'Hawkeye' EffOrt: "Our team is strong too." "We were able to win because everyone cooperated."
CJ Entus' EffOrt, who has been in charge of CJ's zerg lineup helped CJ advance in the playoffs, defeating YellOw[ArnC] in the final ace match, after his team lost 2:4 to Hite on the same day, recording two wins in a single day.
The following is the interview with EffOrt.
- After winning the first match today (day 2), you followed up by winning in the final ace match. ▲ We did not win because of just my victory alone. We were able to win because everyone cooperated. I too prepared hard and was able to show how much effort I had put in through my results, so I feel happy.
- Were you prepared beforehand for the final ace match? ▲ I have actually prepared for it long beforehand. But I prepared thinking that Leta will be sent out instead of YellOw[ArnC]. I did not expect YellOw[ArnC] to be sent out, but I still felt that I was able to win without much difficulty.
- You had to prepare for 3 matches (over the two days). Did you feel tired at all? ▲ It didn't matter. They were maps I had been practicing on for a long time so I was confident. There wasn't any difficulties.
- Before playing the final ace match, what kind of advice did you receive from the coaching staff? ▲ They helped me shake off a lot of burden. That is why I was able to play with my mind at ease and without feeling nervous. He told me it's still Round of 6 in the playoffs so I shouldn't be nervous. They also told me not to play while thinking that I have to win at all costs.
- You played only ZvZs on both days. ▲ Because of that, I was quite comfortable. I played a lot of ZvZs so it helped me ease my practice.
- Were there any difficulties you faced in the final ace match? ▲ There wasn't any. I was slightly nervous in the final battle. I expected to win (the battle) and yet, I couldn't help but feel nervous. Still, I knew I was at an advantage.
- You will be facing Samsung Khan next. Is there any player you specifically want to face? ▲ It doesn't matter who I face. As long as I get sent out, I will play an amazing match.
- Are you confident against Samsung Khan? ▲ Samsung is a strong team, but so are we. If our team works hard together, I believe we will be able to win.
- Any final words? ▲ We won today, so I hope the players who lost today don't feel so down. I hope that everyone can work together and put on an even better performance together in the post-playoffs.
Skyhigh's interview is done by ghostWriter! Credit goes to him!
Skyhigh: "I am happy that I won twice in my two games in this series." "Because of the confidence our team has, I think that we can win."
In the challenging round of 6 in the playoffs, CJ was able to reject Hite's attempt at victory and successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the playoffs.
By defeating Hite's Leta twice in series 1 and series 2, Skyhigh played a huge role in CJ's victory. With his two wins, Skyhigh was able to destroy the Hite's core strategist, Leta, recording a complete victory for CJ.
-You won both of your games in the two series ▲I am happy that I was able to win a game in each series. Ultimately, although the team did win, I feel like it was a shame that we lost the second series.
-In the postseason, the team won 6 games. ▲In the postseason, the games went well and we weren't too tense. That's why our result was good.
-Although you played against Leta twice, you were able to win both of your games. ▲I didn't concentrate too much on who my opponent was. At the moment I found out who my opponent was, I thought that it was fine. Because Leta is Hite's ace, I figured that if I beat him both times, the rest of the matches would go well. Therefore, I felt a sense of responsibility.
-What do you think about the postseason's system? ▲Because our team's player pool is deep, I think that this method is okay (laughs).
-Do you have a player on Samsung Khan that you want to face? ▲There isn't a player that I specifically want to face. All I have to think is that I have to win, no matter who the opponent is.
-Do you think that you can win against Samsung Khan? ▲I think that with the level of confidence our team has, we can win. I also think that we can win. However, I don't know how the games will go. Nevertheless, I am confident.
-Does the postseason's system make it difficult to practice? ▲There isn't any huge problem with the new system. The amount of time available for practicing isn't that small. If the game on the day before is long, then you might be a little tired for the next day? Besides that, it isn't that challenging. However, I was a bit tired today.
-A word about your readiness, as you face the semi-finals of the playoffs. ▲This season was a year long. For a long time, all the players were trying hard and were advancing gradually. However, we need it to win it all to be able to think that the results are acceptable. I will win.
-Any final words? ▲All our team players will practice even harder to make sure that we will it all.
CJ's Coach Cho: "Hite was a tough opponent." "We must never let our guard down."
CJ played against a very tough Hite to advance from the Round of 6 in the playoffs to advance into the post-playoffs.
CJ lost to Hite on the second day 2:4, but was eventually able to take the final ace match and advance.
The following is the interview with Coach Cho.
