I recently had the chance to sit down with Legendary progamer and commentator Kang Min (otherwise known as Nal_rA), for a 30 minute interview about his life, thoughts on progaming, and the foreign community. He was genuinely excited to hear from his foreign fans - I hope you are as excited to hear from him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOuyl0C0h4I
Disclaimer: To my fellow Korean speakers, I apologize in advance if my translation is not spot on. >.< Also for the wind - didn't think it was gonna be so windy.
Thanks Nevergg for recording this (holding the camera for 30 mins!) and for the front page picture ^^
Awesome, even though you can't understand a word of the Korean, you can always sense Kang Min's serene authoritative voice, attributing each game with not just a commentary, but a descriptive definition of what every match is.
Even if you never heard of him, you just know that he knows what he is talking about.
Edit: And not to mention his genuinely magnetic personality and kindness in his voice.
he seems like an awesome person and just like anyone of us on the forums here. i really appreciate your interview and thank him for his love of his foreign fans.
Nal_ra is so kickass. Look at that little cute peace sign.
One of my favorite nicknames too.
He really didn't have a ton of insight, though. JD Calm flash bisu stork, pretty standard. Problem in PVZ is HT are slow, what else is new, and he didn't have many predictions for the future of scII.
On October 22 2009 12:50 vitruvia wrote: WTF... nevergg is a girl???
"Thanks Nevergg for recording this (holding the camera for 30 mins!) and for the front page picture ^^ "
"thanks camera girl" - susie
It's been two years since I began working in eSports now! (Almost.) How do people still not know this? Hahahahaha. I must be more mysterious than I give myself credit for. It was a fun experience despite the aching arms. I think Susie and I make a good team
On October 22 2009 12:50 vitruvia wrote: WTF... nevergg is a girl???
"Thanks Nevergg for recording this (holding the camera for 30 mins!) and for the front page picture ^^ "
"thanks camera girl" - susie
It's been two years since I began working in eSports now! (Almost.) How do people still not know this? Hahahahaha. I must be more mysterious than I give myself credit for. It was a fun experience despite the aching arms. I think Susie and I make a good team
people never believe someone is a girl until she posts tons of pics and gets notorious you don't so somehow it's understandable :S
Nal_rA is just so down to earth and chill. His answers really show the depth in his thinking and why he is so famous, his personality and character really stand out. Thanks susie and nevergg for this awesome treat!
On October 22 2009 13:20 ryuu_ wrote: Nal_rA is just so down to earth and chill. His answers really show the depth in his thinking and why he is so famous, his personality and character really stand out. Thanks susie and nevergg for this awesome treat!
I think he's one of the best spoken former/current progamers. He just sounds so charismatic and his answers are very well put together. Really enjoyed this video. Thanks a ton
First off, thank you NeverGG and Lilsusie for putting this AMAZING interview together. I find it a great joy see kang min's insight and his down to earth tone. If you had to ever invite someone to a party this guy is definitely on the list. Thanks NeverGG(...calm..lol) for the beautiful cover picture.
Don't forget to tell Kang Min that it's okay if his english is chobo.. ..we still <3 him :D!! thanks again for this piece.
Many years ago Nal_Ra made me choose Toss.. seeing him, after all this time, in an interview addressing the foreign community directly shows me how far we've come after, oh, seven years now? Usually for me Kang Min is a face on TV, but thanks to the informal setting it feels like he is addressing me casually ^^
On October 22 2009 14:50 Krytha wrote: Great job! Where did you do the interview?
We did it in the courtyard on the 9th floor of the I-Park mall's Living and Digital section where the OGN studios is It was the most convinient, quiet and well lit place despite the breeze.
Great stuff! Thanks Lilsusie and NeverGG for doing this! The questions were good, and Nal_ra had some cool answers. He seems very charismatic and down to earth. It's awesome to hear that TL is making an impact on the Korean scene. :D Please do more interviews like this!
On October 22 2009 12:50 vitruvia wrote: WTF... nevergg is a girl???
