Ich muss sichergehen, dass Martin der Marin… ihr wisst schon, wir müssen ihm irgendetwas Besonderes geben, denn er hat schon 4 Gegner erledigt.” Wisst ihr, denn ich würde nur mit 3 bis 4 Einheiten gleichzeitig angreifen. Jedenfalls, Erstes Spiel jemals gegen echte Menschen. Und wir waren halt super schlecht und so. Und dann würd das Netzwerk ausfallen. Wir sind also zurück zu Einzelspieler Spielen natürlich auf der Karte Big Game Hunters. Denn das war unsere beliebteste Karte in der 7ten Klasse. Und… Oh verdammt, Brood War war damals schon draußen? Ich schätze mal dann haben wir auf der normalen Hunters Karte gespielt. Und, damit es auch fair ist, gegen den Computer haben wir nur eine Cheat benutzt. Das war die Regel, die wir aufgestellt haben. Nur einen. Man konnte machen, was man wollte, aber nur einen Cheat benutzen. Und es konnte nicht der Unverwundbarkeit Cheat sein. Man konnte einstellen, dass man die komplette Karte sieht, dass man die Sicht des Gegners sieht, dass man Geld bekommt. Aus einem unersichtlichen Grund, hab ich immer das Level 1 Upgrade für alle meine Einheiten genommen. Das ist ein Cheat den man einfach eingeben konnte. Ich war ungefähr so: „ Yeah, ich will, dass meine Arbeiter mit 1-1-1 starten. Das wird genial.“ So wisst ihr

Die Sache hat sich von da an zu Entwickeln begonnen und bald darauf haben mein Bruder und ich herausgefunden wie man 2 Computer miteinander verbinden konnte. Denn wir hatten diesen einen wirklich schlechten, alten PC und wir hatten auch noch diesen Netzwerk Laptop. Und wir würden dann halt einfach gegeneinander spielen. Für Stunden! Hm, aber ich denke, dass vielleicht wichtigste über unsere Spielzeit war… war das… wir hatten eine Sperrstunde. Wir durften bis 15 Uhr nicht am PC spielen. Denn eines Tages, Nick und ich spielten gerade Syndicate Wars! Erinnert ihr Leute euch an das Spiel? Unglaublich, das Spiel ist so Oldschool… Öffnet euren Web Browser und schaut nach Syndicate Wars, denn ich schwöre zu Gott, ich dachte das Spiel hatte die beste Grafik von allem was bis dato existiert hat, stimmts? Und ihr werdet nachschauen und es hat diese 320x240 Grafik und alles ist verpixelt. Man dreht den Bildschirm und der PC stürzt dadurch fast ab, weil es zu schwer zu verarbeiten für ihn ist. Hmm. Aber eines Tages, Nick und Ich stritten uns. Wir beide wollten wirklich, ihr wisst schon, spielen. Und unsere Mama war ungefähr so: „Da schaut her! Ihr streitet euch über den Computer. Ihr solltet eh nicht am Computer sein. Keine Video Spiele bis 15 Uhr!”. Und wir waren “Ohh, warum streiten wir uns darum? Hätten wir das nur nie getan…“ Meine Mutter hat uns immer um ungefähr 8, 9 Uhr aufgeweckt morgens, in den Sommerferien, damit wir Hausarbeiten machen, also Rasen mähen usw. Denn In Kansas hat man tatsächlich noch Rasen. In LA, es ist nahezu alles Beton, wisst ihr Betonwüste, und verdammt hoho Benzinpreise. Also nicht viel Mähen, das hier erledigt werden müsste. Und darum hatten wir nicht Zeit zum richtigen Spielen. Wir wären zwar wach, und wir hätten einfach nichts zu tun! Und es ist irgendwie komisch denn unsere Mutter war eine alleinerziehende arbeitende Mutter, die ihr eigenes Geschäft führt. Also war sie gar nicht in der Lage zu schauen, ob wir beide nicht schon vor 15 Uhr am Computer spielten, aber Nick und ich, ehrenhafte Gentleman wie wir immer noch sind, haben nie vor 15 Uhr am Computer gespielt… Und was wir stattdessen gemacht haben ist, dass wir zum Einkaufszentrum gegangen sind, jeden Tag. Das gleiche Einkaufszentrum in dem wir Star… Starcraft kauften. Wir schauten uns all die Spiele an. Wir hatten nicht wirklich viel Geld also würden wir das Cover der Spiele nur anschauen und nur lesen was auf den Rückseiten geschrieben stand. Und manchmal hatten wir genug Geld um uns ein Orangenhühnchen zu kaufen und wir setzten uns mit unserem Orangenhühnchen von der Essensausgabe hinter den Aufzug, und wir redeten einfach über Starcraft und wir würden einfach über Video Spiele reden.

Hallo meine Damen und Herren. Heute ist der 13.te April 2010… und es ist Day[9] Daily Nummer 100. Seht wie meine Kamera sich ans Licht automatisch anpasst. Ich hab sie zurück an ihren alten Platz gestellt…Bei Daily 99 hab ich sie auf meinen Monitor gestellt aber hab einfach aus Gewohnheit weiter nach hier unten geschaut. Und ich bin sicher viele von euch kennen das Diablo 3 Poster. Und jetzt da ich eine HD-Kamera hab könnt ihr sogar das Starcraft 2 Poster sehen, das ist ziemlich genial. ..

