Grape: “I don’t want to face Horang2 hyung in the Round of 16”
Grape, for the first time ever in his progaming career, has successfully advanced to the MSL Round of 16. After transferring from eSTRO to Samsung KHAN and being unable to shine due to being hidden in the shadow of Stork and Jangbi, contrary to expectations, Grape has absorbed his seniors’ strong points and grown into a skilled player. Grape showed his self-confidence by saying, “Of course I knew that I would advance to the Round of 16 with a 2:0.” Grape also expressed his desire not to meet Horang2 in the Round of 16 and said, “I want to advance to the Round of 8 and receive a seed.”
Grape, for the first time ever in his progaming career, has successfully advanced to the MSL Round of 16. After transferring from eSTRO to Samsung KHAN and being unable to shine due to being hidden in the shadow of Stork and Jangbi, contrary to expectations, Grape has absorbed his seniors’ strong points and grown into a skilled player. Grape showed his self-confidence by saying, “Of course I knew that I would advance to the Round of 16 with a 2:0.” Grape also expressed his desire not to meet Horang2 in the Round of 16 and said, “I want to advance to the Round of 8 and receive a seed.”
Q: This is your first time advancing to the Round of 16 in your entire career.
A: Whether it was because of me being nervous, my hands kept on shaking throughout the game. Even during my game with hero, after he set up his expansion at 1, I was still nervous when I sent my Probe out to scout around 2 minutes later. I know that people say that our group is weak, but nevertheless, I’m happy with the fact that I’ve advanced to the Round of 16. I definitely want to advance to the Round of 8.
Q: Did you think that you would advance with a 2:0 score?
A: Of course I did (laughs). Because I’m close with Dear and know his style well I had confidence in myself, and looking at the winners’ match map (Monte Cristo), it looked alright for PvZ. It gave me vibes of the map Match Point, so I was confident. Even if I faced a Protoss in the winners’ match, I had a sure-kill build prepared for that. If I get matched up with a Protoss in the Round of 16 [T/N: Hi Horang2], I definitely want to show the build to everyone.
Q: After you transferred to the Protoss powerhouse team Samsung KHAN, it feels like you’re growing more and more as a player.
A: I had originally really wanted to go to a strong Protoss team and learn from them. Rather than seizing as many chances to participate as much as possible, I think that personally growing as a player is more important. Right now, even though I have advanced to the MSL Round of 16, in the practice house, I feel that I still have a long way to go. Stork hyung and JangBi hyung are too good. [T/N: It must not be pretty practicing PvP back at the Samsung practice house, especially with those two around…]
Q: When do you think you will be able to overtake Stork and JangBi?
A: I think that my skill will suddenly increase in one go in the future. I think that I’ll be able to overtake them someday. Personally, if you see me in practice, I think that there is a potentiality for my skill to explode one day. [T/N: Invest in Grape now, he might be the next Stork/Jangbi someday!]
Q: Your goal for this MSL?
A: For the time being, I definitely want to advance to the Round of 8. I have to receive a seed so that I don’t have to go through the Survivor rounds again (laughs). I want to advance to the Round of 8 so that I can easily advance in next season’s MSL (laughs).
Q: You will be matched up against the player who advances 2:1 from Group C.
A: I’ll be comfortable facing either a Terran or a Zerg. Since I’m close with Horang2 hyung [T/N: and because he’s the king of PvP], I don’t want to face him.
Q: Do you think that you’ll be able to keep up this momentum in Proleague Rounds 5 and 6?
A: Right now, it all depends on the maps. Things aren’t so stable yet. After my skill becomes more solid, then I’ll be able to definitely say something.
Q: Any last words you want to say?
A: I want to thank the Zerg and Protoss players who helped me with practice. I especially want to thank Stork hyung for really doing his best to help me out. Finally, I want to tell Reality to advance to the Round of 16 without fail.
hero: “A complete analysis of Snow”
STX’s Hero, on the 16th in Seoul Yeongdeungpo Mullaedong LOOX Hero Center in the opening match of Group G of the ABC Mart MSL, defeated Hite Entus’s Snow and has successfully advanced to the Round of 16. Hero, who battled Snow twice all the way to the end and achieved victory, was happier than anyone else and said, “It seems the fruits of my hard labor came out.”
STX’s Hero, on the 16th in Seoul Yeongdeungpo Mullaedong LOOX Hero Center in the opening match of Group G of the ABC Mart MSL, defeated Hite Entus’s Snow and has successfully advanced to the Round of 16. Hero, who battled Snow twice all the way to the end and achieved victory, was happier than anyone else and said, “It seems the fruits of my hard labor came out.”
Q: Your thoughts on advancing to the Round of 16?
A: During the group selection ceremony, I didn’t say a word and stayed still. But after seeing that my group was completed, it seemed that there were many advantageous points for me. It seems that practicing hard has made good results come out.
Q: It seems regrettable that you lost in the winners’ match (against Grape).
A: The map itself (Monte Cristo) had difficulties in it. It seemed that it took a while for me to get used to it. Honestly, I thought if I won, then that was great, but if I lost, then there was nothing I could do about it.
Q: Your results haven’t been good lately.
A: Today’s win seems like a starting point for me to do better in the future. I’ve heard that statement said to me so I’ve been impacted by it, but in my games, if I’m in an advantageous position, it seems that I do a lot of strange plays. If I fix those points, then I think that I’ll be able to improve.
Q: You faced Snow twice.
A: I expected that if I went all the way to the last match, then I would meet him again. After studying my opponent’s VODs and patterns, I saw what kind of strategies he would most likely use against me. By preparing carefully, there weren’t that many difficulties.
Q: Your strategies don’t seem to vary that much in your games.
A: Having Snow as my opponent, I thought that going for a Hydralisk all-in build would be good against him. I also used Mutalisks, but I’m more comfortable using Hydralisks against him (laughs).
Q: But if you don’t use Mutalisks often, then your ZvZ skill will turn bad.
A: That’s because I put effort into ZvP for today’s match. I’ll also do my best to not become weak in ZvZ,
Q: Any last words you want to say?
A: I want to tell Kal, Shuttle, Trap, and mini that thanks to their help, I was able to win today. Recently, lots of people have been suffering from colds. I want to tell everyone to take good care of their health.
Source: Grape's interview: http://esports.dailygame.co.kr/news/read.php?id=42736
Hero's interview: http://esports.dailygame.co.kr/news/read.php?id=42742
Congrats to Grape and Hero for advancing to the Round of 16, and I have a feeling that Fantasy's interviewer interviewed Hero. Such a polite interviewer who sure isn't blunt at all!