Day[9] Daily #100 "My Life of Starcraft" Subtitled - Page 10

[0:45:25]

So, he like, he's like "No, no, no! I'm right by the tournament, just come pick us up" He was 2 hours out of the way, we'd driven all night to get to Chicago, right? And then we had to drive 2 hours, to like, go get this guy and when we get there, he comes out, and he's like... he's like 13, okay? And 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's like "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...

It's just kinda funny the way these things actually start happening when you just start transitioning over that border between interacting with people online and interacting with people in real life. I mean, he was one, like, humourous exception, but, you know, we took him to this tournament anyways, and... I remember this is when, you 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 ever, you know, 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, 'cause 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 like, so nervous and jittery. Non-sensically high, was not nearly good enough to actually make use of that, all that it really do was just make me sweat, like, a lot. Just like I was like a Sumo Wrestler who been jumping rope in an attic or something, I was exhausted.

So, you know, despite driving all night, managed to qualify for the finals and I'm like "Yes!"... 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 just 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 some Korean guy, ChoJJa, and I thought 'I can play that fast', so I just kept playing until I could" and I was like "Oh my God..."

So this was like 3 years later, and, you 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 gonna play better than he does" and then... He would play a game, and I would observe, and he would play better than Nada. I mean, he would just do it, right? And eventually when I... You know, started meeting and LAN'ing with him and hanging out with him in college, he would just focus so intensely and he did 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 after 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." You know, it was a little... a little overly harsh. But I mean like, he just improved at such a phenomenal rate. So, I was terrified when I actually got to WCG 2004 finals, that he was in my bracket, right? It was this weird thing, 'cause 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 "Yeah man, yeah!" 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 is... The kid goes "Did you know that there's a strategy where you can drop Vultures by their workers and kill them off?" and we were just like "Oh my God, that is the sweetest thing that I've ever heard in my entire life!" This little kid who qualified in Las Vegas is now at, like, 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 he like, left, and Artosis is like "God, I hope I'm in his bracket" and I'm like "Me too!" Ruthless competitors.

[0:50:18]

But like, so, you know, they did a random seeding. And in the brackets it was like, Artosis and... Like, the bottom half, in terms of the skill bracket. And in my bracket was all the, like, the terrifying names that I was just praying to God I wouldn't have to face against, you know, there was: Evade was there, I actually have the list, Skew, Rekrul, Fr0z... Satist. Like, really good players at the time, and I remember my first game I just botched it, and I barely won against Evade 2-1. And you know, it's... it's... That tournament... I called my brother so 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... it even makes me emotional.

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 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! 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 just terrified, but I got the chance to choose my map first.

I choose my best map, Korhal of Ceres. I have a well practiced strategy, Fr0z DEMOLISHES me on it. The game isn't even close, I called my brother in between those games, and I'm like "Man, I'm in this bracket of death, man. There's no way I can make it, I'm down 0-1 to Fr0z." and Nick said "No Sean! It is 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 at it and you'll be like "Urghhhh". You know, 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'd 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 I won and when I looked up no other games were being played in the tournament. It was just Fr0z and I, opposite computers and everyone else was crowded around, and I was just like "Ohhh my God!" I had no idea that there were that many people there. And it was just such a rush, and Fr0z shook my hand, you know, 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 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 seriously... like... I sat down and he's like "Hey man!" he said "You wanna play a Best of One? I don't even care if I get first or second, we're all going man!" and I was like "Nah! 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... And it was so cool, 'cause it was like a moment, you know, where it's like... I know exactly, 'cause I knew Artosis had been practicing, so 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 through the Winners Bracket, he actually... He actually won the whole tournament, he just like... He had to beat me like 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... Fr0z won the whole tournament. But you know, it was me, Artosis and Fr0z going, and it was like 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 mom and this is... this is... I part say this is what happens when you have a mom who is just around two Starcraft players, but more importantly what happens when you just have a really kind mom, who just supports you.

'Cause I called her and I said "Mom, mom 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, you know, gone to the Grand Finals, he beat Boxer TWICE! In 2002, and in the group of death, and I mean, just an epic, epic player. And it was just so, so nice. And then, you know, I went to the Grand Finals and I practiced more for that.