Also heute… Heute ist ein unglaublich besonderes Day[9] Daily denn zu allererst, die Dailies ab jetzt sind dreistellig. Und dreistellig ist cool! Außerdem werden wir keine Analyse von einem Spiel heute machen: kein Spiel in keinster Weise. Es wird nur um mein Leben um und mit Starcraft gehen. Denn ich glaube Leute können gar nicht abschätzen wie sehr ein Spiel ein Leben beeinflussen kann[?]. Ich bin mit Starcraft aufgewachsen. Die Dinge, dich ich beim Spielen von Starcraft gelernt habe, haben mich zu der Person gemacht, die ich heute bin. Ich möchte den Leuten aus der Community eine Widmung geben, sagt einfach „Leute seid stolz darauf Starcraft Spieler zu sein“. Denn es gibt nichts Cooleres als auf das stolz zu sein dass man liebt. Und es war wirklich…es war nahezu richtig emotional, als ich heute durch die ganzen Erinnerungen gegangen bin, die ich durch Starcraft habe und ich versuche… sie zu zusammenfassen zu etwas, dass ansatzweise unterhaltend ist. Also, wie ihr bemerkt habt, habe ich hier Notizen gemacht, damit ich auch ja nichts auslasse.




So lasst uns über Starcraft reden. Lasst uns ganz am Anfang starten, als ich Starcraft das erste Mal gekauft habe. Ich kann mich immer noch daran erinnern. Ich bin in einer kleinen Stadt in Kansas aufgewachsen, Leawood. Das ist mitten im Nirgendwo. Aber es ist doch in Kansas? Ja es ist ein Teil von Kansas City aber trotzdem ich bin aus Leawood, Kansas, wo das Land flach ist und Evolution immer noch eine Theorie ist. Das sag ich immer wenn mich jemand auf meinen Heimatort anspricht. Wir lebten in einem tollen, kleinen Haus, das gleich neben einem Einkaufszentrum war zu dem Nick und Ich jeden Tag rübergehen könnten. Und natürlich war da ein Computerladen in dem wir all unsere Elektronikartikel gekauft haben. Und wir waren total aufgeregt für Starcraft, denn WIR spielten Warcraft 2 Baby… Ja wir sind wirklich Warcraft 2 Spieler! Und wie jedes Kind geht man zu seiner Mutter und sagt: „Mama! Mama!“ und du erzählst ihr all den genialen Blödsinn, der dir grad durch den Kopf geht. „ Mama, wusstest du dass in Warcraft 2 Katapulte weiter schießen können als Türme?“ Oh Baby Baby! Jetzt… Jetzt auf einmal kann ich nicht mehr gegen Türme verlieren. Ihr wisst schon, diese einfachen Sachen wie das grad. Wir waren diese normalen kleinen Anfänger, mein Bruder und ich…

Also mein Bruder Nick, der wahrscheinlich bekannter als Tasteless ist in der Starcraft Szene, aber in dieser Geschichte soll er Nick sein… Also mein Bruder Nick und ich, wir gingen rüber zum Einkaufszentrum und wir zahlten ungefähr 52,36 für unser erstes Exemplar von Starcraft. Und es war so lustig, denn der Typ hinter dem Tresen war auch so ein Riesennerd wie wir. Darum war er genauso aufgeregt für Starcraft wie wir. Daher wusste er den genauen Preis ohne nachschauen zu müssen. Ich glaube, das ist sehr typisches Zeichen für Nerdheit… Also Nick und ich kauften unser allererstes Exemplar und wir besaßen nur einen Computer in der Familie. Denn heutzutage sind wir reiche Prolls [?] und jeder hat seinen eigenen PC. Aber damals mussten wir uns die Zeit am PC aufteilen, also haben wir versucht uns vorzudrängeln, damit wir mehr Spielzeit hatten, oder zumindest mehr Rücksitzspielzeit. Ihr wisst schon: „Bau Zerglinge! Die sind genial! Glaub mir!”. Wir wussten nicht worüber wir redeten..

Also, ihr wisst ja, ich habe sehr viel Starcraft gespielt. Das war damals als ich in der, verdammt… ich muss in der fünften oder sechsten Klasse gewesen sein als ich Starcraft das erste Mal gekauft hab. Ich bin mir sicher dass ich in der 6ten Klasse war! Und… Und mit der Zeit, während ich immer mehr und mehr spielte, es, es ,es bekam immer mehr zu dem was ich tat: Ihr wisst schon als der Typ erkannt zu werden. Denn ich würde das Prisma Starcraft Strategieheft mit in die Schule bringen und würd es lesen. Ich war einfach, ähmm… Ich weiß welche Einheit gegen diese Einheit stark ist, laut Prisma, ihr wisst schon… „ Oh schaut her! Das ist der einfachste Weg die zweite Terranermission zu erledigen“, stimmts? Ich war derjenige, um den es sich in der 6ten Klasse gedreht hat! Ich hatte es! Hmm, und dann habe ich angefangen mit meinen, mit meinen großartigen Freunden Shawn und Charlie zu spielen. Und wir sind zu unseren Zuhauses gegangen und wir haben gespielt. Und das war meine erste, man kann es LAN-Erfahrung nennen. Ich hatte nie zuvor gegen einen Menschen gespielt. Ich meine, ich hab eigene Spiele gemacht, die normalerweise 2 bis 3 Tage dauerten bis diese beendet waren. Denn, wisst ihr, ich wollte sicher gehen, dass jede Einheit einen Namen hatte, Und falls sie unehrenhaft handelten wurden sie exekutiert. Und ich würde mit ihnen reden. Ihr wisst schon, so ungefähr: „Hmm. Oh ja. Ich muss sichergehen, dass Martin der Marin… ihr wisst schon, wir müssen ihm irgendetwas Besonderes geben, denn er hat schon 4 Gegner erledigt.” Wisst ihr, denn ich würde nur mit 3 bis 4 Einheiten gleichzeitig angreifen. Jedenfalls, Erstes Spiel jemals gegen echte Menschen. Und wir waren halt super schlecht und so. Und dann würd das Netzwerk ausfallen. Wir sind also zurück zu Einzelspieler Spielen natürlich auf der Karte Big Game Hunters. Denn das war unsere beliebteste Karte in der 7ten Klasse. Und… Oh verdammt, Brood War war damals schon draußen? Ich schätze mal dann haben wir auf der normalen Hunters