- You won in the end after a tough battle and advanced into the post-playoffs. Your thoughts? ▲ If we lost we wouldn't have any more chances, so I am happy that we advanced. As experts and other people expected, Hite was a tough opponent. We were able to advance mainly because our new players played very well, so I am very happy with it, as well as a few other things.
- You lost 2:4 on the second day. ▲ Actually we have quite a history with Hite. Strangely enough, whenever we feel that we weren't behind in terms of tactics and strategy, we would lose a lot. We were only aware of that recently. When the entries for the two days were revealed, we felt day 1 would be harder. Winning the first day after much difficulty was a huge relief.
- Skyhigh, Movie and EffOrt did an amazing job. ▲ Just because a coach sends out a player, it doesn't mean that everything will go according to plan. From my point of view, I am very thankful for these players. The amount of effort these new players put in is priceless.
- Did you already plan to send EffOrt in the final ace match? ▲ I believe that our player pool is very deep. Hence it is important to send out a player who will play as per normal on such a big stage. Heartbreak Ridge was the final ace match map, so we made the decision rather early. After looking through who played the best against all three races overall, we ended up choosing EffOrt. I am happy that everything went well according to plan.
- You must have thought over very hard about the entries. ▲ I do worry about it, but I make the final decision only after discussing the issue with the other coaches and the players. Every team will have different opinions about the maps. Regardless of what our fans may say, we are confident with any lineup we send out. We may have to worry more about the entries from now on, but the players we send out on the maps are the players who perform best on those maps. We are confident.
- You will be facing Samsung Khan next. ▲ There are many players (in Khan) who have experience playing in the Grand Finals. If you think about it rationally, they won the latest Grand Finals so we must never let our guard down. Their players are players who are definitely not lacking in terms of skill. I believe that we can only win if everyone, including those who won in the Round of 6 and the ace matches plays with vigilance.
- The new post-season format seems to be tiring. ▲ It is indeed tough. I don't really have any complaints, but it's really tough (laugh). Our players are having a hard time because they are playing for almost 200 days without much rest, but the format has already been decided, and our fans and company is expecting much from us. That is why we have to play to our fullest with this format. I just hope that the next season's format can be changed to a better one after listening to the players' and staff's opinions.
- Any final words? ▲ It was the Round of 6 playoffs, so it was very important for our players, and for every interview, our motto is just one thing. We believe that we will be able to win as long as we do not let our guard down and play to our fullest potential. If our fans give a bit more support, we will definitely be able to win in the Grand Finals in the end.
On July 20 2009 02:25 JIJIyO wrote: CJ is the best yo. Thanks for the interviews. I wanted STX to win since I hate khan so much, but I think khan should be an easier team for CJ to beat.
CJ vs STX would have been way more exciting to watch though. :/
thanks for the speedy translation it's always so nice to get insight to the players/coach's thoughts any chance of a khan/stx winner interview translation?
Thanks a lot for the translations, really enjoyed these interviews.
CJ has a lot of depth in their team, and I think it will help them in this format where it is a best of 7. Also, I think that compared to other teams, CJ will have the best chance to meet SKT in the finals.
I also feel like STX would have been harder for cj to beat. STX's lineup is almost as deep as CJ's is with a red-hot calm, a strong hwasin, a decent kal, a pretty good hero and a dependable shuttle. khan only has a firebathero who seems to be getting weaker in every matchup, stork who nearly dropped a game to modesty of all people, jangbi who isn't doing too hot, great, and a relatively untested yoon.
There's no way that khan will be able to claim a win.
Thanks for the interview. Khan vs CJ is going to be great if Khan snipes well, Stork/Jangbi will DESTROY every Terran/Protoss on CJ's arsenal + Great is not bad + Firebathero can beat Savior/CJ Terran, but Effort/Kwanro have a edge a huge one might add vs Khan players, Stork can play brilliant PvZ sometimes and that is what is going to determine the matches, how well Stork plays in ace matches + PvZ and how the line ups turn out. Also every Oz fan needs to pray hard that CJ loses to KHan, as a team with Oz's depth is fucked completely vs a team with CJ's depth, they need to snipe hard and well to have any decent chance of winning with their sub par backup line up which is only better than Ace and Wemade, thats how terrible it is.