And, you know, in between that period of time I learned another like, I think, key thing, in terms of my mindset as a player, that I... Zerg versus Terran was my good match up, actually, as you're gonna hear, my Zerg vs Protoss is actually been really lackluster until about 2007, I think was the first year when I was actually like "Hey! I'm confident in this." but it was just Zerg vs Terran that I really got, and, you 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... 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... 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... It seems totally intuitive now, because you watch the pro matches and they do that all the time. There's nothing new about that... 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 Grand Finals, I was actually in Group E... Yeah! 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. And 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!" you 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 I would say "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 very shaken in like, the first... game of the tournament. Or in the first... even in a Best of Three, I generally lose the first game... Excuse me, if I do win the Best of Three, I end up losing the first one and then 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, excuse me, every famous player that I've ever heard 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... that I abandoned my game plan against Methos. For no reason. I just completely abandoned my game plan.

I went Hydralisks in Zerg vs Zerg. Which nowadays, you know, I love Hydras in Zerg vs Zerg, but then, I never practiced it, and I just locked up. And 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 just 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 random, you know, basically a newbie from America, I mean... Like, especially compared like, to the calibre of player there. I was just not, you know, top of the... top of the pack. If you get faced against XellOS, that's the person you wanna lose to man! Oh, that's so great for we-little-weasely-foreigners who have no pro-scene. Oh yea, I lost to the Korean, no big deal! You don't wanna lose to someone, you know, who is 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... So I ended up getting eliminated and I was a little bit bitter but... It was, 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!" You know, I mean, easy out for me, right? Easiest thing in the world.

If I lost to someone, you know, with an embarrassing name, for instance: Rekrul, in the WCG USA Final, the one that 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 mom's like "Oh honey, how did the tournament go?", "Oh it went crappy, got eliminated by some random guy in the Losers Bracket?", "Well who was it?!", "It was Monkeyballs" You know... It just, damages reputation for everything you've ever done in your life, you know. So... I'm delighted that, you know, I managed to lose to... to 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 final... So there was like this online ladder that... you 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, you know? Like, any time we had a tournament, mom would ask for updates... Nick and I would constantly call each other, and 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 seeded, 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, against practice partners, against everyone he could find. And again, for any of you tuning in, this is my brother Tasteless, who's the... You know, the Storm Observer for GomTV.

He... He practiced so hard for that tournament, and he drove all the way down there, and... 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 updating me, 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 a little nervous.", and I'm like "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 raped me. It wasn't even close. It was totally one-sided, he 3-0'd me." And he said "Sean, I..." God, he said "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, 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." I told him 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 to what you know." right? And it was Loser picks the map, so he was allowed to pick the first map, so he chose 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... The hook on it, I don't know, but 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... Another friend I met through Starcraft named RogerDodger... 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. And 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." Like, my heart is pounding, I'm so stressed out and everything... And he's typing to me, and...

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*...

And 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 like so much adrenaline in my body. I called my mom, she drove home from work, we both went out to dinner, Nick was in Texas so, you know... 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!" We're just the ones who get it, you know.

So going to that 2005 finals was... horrible to find out that my brother and I were paired against 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, you 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 crying, because he's just like "I'm sorry, man, you 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." Man, there's 3000 nerds watching me right now, get all emotional but, you know... It's just so important to me that... Just the like, the... 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 gonna deal with all those obvious obnoxious comparisons...

But then he still just says, you know "I'm so proud of you. You're gonna win." And then, from that moment on, like, I was focused man! I can't lose after that! I can't be like "Whoops, sorry! I lost to a 4-Pool, next round! Whoops, got Bunker Rushed!" You know? 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 you know, again, I had to knock Nick out first round.. You know, I had to play a bunch a whole bunch of my friends

[1:10:00]

Shortly after [0:59:46] (in that paragraph)
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 (original) -> Czech (what he meant) 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.