[0:05:00]

Karte gespielt. Und, damit es auch fair ist, gegen den Computer haben wir nur eine Cheat benutzt. Das war die Regel, die wir aufgestellt haben. Nur einen. Man konnte machen, was man wollte, aber nur einen Cheat benutzen. Und es konnte nicht der Unverwundbarkeit Cheat sein. Man konnte einstellen, dass man die komplette Karte sieht, dass man die Sicht des Gegners sieht, dass man Geld bekommt. Aus einem unersichtlichen Grund, hab ich immer das Level 1 Upgrade für alle meine Einheiten genommen. Das ist ein Cheat den man einfach eingeben konnte. Ich war ungefähr so: „ Yeah, ich will, dass meine Arbeiter mit 1-1-1 starten. Das wird genial.“ So wisst ihr

Die Sache hat sich von da an zu Entwickeln begonnen und bald darauf haben mein Bruder und ich herausgefunden wie man 2 Computer miteinander verbinden konnte. Denn wir hatten diesen einen wirklich schlechten, alten PC und wir hatten auch noch diesen Netzwerk Laptop. Und wir würden dann halt einfach gegeneinander spielen. Für Stunden! Hm, aber ich denke, dass vielleicht wichtigste über unsere Spielzeit war… war das… wir hatten eine Sperrstunde. Wir durften bis 15 Uhr nicht am PC spielen. Denn eines Tages, Nick und ich spielten gerade Syndicate Wars! Erinnert ihr Leute euch an das Spiel? Unglaublich, das Spiel ist so Oldschool… Öffnet euren Web Browser und schaut nach Syndicate Wars, denn ich schwöre zu Gott, ich dachte das Spiel hatte die beste Grafik von allem was bis dato existiert hat, stimmts? Und ihr werdet nachschauen und es hat diese 320x240 Grafik und alles ist verpixelt. Man dreht den Bildschirm und der PC stürzt dadurch fast ab, weil es zu schwer zu verarbeiten für ihn ist. Hmm. Aber eines Tages, Nick und Ich stritten uns. Wir beide wollten wirklich, ihr wisst schon, spielen. Und unsere Mama war ungefähr so: „Da schaut her! Ihr streitet euch über den Computer. Ihr solltet eh nicht am Computer sein. Keine Video Spiele bis 15 Uhr!”. Und wir waren “Ohh, warum streiten wir uns darum? Hätten wir das nur nie getan…“ Meine Mutter hat uns immer um ungefähr 8, 9 Uhr aufgeweckt morgens, in den Sommerferien, damit wir Hausarbeiten machen, also Rasen mähen usw. Denn In Kansas hat man tatsächlich noch Rasen. In LA, es ist nahezu alles Beton, wisst ihr Betonwüste, und verdammt hoho Benzinpreise. Also nicht viel Mähen, das hier erledigt werden müsste. Und darum hatten wir nicht Zeit zum richtigen Spielen. Wir wären zwar wach, und wir hätten einfach nichts zu tun! Und es ist irgendwie komisch denn unsere Mutter war eine alleinerziehende arbeitende Mutter, die ihr eigenes Geschäft führt. Also war sie gar nicht in der Lage zu schauen, ob wir beide nicht schon vor 15 Uhr am Computer spielten, aber Nick und ich, ehrenhafte Gentleman wie wir immer noch sind, haben nie vor 15 Uhr am Computer gespielt… Und was wir stattdessen gemacht haben ist, dass wir zum Einkaufszentrum gegangen sind, jeden Tag. Das gleiche Einkaufszentrum in dem wir Star… Starcraft kauften. Wir schauten uns all die Spiele an. Wir hatten nicht wirklich viel Geld also würden wir das Cover der Spiele nur anschauen und nur lesen was auf den Rückseiten geschrieben stand. Und manchmal hatten wir genug Geld um uns ein Orangenhühnchen zu kaufen und wir setzten uns mit unserem Orangenhühnchen von der Essensausgabe hinter den Aufzug, und wir redeten einfach über Starcraft und wir würden einfach über Video Spiele reden.

[0:07:29]

[1:10:00]

In the tournament, but it was... it was just so nice to have him just be there between every round. I didn't have to call him, he was just like, I mean, he was just right there, you know, I could just easily, you know, he would be like "Awesome man, you played well!" and I'd just high-five him. Uhm... What was I talking about? Oh yea! But that was so cool because Nick got eliminated first round, he had nothing to do, and the commentators were up on stage. And they were... it was Radio ITG, and they were doing all the events! And their guy up on stage just didn't play Starcraft, at all! And I mean, it was so funny because he was on a stage, there was like a 60ft screen behind him, it was almost as big as my pit-stains, whoopsie daisies!

So I mean he... it was this huge screen -- honestly the 2005 USA finals was one of the best run tournaments I've ever been at. But I remember... so he's up there and he has the mic and he's watching the game and he's like "Wow!" he literally is like, turned sideways looking at his computer and he's going "Wow! That guy, he is making marines! Those marines, man! He can... They can shoot up, down, and he's gonna keep making them", it was just, like, this non-sensical completely randomly directed commentary. And Nick went up to them right after that game and he said "Okay look, I understand your guy doesn't have that much experience, give me the mic. I'll take care of all this." Nick walked right up on the stage there, absolutely no preparation, sat down and commentated beautifully. He said everything right, anytime his... the, the cocaster said anything at all, that seemed ridiculous, Nick would totally just save him, would not do any sort of thing to embarrass him, and Radio ITG hired him right on the spot, and that's what began his casting career.