"Thanks Nevergg for recording this (holding the camera for 30 mins!) and for the front page picture ^^ "
"thanks camera girl" - susie
nevergg needs a pink camera icon or something lol
thanks SOO much for this susie!! :D:D:D it was awesome.
I agree, PINK camera! I was in the scene quite activly following TL for about a year or so before I figured out she was a girl. she needs more pictures of herself
Awesome interview. Never would have thought his favorite game was the Hallucination/Recall game vs. Goodfriend. Also, I laughed at "English chobo" when he looked directly into the camera.
Thanks Susie and NeverGG, you guys are so awesome.
Susie, seriously you are so fuckin cool I can't even begin to say. Nal_ra is my favorite Protoss, and this just came out of nowhere. That was a lot of fun. TYVM
On October 22 2009 12:51 Smorrie wrote: Will watch tomorrow (unless there's a transcript posted by then :p). Hoping for unit sounds! THERE BETTER BE SOME!!!
Thanks so much for this!!! This is an amazing thing for the community to have, and it is great for the foreign fans to be recognized by Korean commentators and players!
That was great. Thanks a lot Susie and thanks to Kang Min too for doing this special interview. Of course, thanks to the splendid camera girl as well *wink*.
Very nice interview. I'm a bit disapointed that Nal_ra couldn't singlehandedly find the solution to all the protos's woes, though. Thanks a lot Nevergg and Lilsusie!
That was awesome, thanks a bunch lilsusie and NeverGG. Loved the archon, and his opinion on the reason behind the recent lack of innovation makes a lot of sense to me. People take things more seriously when there's more on the line, and for most people that means they take fewer risks, and however amazing the payoff can be, spending one's practice time innovating is indeed a risk.
Nal_rA looks really hot in this interview, he's got big gums and small teeth, so his hair style always either works really well with his face or really not well with his face. But he looks sexy here.
Kang Min is and has always been one of my favourites. I'm so glad you did this interview. He's such a smart guy, I love his comments on everything, especially SC2.
On October 23 2009 06:17 Liquid_Turbo wrote: Can someone give a direct translation on his thought about PvZ? He talked a lot, and lilsusie may have skipped a detail or something.
This is one the best things to happen to TL recently!
Not really much to talk about, he was just talking kinda slowish
He finds the imbalance in the units rather than anything else (BOs, timings etc etc)
"The delay it takes for PS Storm to cast is what he believes is what makes protoss have such a hard time
For a Templar to stop -> Aim -> Cast storm it takes around 1.4-1.5 seconds and during that 1.4-1.5 seconds the mutalisk can do whatever it wants. Since muta stacking is present in the world-wide scene I am pretty sure how easy it is for zerg players to dodge storm and snipe the templars"
He doesn't directly say what needs to be changed but he is kinda implying a faster HT cast time = Better results for Protoss
On October 23 2009 06:17 Liquid_Turbo wrote: Can someone give a direct translation on his thought about PvZ? He talked a lot, and lilsusie may have skipped a detail or something.
This is one the best things to happen to TL recently!
Not really much to talk about, he was just talking kinda slowish
He finds the imbalance in the units rather than anything else (BOs, timings etc etc)
"The delay it takes for PS Storm to cast is what he believes is what makes protoss have such a hard time
For a Templar to stop -> Aim -> Cast storm it takes around 1.4-1.5 seconds and during that 1.4-1.5 seconds the mutalisk can do whatever it wants. Since muta stacking is present in the world-wide scene I am pretty sure how easy it is for zerg players to dodge storm and snipe the templars"
He doesn't directly say what needs to be changed but he is kinda implying a faster HT cast time = Better results for Protoss
Isn't that what I said? O_o ... maybe I missed something?
On October 23 2009 06:17 Liquid_Turbo wrote: Can someone give a direct translation on his thought about PvZ? He talked a lot, and lilsusie may have skipped a detail or something.
This is one the best things to happen to TL recently!