Lets not talk about deep man... that doesnt mean anything. Lecaf can take CJ if they want easy.. just the trio backho/lomo/hiya needs to win 2 games on one night and leave the rest to JD (and thats not hard for them). I think that the best thing for lecaf its that CJ wins over khan because Khan > Lecaf any day. But nvm... CJ entus is going to lose vs Khan no way they can win.
lomo lomo can only beat people he is better than, like jaehoon or shine. he's not better than anyone cj can send out hiya hiya only beat calm in his last 10 games, dropping games to players like geumchi, hogil and ace of all people backho backho is 4-6, despite beating flash and kal, he's lost to ganzi, sea and sangho
On July 20 2009 07:22 FranzF1 wrote: Lets not talk about deep man... that doesnt mean anything. Lecaf can take CJ if they want easy.. just the trio backho/lomo/hiya needs to win 2 games on one night and leave the rest to JD (and thats not hard for them). I think that the best thing for lecaf its that CJ wins over khan because Khan > Lecaf any day. But nvm... CJ entus is going to lose vs Khan no way they can win.
There's no guarantee JD wins two games. He is probably a 60/40 favorite at best against Effort (if not 50/50), and maybe 65/35 against Skyhigh and Movie. Oz is in deep trouble if they face CJ.
On July 20 2009 07:22 FranzF1 wrote: Lets not talk about deep man... that doesnt mean anything. Lecaf can take CJ if they want easy.. just the trio backho/lomo/hiya needs to win 2 games on one night and leave the rest to JD (and thats not hard for them). I think that the best thing for lecaf its that CJ wins over khan because Khan > Lecaf any day. But nvm... CJ entus is going to lose vs Khan no way they can win.
There's no guarantee JD wins two games. He is probably a 60/40 favorite at best against Effort (if not 50/50), and maybe 65/35 against Skyhigh and Movie. Oz is in deep trouble if they face CJ.
Jaedong is 60/40 against Effort, maybe even closer. Skyhigh's not close to JD's level right now, unless he does some new awesome build or good cheese, he won't have a chance. Movie is really inconsistent, and if he's beaten JD recently, he probably won't be sent for ace since he can't do it twice in a row for some reason. JD has barely better than even odds going into ace against CJ, I'd say.
On July 20 2009 07:07 samachking wrote: Thanks for the interview. Khan vs CJ is going to be great if Khan snipes well, Stork/Jangbi will DESTROY every Terran/Protoss on CJ's arsenal + Great is not bad + Firebathero can beat Savior/CJ Terran, but Effort/Kwanro have a edge a huge one might add vs Khan players, Stork can play brilliant PvZ sometimes and that is what is going to determine the matches, how well Stork plays in ace matches + PvZ and how the line ups turn out. Also every Oz fan needs to pray hard that CJ loses to KHan, as a team with Oz's depth is fucked completely vs a team with CJ's depth, they need to snipe hard and well to have any decent chance of winning with their sub par backup line up which is only better than Ace and Wemade, thats how terrible it is.
Suddenly stork is good at PvZ again? Make up your damn minds. PvZ was never stork's forte unlike what some of you may think. Just as Khan can snipe CJ players, Coach Cho CJ can do that as well, Jangbi is prone to a Z snipe, Great can be easily sniped by Effort, with Skyhigh's TvT, he could go up against FBH.
On July 20 2009 07:22 FranzF1 wrote: Lets not talk about deep man... that doesnt mean anything. Lecaf can take CJ if they want easy.. just the trio backho/lomo/hiya needs to win 2 games on one night and leave the rest to JD (and thats not hard for them). I think that the best thing for lecaf its that CJ wins over khan because Khan > Lecaf any day. But nvm... CJ entus is going to lose vs Khan no way they can win.
There's no guarantee JD wins two games. He is probably a 60/40 favorite at best against Effort (if not 50/50), and maybe 65/35 against Skyhigh and Movie. Oz is in deep trouble if they face CJ.
Jaedong is 60/40 against Effort, maybe even closer. Skyhigh's not close to JD's level right now, unless he does some new awesome build or good cheese, he won't have a chance. Movie is really inconsistent, and if he's beaten JD recently, he probably won't be sent for ace since he can't do it twice in a row for some reason. JD has barely better than even odds going into ace against CJ, I'd say.
Also CJ has the big advantage that they can have one person just train hardcore vs Z on the ace match map, while Jaedong has to practice all three matchups on the map and also has to practice for his other match very well because he almost definitely HAS to win it to even get to the ace match
On July 20 2009 03:55 prOxi.Beater wrote: Wow, when I watched Effort vs Yarnc it looked like a very close game, but apparently Effort doesn't think so!
Thanks for the translation
Yeah thats what I thought too ^^ Nice to see how confident he is.
Pretty interesting how the players say "no the playoff format is fine, we just have to deal with it" while Coach Cho is really worried about his players and wants it to change
It was wild how skyhigh took out leta not once but twice. He is a playoff all-star! I hope he can keep it rolling unlike last time he had some major wins.