So I mean, it ended up working so nicely for him, it was so funny I even remember there was this game on Astriah, again, 'cause WCG, for some reason, wants to have an Island Map in every single tournament, and uh... I remember the guy, the guy, the radio ITG guy, says "Ok so..." I need this hand here, so you can see this, so he goes "So Nick, it's an island map, do you think we're gonna see... Drops?" He's like "Uhhh", like "Don't you think?!", and Nick's like "Yes, I definitely think that's a possibility here, you know, big variety of, you know, things we can do here." Just completely picked it up. I mean, I'm not gonna lie... 99 people out of a 100 would've been like "Well gee, yea I think he might get drops if he's into ever ATTACKING in this WAR GAME! Yeah! I think he'll MAYBE get drops if he's interested in winning, EVER!" You know, but Nick just completely, just crisp, no... No dropping the ball at all there. So that ended up working out just great.

But uhm... Now comes the 2005 Grand Final, in Singapore, that I flew all the way out to. And I wanted to do better than I did last year. I got in the Round of 16 against XellOs, I lost, so of course I said "Ohh, I got 9th, right? Ohhh!" and I wanted to get into the Top 24, Round Robin groups of 8, instead of 4. And I was in the group with Sen, and Android. And... They're both really good. And this is also the period when I started playing a lot on The Abyss, which later became PGTour... Oh, excuse me! No, I was playing on PGTour. And then, later on I played on The Abyss which eventually became ICCUP. But my major practice partners during that period were... FrozenArbiter, on the TeamLiquid.net forums, tons of the Russian players: Advokact, Android, Deadman from Croatia... I mean, just a lot of really awesome guys. They were all in the ORKY clan, pretty much, for any of you familiar with that.

Now, Android is notorious for having 'funky' manner in tournaments. I wouldn't call it 'bad manner', but just a little... a little off. Like, he would lift... he would be dead! And instead of saying "GG" he'd like, lift his buildings and float them around the map, to try to just, like, delay the game. Which is kinda funny, right? But you know, technically bad manner. And people would sometimes be like "Oh, that Android guy is bad manner!" But you know, we always played together, and you know, there was a language barrier, obviously, but we played a lot, a lot, a lot of games leading up to that tournament. So I was feeling confident against him. It was on the map Paranoid Android and I hadn't practiced against Sen, who TERRIFIES ME! God, Sen! Okay, Sen was scary in the TSL2 that just happened, not long ago. But also, he was terrifying in 2005, right? He is just a scary beast at... RTS games. So, with Sen there, I was like "Okay, gotta practice a lot of Zerg vs Zerg, gotta practice it!" and when I got to the tournament, he said "No, no! We're playing on Astriah, I'm gonna play Protoss." and I was like "Ohhhh man..." so I lose my first game, and I'm 0-1, right? Seven more to go! Oh, excuse me. Six more to go, right? So I have to pretty much go... 6-1 or 5-2 in the group.

[1:14:57]

So, uhm... So I kept playing and I was winning all my games until I got to Android and... I was in that game, and I was playing, and I was even... playing better then I did in practice, but... All of a sudden, he comes out with his first push, I have... I have Lurkers and Zerglings there, they're ready, they're positioned behind the fat bridge on Paranoid Android. And all of a sudden, I felt... my muscles just started doing things that I didn't want them to do. And in my head I said "Oh my God! I am about to send in a full control group of my Lurkers, and they're all gonna die. And I have no idea why I'm gonna do that." and I just choked! And I watched myself do this, and I, like, felt no control over my hands, right? Just none! I was just like "Oh my God..." and I just lost all my 12 Lurkers... So I had 3 Control Groups of Zerglings and no Lurkers, that's not gonna do very much good.

And I remember, like, after that plan I got this boost of adrenaline and my focus just like, peaked! But I mean, it didn't matter at that point, you know, it's like... The perfectly orchestrated symphony, but you know, all the instruments are out of tune. I just couldn't pull it together, and I remember I lost that game and I... I... I was SO MAD at myself! I was SO angry! Because I practiced so hard, now I wasn't going to get out the group, I was 4-2, the best I could do was 5-2, which meant that, you know, Sen was gonna go 7-0 and Android was gonna go 6-1... And... and I remember I just left the game and I just punched my keyboard SO HARD... I actually cut my pinky. I just slammed it, and... GosuGamers, the crew... Mazer. He was running the tournament for the Grand Finals, and I remember he came over and... he said "Dude look, I, I know you're upset. If there's anything I can do to help, I'll let you know. I'm not gonna give you a yellow card. But, you know, I'm gonna let you stay in here, you know, just... Just take some time to cool off."

I've been so grateful for that, a lot of the players, you know, after they were done with their games, they had to go to the booths and sign some stuff and be done, but he was like "You know what, man? Just stay here. I understand." And... Oh God... I mean, a lot of nice things happened there in retrospect, but I was still so angry at myself, I was so mad. 'Cause... what ended up happening is that I lost. And I couldn't... I was so angry at myself, how dumb could you be, Sean?! How could you have choked like that? And send your Lurkers in there? You were playing... you were playing perfectly! Exactly the plan, on such a hard map, it would've been this unbelievable win against this great player who knows your style in and out, but you just choked! Why did you do that, Sean? And I remember I went in the bathroom and I just cried, and I was just so mad. And I... I brought my stuffed animal to the tournament, my bunny named... Bunny. Like, the dearest sentimental object I've ever owned in my entire life!

And, I mean... It's because, you know, everyone has a lucky, you know, "I wear lucky pants to my tournament", "Oh, this is a jewel", "This is an angel that I got from so-and-so event". For me, I just brought my little bunny, that I had since childhood. And when I scheduled my flight to leave, early, and I just hated on myself for a 14-hour flight back from Singapore. I realised that I had actually left my bunny in the hotel... Like, the most dear sentimental object in my entire life! And... I tried to get the hotel to ship it back, but I gave them the wrong address. So my bunny was forever lost... in the mail. And, I mean, it was after that, that like... I was just like, you know... All of that happened just because I was being too hard on myself. I liked being hard on myself, I loved being hard on myself! It's one of my favourite things! You hear me... watch my... you know, you see the Day[9] Dailies where I'm like "Here's a game of me, LOL I'm awful!" You know? But... I was just TOO HARD on myself then.