Not really much to talk about, he was just talking kinda slowish
He finds the imbalance in the units rather than anything else (BOs, timings etc etc)
"The delay it takes for PS Storm to cast is what he believes is what makes protoss have such a hard time
For a Templar to stop -> Aim -> Cast storm it takes around 1.4-1.5 seconds and during that 1.4-1.5 seconds the mutalisk can do whatever it wants. Since muta stacking is present in the world-wide scene I am pretty sure how easy it is for zerg players to dodge storm and snipe the templars"
He doesn't directly say what needs to be changed but he is kinda implying a faster HT cast time = Better results for Protoss
Isn't that what I said? O_o ... maybe I missed something?
Yah it definitely is. You're just more eloquent than Nal_Ra because he seemed to talk a lot more! Thanks again for doing this!
On October 23 2009 06:17 Liquid_Turbo wrote: Can someone give a direct translation on his thought about PvZ? He talked a lot, and lilsusie may have skipped a detail or something.
This is one the best things to happen to TL recently!
Not really much to talk about, he was just talking kinda slowish
He finds the imbalance in the units rather than anything else (BOs, timings etc etc)
"The delay it takes for PS Storm to cast is what he believes is what makes protoss have such a hard time
For a Templar to stop -> Aim -> Cast storm it takes around 1.4-1.5 seconds and during that 1.4-1.5 seconds the mutalisk can do whatever it wants. Since muta stacking is present in the world-wide scene I am pretty sure how easy it is for zerg players to dodge storm and snipe the templars"
He doesn't directly say what needs to be changed but he is kinda implying a faster HT cast time = Better results for Protoss
Isn't that what I said? O_o ... maybe I missed something?
yah nuna you said exactly the same thing, I just wrote it down yay
Haha did you notice that while susie's hair and tree branches were flying around like crazy because of the wind, not a single hair from Nal_rA's head moved? He must be wearing A LOT of hair spray lol!
kang min seems like he's such a lovely person. i already thought that when i first saw something about him (it was even before i really was into starcraft) on german television in like... 2003 or 2004? they broadcasted a ~5 minute documentation about the korean starcraft scene with kang min as "main character". i instantly became a fan of him :D
it was this one:
sorry for the bad quality. just remembered the vid when i made this post and instantly uploaded it to youtube.
On October 28 2009 06:41 jhNz wrote: lol @ english chobo :D
kang min seems like he's such a lovely person. i already thought that when i first saw something about him (it was even before i really was into starcraft) on german television in like... 2003 or 2004? they broadcasted a ~5 minute documentation about the korean starcraft scene with kang min as "main character". i instantly became a fan of him :D
sorry for the bad quality. just remembered the vid when i made this post and instantly uploaded it to youtube.
kang min fighting!
Really? I heard he was arrogant and wouldnt mainrace people in his clan because he was the best.. But even the people he was too arrogant to mainrace didnt seem to mind.. They all still loved him.. Dunno.. He was first progamer I ever heard about lol in 2005 or so.. I never really paid attention to progaming until 2008 though.
On October 28 2009 06:41 jhNz wrote: lol @ english chobo :D
kang min seems like he's such a lovely person. i already thought that when i first saw something about him (it was even before i really was into starcraft) on german television in like... 2003 or 2004? they broadcasted a ~5 minute documentation about the korean starcraft scene with kang min as "main character". i instantly became a fan of him :D
sorry for the bad quality. just remembered the vid when i made this post and instantly uploaded it to youtube.
kang min fighting!
Really? I heard he was arrogant and wouldnt mainrace people in his clan because he was the best.. But even the people he was too arrogant to mainrace didnt seem to mind.. They all still loved him.. Dunno.. He was first progamer I ever heard about lol in 2005 or so.. I never really paid attention to progaming until 2008 though.
i had a conversation with semioldguy about nal_rA. I guess they hung out with him at WCG/Blizzcon and he was like the nicest guy ever and he really loves his fans
On July 06 2010 07:41 heishe wrote: sorry for bumping this kind of old thread, but I just saw this and wanted to express how awesome it is! need more pretty lilsusie and nal_ra :D!