1:40:00

und ich sagte nur.. "Oh Gott! Ja Junge, gutes Spiel!" Ich wusste nicht, was ich tun soll, wie ich feiern sollte, denn ich mache keine Partys, sondern spiele Videospiele! Wie sähe ein guter Freitagabend für mich aus? Wie wäre es mit einer Runde Siedler von Catan oder dem Kartenspiel Dominion? So, also, ich war in Cancún und habe gerade das größte Starcraft-Turnier gewonnen bei dem ich je war, und dann ging ich einfach zurück in mein Hotelzimmer und setzte mich auf's Bett und wusste nicht, was ich tun sollte. Ich war einfach da und dachte mir, "Oh mein Gott... Das wars.. das ist cool!", schaute irgendeinen blöden Johnny Depp Film und ich aß die gefrorenen M&Ms aus dem Eisschrank. Und, ich erinnere mich, ich spazierte einfach am Strand entlang, ganz allein und saß einfach dort herum und dachte "Mann, ich habe wirklich, wirklich hart an etwas gearbeitet... und es hat sich bezahlt gemacht. Und die einzige Person die verantwortlich ist, bin ich." Und ich erinnere mich, ich... meine Mutter hat mir vorher eine Nachricht geschickt auf Facebook, sogar bevor ich dann zuhause war, aber auf Facebook schrieb sie "Oh mein Gott, Sean, herzlichen Glückwunsch! Ich bin so stolz auf dich, ich weiß wie hart du dafür gearbeitet hast und ich habe das Ergebnis gesehen. Ich habe gehört, dass du Testie gleich zwei mal ausgeknockt hast!" Wie cool kann eine Mutter sein, hm? Wie oft sagt deine Mutter "Yeah, du hast Testie zwei mal in einem Turnier besiegt" und versteht es? Stimmts? Welche Mutter weiß von den berühmten kanadischen Starcraft Spielern, außer meiner Mutter, und meiner Familie, die mich von Anfang bis Ende unendlich viel unterstützt hat.


Und... was so lustig an dem Turnier war, ist, wie ich sagte ich bin ein sehr zurückhaltender Spieler, ich veröffentliche nicht gern meine eigenen Replays, vor allem keine Replays von mir, wie ich gewinne, denn das fühlt sich irgendwie... großspurig an. Wie "Hey, ich habe ein Spiel gewonnen, hurrr", und dann lad' ich es da hoch... aber wenn der andere Typ nicht möchte, dass ich es hochlade; ich will ihn ja nicht in Verlegenheit bringen, vielleicht hatte er einen schlechten Tag. Also veröffentliche ich sehr selten Replays von mir bei der PGTour oder dem iCCup. Und für dieses Turnier, das Pan American, sind alle Replays verloren gegangen. Somit hatte ich nie eine Chance, mir auch nur eines dieser Spiele noch einmal anzusehen. Aber das ist in Ordnung, denn es ist immer noch eine wirklich schöne Erinnerung. Ich habe tatsächlich diese kleine Medaille hier oben, ach, warum hole ich sie nicht einfach kurz, ich habe doch überall in meinem Zimmer Starcraft Zubehör rumliegen. Ja, hier ist sie. Hier ist meine tolle kleine Goldmedaille, die einzige Goldmedaille die ich jemals aus einem Starcraft Turnier bekommen habe. Ich brauchte sechs Jahre der WCGs um das zu erreichen, und acht Jahre lang Spielen. Einfach Einsatz zeigen, einfach hart arbeiten und nur, wie mein Bruder sagte, nur an sich selbst glauben.


Und danach war in der Schule einfach zu viel los. Ich meine, 2008 habe ich in einem Qualifier gespielt und habe mich nicht qualifiziert und konnte nicht zu den Finals. Und 2009 habe ich mich zwar qualifiziert, aber konnte wieder nicht gehen, wegen der Schule. Aber wisst ihr was, in dieser Periode brauchte ich immer meine Dosis Starcraft. Ich habe immer noch all die Pro Matches verfolgt, ich habe sogar bis vor kurzem, vor 3-4 Wochen, jedes einzelne professionelle Starcraft Match seit 2003 gesehen.
Jedes einzelne, und.. ich liebe einfach die Szene. Ich liebe Teamliquid, wo man einfach mal vorbeischauen und mit einer Gruppe von Leuten chatten kann, mal ein Replay postet, denn wisst ihr was? Wenn du ein Spiel hast mit wahnsinnig gutem Mutalisk Micro, ist es manchmal so schwer, in der Lage zu sein sich zum Mitbewohner umzudrehen und zu sagen "Alter, hier ist diese schwierige Sache die ich geschafft habe, und... ich bin wirklich glücklich." Aber wenn du dich in MSN einloggen kannst und einen Kumpel findest und sagst "Mann, guck dir das Replay an!" und er sagt "Oh Mann, gute Arbeit!" - diese Art von Unterstützung und Ermutigung ist es, die die Starcraft Community so, so wunderbar macht und warum ich so hocherfreut bin, schon so lange ein Teil davon zu sein.