The winning! I was valuing it too much! I loved learning, I loved figuring things out, I was generally a very quiet gamer, I didn't post much on forums, I didn't publish my replays, I just trained in private. But just because I didn't win this tournament didn't mean that I was, somehow, a bad player. That somehow I had sold myself short. And... It was... I mean, it... It still hurts dearly, to this day, to know that I left Bunny there in Singapore. And wherever Bunny is... you know. It's because I... I spent too much time focusing on myself and focusing inward and not... and just not trying to... To just be reasonable to myself, to be good to myself. I mean, I like this high benchmark that I put myself to. But you know, one of the greatest things that happened, after that loss, is that... Is that Android came up to me after that, and of course he -- Again, he is notorious for bad manner -- but he said... I'll do the Russian accent! To hell with it!

[1:20:00]

[0:45:25]

So, he like, he's like "No no no, I'm right by the [?], come pick us up" He was 2 hours out of the way, we had driven all night to get to Chicago, right. And then we had to drive 2 hours, to like, go get this guy and we get there he comes out and he's like... he's like 13, okay! Nick and I look at each other and we're like "That's Paul?" and I was like "I thought he was 22?!" and Nick's like "What? I thought he was 17" and apparently he was talking to my brother's girlfriend, who had driven us up there, and she said "No no no, I thought he was 19" and we're like "...What?" and this, like, 14 year old comes up to our car and he's like "Hey what's up, I'm Paul man! This is my dog, isn't my dog cool?" and this dog comes out and we're like "What the hell?!" and it's just so... hah.

It's just kinda funny how these things kinda start happening as you start transistioning over that border between interacting with people online and interacting with people in real life. I mean, he was one, like, humourous exception, but we like took him to this tournament anyways, and... I remember this is when, ya'know, APM was big. People getting really into APM, so I tried to play really fast, and there was actually a question in the thread on TeamLiquid about this, about whether I,ya'know, ever get nervous or get like sweaty, or something like that. Oh my god, YES! For tournaments, jesus, I get like, now I've sort of calmed down but like in 2004 when I hadn't even really done that much tournament-wise, I just like, sweat! And I remember I was playing, and I could feel the sweat pouring down my face and pooling at my nose, and dripping into my keyboard because I was like really far forward. And I checked my APM after that game, it was 412... In my first game because I was just so nervous and jittery. Non-sensically high, was not nearly good enough to make use of that, all that it made me do was sweat, like, a lot. I was like a Sumo Wrestler who was jumping rope in an attic or something, I was exhausted.

So, ya'know, despite driving all night, managed to qualify for the finals and I'm like "Yes!" uhm... And at this time, I started to be better friends with Fr0z, at this point in time. And Fr0z is... He is the most influential gamer that I have ever known in terms of, especially in terms of Starcraft, but also of all time. He had this ability to just decide to be good. There was no bullshit, there was no excuse, there was... he... he... I remember asking him in 2001, like god how do you play that fast? And he said "Well I saw a video of a Korean guy Jojo [Chojo?], so I thought 'I could play that fast' so I just kept playing until I could" and I was like "Oh my god..." and this was like 3 years later, and, ya'know, I would, I would chat with him and he would watch some replay of like Boxer or Nada playing brilliantly and he'd watch it and be like "God, he made so many mistakes that guy sucks! I'm going to play better than he does" and then, he would play a game and I would observe and he would play better than Nada. He would just do it, right! And eventually when I, why, ya'know, started meeting and LAN'ing with him and hanging out with him in college, he would just focus so intensely and he would do all these crazy things like: He would turn his air conditioning really high so it'd be freezing, then he'd turn the heat on and practice. He'd practice with his chair at different heights, he'd practice with shoes on, with shoes off, he'd practice when he was tired, he'd practice when he had a lot of rest, before meals, after meals. He would vary up the schedule so much, so that way he would be prepared for anything.

And he was always so confident in himself. He just always believed in himself, and any time he lost he would blame it on himself and be like "God, I suck. I need to get better." Uhm... It was alittle overly harsh but I mean like, he just improved at such a phenomanal rate. So, I was terrified that when I actually got to WCG 2004 finals, that he was in my bracket, right. It was this weird thing, because I mean I just told you there were 20 qualifiers everywhere, one of them didn't get announced until three days beforehand. So there was this guy, there was actually this kid, he was like 11. He went to the Las Vegas qualifier, he was the only one who went there so he qualified. And I remember I was in the hotel with Artosis and this little guy comes up and he's like "Are you here for the Starcraft tournament?" and we're like "Yea man, yea!" and Artosis goes "Did you qualify from Las Vegas?" and he was like "Yea!" and Artosis is like "That's awesome, man!" and the kid, the kid goes "Did you know there's a strategy where you can drop vultures by their workers and kill them off?" and we were just like "My god, that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my entire life." This little kid who qualified in Las Vegas is now, like, in a finals tournament with a pretty robust scene at the moment and he is... Artosis and I were like "Man, that is awesome." and then we like left and Artosis is like "God, I hope I'm in his bracket" and I'm like "Me too!" Hah, ruthless competitors.

[0:50:18]

But like, so, ya'know, they did a random seeding and in the brackets it was, like, Artosis and, uhm... and the bottom half in terms of the skill bracket. And my bracket was all the, like, terrifying names that I was just praying to God I wouldn't have to face against, ya'know, there was: Evade was there, I actually have the list, Skew, Rekrul, Fr0z, uhm, Satist. Just really good players at the time, and I remember my first game I just botched it, uhm, and I barely won against Evade 2-1. And ya'know, it's... it's... that tournament... I called my brother soooo many times in that tournament, he didn't qualify for it but I called him between every game and he kept calling to check up on me. Ah, god, it's like, uh, it even makes me emotional just like, how supportive he's just always been of me, just like my whole family. And I remember I would like call him before games and I'd be like "Dude, I gotta play Evade" and he's like "Dude, you've been practicing, you got this! You, you know you're better. Just stick to what you've been practicing, you understand this game man, you get it, ya'know, he's just here for fun but you're gonna be here for the win, right." and I played and I won, and then I was up against Fr0z and I was terrified but I got the chance to choose my map first.
I choose my best map, Korhal of Ceres that I had a well practiced strategy, Fr0z demolishes me on it and the game isn't even close, I called my brother inbetween those games and I'm like "Man, I'm in this bracket of death. There's no way I can make it, I'm down 0-1 to Fr0z." and Nick says "No Sean, it's a bracket of death because there's people like you in it. You've beaten Fr0z all the time online, you got this man." and the next map is Gorky Island. And if any of you look at that map, it is horrendous for Zerg vs Terran. Just look atit and you'll be like "Urghhhh", It's an island map, it's very awkwardly positioned but I practiced it really hard, I stuck to my guns and played a dramatic game and ended up winning. And then I felt really focused, I was calm, I stopped sweating and I just got in the zone. And in that third game, it was on Martian Cross, I was scouting with my first overlord and he sniped it with marines.
And I was just like, "Ohhh god." and then I just send a scouting drone in there, just like "Well I don't know what he's doing" and I got into his base and I saw that he was early expanding, and at that point in time early expanding against a Zerg was still a very unorthodox thing to do. Players still primarily one-based as Terran against Zerg but he was early expanding, and all of a sudden in my head I went "I know exactly what I need to do to win." and I just, I... I, did a transistion that I actually still use today. I expanded a bunch, I opened Mutalisks to harass, transistioned into Lurkers, got the Hive, then transistioned into Guardians followed by Ultralisks. When his first push came out, I had 12 guardians that demolished the whole thing and just kept rallying Ultralisks until I won 2-1. And it was insane, because when I won and I looked up no other games were being played in the tournaments, it was just Fr0z and I opposite computers and everyone else was crowded around, and I was just like "Hooo oh my god" I had no idea that there were that many people there. It was just such a rush, Fr0z shook my hand mannerly and I called my brother and I'm like "Nick! Nick! I beat Fr0z" and he's like "Dude, I knew you could do it! Now you're playing against Satist, and that guy is probably pissing in his pants because you just knocked out the best Terran in America!" and I was just like "Oh my god!" and I, I, I beat Satist 2-0 and I was in the Top 3. Which meant I was qualifying ever, for my first ever Grand Finals. And I remember I actually played Artosis in the Winner's Bracket finals, so he was Top 3 as well, and you will never have seen a happier man than Artosis. I, I seriously, I like, I sat down and he said, "Hey man" he said "You wanna play Best of One? I don't even care if I get first or second, we're all going man!" and I was like, "Ahhh let's just play a Best of Three, I'm feeling good" and he's like "Cool man! Ah god, this feels so good!" and I remember in the games I was sitting there playing, and I leaned over because he was playing across from me, our monitors were facing each other, so if I leaned over I could see him. And in the middle of a game, I just looked over and he was just beaming. He was just beaming! It was... It was so cool 'cause it was like a moment, ya'know, where it's like I know exactly, 'cause I knew Artosis had been practicing, I know exactly how hard this guy has been training for this tournament and I know how hard I've been training for this tournament man, and it like paid off.

[0:54:42]

So Fr0z came back to the Winners Bracket, he had to beat me in two Best of Threes and he did that handily, he beat me like 5-1 and however many games I ended up playing after that, so uhm, Fr0z won the tournament. But you know, it was me, Artosis and Fr0z going, and it was my first ever WCG USA qualifer that I qualified for the Grand Final. And I was just like "Oh my god..." and I called my mum and this is... this is... I part say this is what happens when you have a mum who is just around two Starcraft players, but more importantly what happens when you just have a really kind mum who just supports you. 'Cause I called her and I said "Mum, mum, I did it! I'm in the Top 3, and I beat Fr0z to do it" and she said "Sean, you beat Fr0z?! Oh my god!" Because Fr0z had, ya'know, gone to the Grand Finals, he beat Boxer TWICE in 2002 and in the group of death , and just an epic epic player. And it was just so, so nice, ahh. And you know, I went to the Grand Finals and I practiced more for that and ya'know inbetween that period of time I learned another, like, key thing in terms of my mindset as a player, that I uhm... I... Zerg versus Terran was my good match up, actually, as you're gonna hear my Zerg vs Protoss has actually been really lackluster until about 2007, I think was the first year when I was like "Hey! I'm confident in this. " but it was just Zerg vs Terran that I really got, and, ya'know, right around the time of those finals especially leading up to the Grand Finals it occured to me... That... I really should not ever be worrying about the player, or who the player is, or what the player is capable of, or who he has beaten in the past, or what his rank is, or what anything is. If he is Terran, Terran has constraints that any Terran cannot overcome, and that means that if I practice against Terran it doesn't matter what name behind that uhm, what the name of that player is, or who that player is, because I know how to beat Terran and I just studied how Terran worked, and uhm, I came across that key timing where after the Zerg gets Lurkers, you can come make a ton of drones because the Terran player cannot move out until he has a science vessel.