Und ich erinnere mich sogar, wo ich die ganze Zeit von meinem Leben als Spieler gesprochen habe, im College habe ich mir regelmäßig die Matches angeschaut und ich habe immer so viele Leute wie möglich dazu eingeladen und habe versucht, ihnen zu erklären was in diesen Spielen vor sich geht, denn ich.. ich dachte, die waren so cool. Und ich fand, dass diese professionellen Spieler so talentiert waren und ich war entschlossen, es ihnen allen verständlich zu machen, und kam zu dem Punkt an dem sie es tatsächlich verstanden haben. Und am Harvey Mudd, einer Schule mit jetzt gut 900 Leuten, ich glaube damals waren es 850, habe ich angefangen eine Art von Ausstrahlung der MSL/OSL Finals zu hosten. Ich ging zum akademischen Ende, ins Auditorium, und mietete es von etwa Mitternacht bis drei Uhr morgens, und ich schickte eine E-Mail an die ganze Schule mit der Absicht jeden; so viele wie möglich dort reinzubekommen, und es zog tatsächlich von gut 800 Leuten 350 an, die es sich anschauen wollten. Und es war GROSSARTIG! Ich hatte das Mikrofon, und ich half jedem, zu verstehen, warum dieses Spiel so cool war. Ich meine, Spielen ist super - ich liebe Spielen und zu Turnieren zu gehen, dafür zu trainieren, aber es gibt nichts erfüllenderes als in eine Menschenmenge zu blicken und ihnen verständlich zu machen, was ich liebe. Und für jeden von euch Zuschauern:
1:45:00

Wenn ihr Freunde und Familie habt, ist das definitiv etwas, das ihr tun solltet. Ich meine, das ist der Grund, dass in den letzten.. im letzten Jahr, naja, ich hatte nicht mehr die Gelegenheit so viel zu spielen, aber ich brauchte immer noch meine Dosis, und ich möchte einfach so viele Spiele wie möglich kommentieren und alles aus 12 Jahren Starcraft teilen, all meine Gedanken und alles, und, wisst ihr, einfach mit dieser unfassbar tollen Community interagieren.


Ein paar der Dinge, die Leute gefragt haben, waren "Wie schaffst du es, Schule und Arbeit und das ganze Starcraftzeug unter einen Hut zu bringen?" und die Antwort lautet: Ich liebe Starcraft einfach so sehr, und ich liebe, dass ich es liebe. Ich gehe also zur Schule, hänge mit meinen Freunden rum, aber ich schäme mich auch nicht dafür, wenn es Freitagabend ist und ich einfach zuhause bleiben und Starcraft spielen möchte. In der Highschool ging ich non-stop auf LAN-Partys. Und jetzt im College habe ich nach heute Abend nicht mehr so viel Arbeit zu erledigen, und wisst ihr was, ich spiele jetzt Starcraft 2. Ich muss nicht rausgehen und irgendeiner sozialen Norm gerecht werden, etwa "Oh, du bist im College und gehst nicht auf Partys?" "Nun, dieses Wochenende nicht. Ich will Starcraft spielen!" und ich denke, das ist super.


Und wisst ihr, was? Ich werde eine Veranstaltung hosten am Wochenende und hole alle Leute dazu. Ich hoste die OSL im Auditorium, auf einem 15inch Projektor, und jeder kommt und versteht, warum es so cool ist.