It seems totally inituative now because you watch the pro matches and they do that... All the time. There's nothing new about that, uhm... But at the time it was just like, weird! Because players would pretty much just start massing up units once they hit a certain point, just start making the units and never stop making the units but it was just this alternation and... When I... Time for the WCG finals I was actually in Group E, uhm... Yea! Actually, hold on! Stay right here. So, I'm going, going over to my closest right now because I think I actually still have these little things... Yea! Yea! Dude, guys! Keep everything! Keep every single thing that you get, see here's my beib, I was in the Group E at the WCG Grand Finals. In my group, it was the Group of Death, again! It was MethosPG, the famous German Zerg player, it was HellGhost, the famous Brazilian Terran player who is also very strong at Random, and Liquid`Drone, who played Random but in tournaments he would just pick whatever race was the best at that map and at the time. I was against these players and I was just like "AHHHHH, GOD!" ya'know. My brother... My brother, the game was in San Fransisco so I could still get cellphone reception, my brother called my everyday and before every game I would call him and tell him "Nick, I have to play Methos." and Nick said "Don't worry man, you got this!" and I think the general theme in all my tournaments is that I'm always shaken in like, the first, uh, game of the tournament, or in the first, or even in a Best of Three I generally lose the first game uhm... Excuse me, if I do win the Best of Three, I end up losing the first one and winning the next two, that's sort of the story of my life.

So, I played against MethosPG and for some reason I got so shaken up that I was in this huge area of computers, every famous player that ever met, uh excuse me, every famous player that I've ever hear of from around the world was there! It wasn't just America, it was the whole world! Mondragon, Deathshaman from Romania who you guys should know because he's pretty awesome, I mean, Liquid`Drone, the famous canadian players like Testie was there, the Koreans were there, XellOs my hero was there. I was just so shaken up, uhm... that I abandoned my game plan against Methos. For no reason. I just completely abandoned my game plan, and I went hydralisks in Zerg vs Zerg. Which nowadays I love Hydras in Zerg vs Zerg but then I never practiced it, and I just locked up. I called my brother and I was like "Okay Nick, I'm already down 0-1. I have two more games I gotta play against HellGhost and Ariador, excuse me, Ariador is Liquid`Drone, same person." And I was like "Oh god" and he's like "No man! Remember, dude, you knocked out Fr0z at the finals man. You knocked out Satist. You knocked out Artosis, man, you got this!" Endlessly supportive of me, and 'cause he was a Starcraft player, and because we talked so much, he could just calm me down and get me focused and get me in the zone.

[0:59:46]

And I... I... managed to win my next game against HellGhost. It was a pretty dramatic game but I managed to win, I managed to win my next game against Liquid`Drone on my best map, and I just stuck to my game plan and crisply executed it. And all of a sudden, I, I was first in the group! I was first! I was 2-1, Liquid`Drone was 2-1, and Methos and HellGhost both went 1-2. So I was like "Oh my, oh my god, I'm in the Round of 16!" and I hadn't played DarkCalum, whose a very famous Check player, we played a Zerg vs Zerg and I won that 2-0, and now all of a sudden I had to play against XellOs.
Now, that's... That is awesome for two reasons. Because XellOS was the korean, who eventually went on to win that tournament. And I'm not gonna lie, when you're in a Starcraft tournament and you're just a, uh, random, ya'know, basically a newbie from America, I mean... like, especially compared to the calibre of player there. I was just not, ya'know, top of the, top of the pack. If you get faced againstXellOS, that's the person you wanna lose to man, oh that's so great for wee-little weasely foreigners with no pro-scene. Oh yea, lost to the Korean, no big deal. You don't wanna lose to something whose also a foreigner or anything like that, so he demolished me and I actually did a review of one of the games I played against him in the Day[9] daily, but uhm... So I ended up getting eliminated and I was a little bit bitter but... It was, it it just went so well because I got to go back to school and this is when I'm a Freshman in College, and I get to tell everyone "Guys, I went to the Starcraft World Finals, and I lost to the Korean who won it all!" Ya'know, easy out for me, hah, easiest thing in the world. If I lost to someone, ya'know, with an embarrassing name, for instance: Rekrul, in the WCG USA finals the one Fr0z, Artosis and I got first second third. Rekrul was eliminated in the Losers Bracket by Monkeyballs, was the guy's name. Now if you're in a tournament, and you have to go home and your mum's like "Oh honey, how'd the tournament go?", "Oh it went crappy, I got eliminated by some random guy in the Losers Bracket?", "Well who was it?!", "It was Monkeyballs" It just, damages reputation for everything you've ever done in your life ya'know. So I'm delighted that, ya'know, managed to lose to, to, uhm, XellOs in that final. What was I... What was I talking about, I need to get my notebook out once again, I've put it aside to go get that awesome little beib because once again I keep absolutely everything.
Still, I, I, at this point I've had no wins in my entire life, and I remember for the, for the 2005, uh, final. So there was like this online ladder that, uh, ya'know there's a qualifier for and I mean, it's, it's around this time that my family really started to just gel around Starcraft, ya'know. Like, any time we had a tournament, Mum would ask for updates, uh... Nick and I would constantly call each other and then anytime ask... anyone asked me for my favourite memory, or one of my favourite memories, I tell them the story of how my brother qualified for the 2005 Final, 'cause I qualified online so I was already seated, right, and Nick had to drive down to Texas for this tournament, and... So it was just him, right, it wasn't anything dumb like we both had to go to the same qualifier and one of us ended up winning, we went to diferent places, and at this qualifier Nony was actually there. Nony is really, really good now, and he was pretty damn good back then as well, and my brother had been practicing his Protoss vs Protoss and, oh my god, I remember he... So he drove down there, he drove 17 hours to get to this Texas qualifier and he'd been practicing so hard, oh my god, he killed himself practicing for that tournament. Just endless Protoss vs Protoss against random players, againast practice partners, against everyone he could find, and again for any of you tuning in this is my brother Tasteless, the uh, ya'know, the Storm Observer for GomTV.

He, uhm... He practiced so hard for that tournament, and he drove all the way down there, and uhm... Nony was knocked into the Losers Bracket by a Zerg player early on so Nick was like "Oh my god, yes, I have a free ride to get to the finals!" so that's what happens Nick gets all the way to the finals, we're calling each other, he's like "Dude, I got this! Nony was knocked into the Losers Bracket!" but Nony came all the way up, losing first round, came all the way through the Losers Bracket and when they got to the finals, the way that it worked was that Nick had to win one Best of Five, and Nony had to win two Best of Fives.

[1:04:23]

So Nick says "Alright man, alright. I'm, I'm feeling alittle nervous.", "Don't worry man it's cool, you got this, you can do this man, you've been training just stick to what you know!" and he... he plays the series and he calls me back twenty minutes later and he says, he says "Sean, I got 3-0'd. He, he, he raped me. It wasn't even close. It was totally one-sided, he 3-0'd me." and he said "Sean, I..." god, it's just "Sean, I drove all the way out here and I'm gonna lose. I tried so hard and I'm just gonna lose here."... and I... God... I felt so bad, he still had a Best of Five left and I, and I talked to him for 45 minutes. He actually asked the tourney directors if he could have 5 minutes, heh, but, he, he just stayed on the phone with me for 45 minutes and I calmed him down. I was just like "Don't worry." He got rushed all three games so it's obviously gonna feel worse, but you just have to... God I just get so emotional about this, right, I was like "You just stick with what you know," and it was Loser picks the map, so he was allowed to pick the first map so he choose Astriah, which was a really obnoxious Island map, because for some reason WCG just keeps throwing in Island maps into the series. They just had this hook on it, I don't know, it was in there, so...

So Nick chooses Astriah, and he wins the first game, and I'm like "Yes!" and he had a brilliant build constructed on Astriah, I mean to this day when I go back and I look at that, brilliant! Weirdly timing when he gets his range upgrade for an Island map as Protoss, but it finishes at just the right time to deal with this one Dark Templar drop, and this one time when his opponent would get observers in, he can snipe it with the range before it gets in. Building placement thought out, genius, he executes it, he wins. And there's this guy, who uhm, another friend I met through Starcraft named RogerDodger, uhm, I think his real name was Matt but we called him Roger. So RogerDodger was messaging me via battle.net, there was no way to get a hold of him, so he said "Nick lost the next game, and it was a really one-sided game." and he said "But Nick is choosing Astriah, again. Nick chooses Astriah he wins, they're 2-1. Then he loses the next game, so they're tied 2-2" So now it's Nony and my brother in the final for the qualifier for the 2005 USA Finals and I'm just like "Roger, you gotta keep me updated on everything. My hearts pounding, I'm so stressed out and everything," and he's typing to me, and, uhm... He's like, "Okay. Nony tried to do this drop. It's not working. So Nick's building up his army, he's getting Dragoons and Reavers, he's getting his Shuttle. Nony's expanded before him. Wow, Nick really is slow on that shuttle, he's not moving his stuff out. Now he's ferrying his stuff to the low ground. Nony's expansion has been up for a really long time." And then dead silence. And then he comes back and says "Holy cow, HUGEEEE battle. One sec." and I don't hear from him for like 3 or 4 minutes and I've just never been so wigging out in my entire life, so he gets back on and he says "Okay. I think Nick won that battle. I think he came out on top." Five seconds later, he says "Nick lost his shuttle with both his reavers in it." and i was just like, oh my god... oh my god... I was like, oh, please please Nick find a win. And then Roger says "Oh wait a minute, you're gonna love this. Nick's food is 92. Nony's food is 38." and I was like *gasp* right as I got that I got a call from Nick, he said "I WON, I'm going to the finals man!" and I was, I had never been so happy in my entire life. I couldn't stop jumping for like, like, an hour and a half. I just had so much adrenaline in my body, I called my mum, she drove home for work, we both went out to dinner, Nick was in Texas so, who could, yea. But she and I went out to dinner, and we were just like "Oh my god, he trained so hard and he did it, and you're both gonna be at the finals. Because you know what, we're a family that plays Starcraft!" Uh, we're just the ones who get it, ya'know.

So going to that 2005 finals was... horrible to find out that my brother and I were paired each other first round, and I remember going out there and it was just so bittersweet... 'cause... I had to play my brother first round, and, and, I won... And afterwards, he gave me a big hug and everything and, ya'know, was talking to him and I just felt really bad. And I remember he... He brought me into this backstage, and he just started cried because he's just like "I'm sorry, man, ya'know, I practiced really hard for this." and... and then he just said "But you know what Sean, you're gonna win this tournament." He's like "I'm... I'm so proud of you." Ah... Man... There's 3000 nerds watching me right now, get all emotional but ya'know... It's just so important to me that... just the like, how supportive he could be, that he could be so upset that he flew all the way out, worked so hard and ended up getting eliminated first round to his brother, so he's gotta deal with all those obvious obnoxious comparisons... But then he still just says, ya'know, "I'm so proud of you. You're gonna win." and then, from that moment on, I was focused man. I can't lose after that, I can't be like "Whoops, lost to a 4pool next round! Whoops, got bunker rushed!" So I was just so focused that whole tournament, I ate so little. My focus was just peaked, and I ended up... It was the first time I ever actually won a tournament, and it was a little bittersweet 'cause ya'know, again, I had to knock Nick out first round, uh, ya'know, I had to play a bunch a whole bunch of my friend

[ aroud 21 minutes]

The first ever big tournament my brother and I tried to qualify for was the World Cyber Games Challenge, not the first World Cyber Games that happened in 2001, but like the 1999-2001, when like the KBK tournament were running, when players like... GG99Slayer and ElkY were very, very strong foreigners. And... I remember my brother was invited to the Blackish clan. He was BlackishGold, he got really far in the tournament, and he lost, and he was like horribly upset and everything. And it's so funny to think about the way that strategies worked back then. You know, I was...