So, wisst ihr, ich glaube, ich habe jetzt so ziemlich alles angesprochen, was es heißt, ein Starcraft Spieler zu sein. Es gibt so viele Lektionen die ich gelernt habe, die so wertvoll für mich waren. Zum Beispiel: verlieren. Eine Niederlage ist keine schlimme Sache. Misserfolg ist nichts, was man verachten oder vermeiden sollte, und auch nichts wo man jemandem versichern sollte "Nein nein, ist schon in Ordnung, der russische Preisrichter war nur in einer schlechten Stimmung." Diese Niederlagen, diese Spiele, in denen du nicht gut gespielt hast, die du verloren hast, die sind nicht du. Das ist auch keine reflexion von dir; das Spiel ist absolut extern von dir. Und wenn du es dir einfach anschaust, alles was diese Niederlage ist, ist ein Pfeil der dich in die falsche Richtung schickt.


Im schlimmsten Falle, wenn ich hundert Spiele verliere, dann habe ich hundert verschiedene Informationsquellen die ich mir anschauen kann, um ein besserer Spieler zu werden. Und jetzt habe ich wirklich nur sehr wenig Angst vor Misserfolg. Denn wenn ich ein Turnier in den 2005 Finals gegen einen Spieler komplett verbocke, weil ich viel zu nervös war, was macht das schon? Ich werde nächstes Jahr zurück sein und werde aus diesem Fehler gelernt haben, und in der Zukunft werde ich mich im Griff haben.


Es hat mir sehr geholfen mit Dingen umzugehen. Etwa, wenn ich eine Hausaufgabe vermasselt habe, ist es gar nicht so eine große Sache, wenn ich am Ende einer Beziehung bin, weil es letztlich irgendwie nicht gepasst hat... ich kann damit jetzt viel besser umgehen. Ich weiß dass, weil man in Starcraft so schnell Entscheidungen treffen muss, ich jetzt sehr wenige Probleme damit habe, Entscheidungen zu treffen, und ich erkenne, wie wichtig es ist, in der Lage zu sein, jetzt zu entscheiden und sich erst später zu fragen, ob das besser ist. Zu oft, glaube ich, verschwenden die Leute ihre Zeit mit diesen Problemen, und sagen "Soll ich A oder B tun?", und sie sind zu verängstigt sich zu entscheiden. Starcraft macht dich stolz, jemand zu sein, der Entscheidungen trifft, und es lässt es dich lieben, so jemand zu sein. All diese Situationen in denen du dich wiederfinden kannst, sind so viel einfacher, wenn man diese Erfahrungen hat.


Und die letzte Sache die ich sagen möchte ist, dass man versteht, wie wichtig die Community ist. Niemand in Starcraft ist isoliert und spielt immer nur allein, kommt wieder und ist besser als alle anderen. Spieler spielen miteinander, sie diskutieren miteinander und entwickeln wirklich enge Freundschaften nach Übersee. Einige meiner besten Freunde leben in Europa, Starcraft sei dank. Diesen Community Aspekt habe ich einfach so gern.


Ich schließe ab mit dieser letzten Frage die jemand stellte: "Was möchtest du tun mit Starcraft 2? Willst du ein professioneller Spieler werden? Willst du ein Kommentator sein?" Mein Lebenstraum ist es, dass eSports in der westlichen Welt groß wird. Ich will, dass es eine riesige Angelegenheit ist. Also wäre ich sehr gern der Botschafter der eSports. Ich will die Person sein, die du deiner Mutter zeigen kannst und sagen kannst: "Schau dir diesen Typ an, er ist nicht Obdachlos! Er ist nicht schrecklich schlimm geraten, stimmts? Er spielte dieses Spiel und es hat ihn weit gebracht im Leben. Und hör dir an, wie er das Spiel beschreibt. Dieses großartige Gefühl, über das er reden kann, das ist, was ich empfinde." Das ist etwas, was ich für so wichtig halte. Einfach in der Lage zu sein, so vielen Leuten wie möglich eSports zu vermitteln und ich wünsche mir, dass die Liebe und die Leidenschaft für eSports einfach niemals aufhören. Und.. es wäre ein gut verbrachtes Leben, wenn ich das tun könnte.


So, das waren jetzt gut zwei Stunden. Vielen Dank an jeden, der reingeschaut hat. Und für alle von euch, die ein Getränk haben, ich würde gern einen Trinkspruch sagen für zwölf Jahre, für meinen liebsten Freund, die Starcraft Community, die mit mir durch dick und dünn gegangen ist. Glaubt immer an euch selbst und habt große Träume. Prost. - 1:50:00