[TSL] IdrA, CrunCher, Kas, HayprO Interviews

Q: You recently returned to the United States. Are you happy with how Korea turned out for you? You spent several years there.

I'm happy, even if my career had ended with Starcraft 1 it would have been a really cool experience - getting to live in another country and make a living doing what I love. But given the success of Starcraft 2 it was not only a cool experience but also really good for me professionally, as there's no better preparation for SC2 than years of SC1 practice in Korea.

Q: Do you have plans to return to Korea or will you be playing in only international events for the near future?

It's entirely possible I'll end up living in Korea again in the future if ESPORTS doesn't take off outside Korea or if Starcraft 2 takes over entirely in Korea. But for the time being my focus will be on international events, though I'll be happy to travel to any Korean events that don't conflict with other tournaments.

Q: You also participated in both TSL1 and TSL2. Is there anyone you want to face in the TSL3? What are your goals?

My goal going in to any tournament is to win it, no matter how difficult that may be. I see no point in playing a tournament that you don't intend to win. Nony knocked me out of TSL2 and beat me easily in a showmatch last time we played in SC2 so I'd kind of like to play him. There's no one I'd really consider a rival though.

Q: Your first round opponent is a relatively unknown player - Cruncher. What are your thoughts about him?

I'm approaching the match as if it were a walkover.

Q: Are you confident you can beat him? Do you expect him to do any risky strategies against you?

Yes, he's going to 4 gate all-in both games unless he decides to be clever and make voidrays or DTs.

Q: Many fans are saying the Koreans will dominate this tournament. Do you feel that this is inevitable or do the international players have a good chance?

The Koreans are better players and the best Koreans have the higher seed and latency advantage on the best international players so the top Koreans will probably dominate the tournament.

Q: Are you happy with the brackets? Do you feel you have an easier or harder quadrant/half of the bracket?

My initial two matches should be pretty easy, Mondragon is certainly capable of being very good but as far as I know he's still focusing on school and I'm very comfortable ZvZ right now. The third match could be very difficult if I play vs Nestea, but he'll have to play on North America vs Ret so there's a significant possibility Ret will knock him out. I think me vs Ret would be a coinflip and the winner would go to the finals pretty easily.

Q: If you had to introduce yourself to our fans who never met you, how would you describe yourself? Write a few sentences about your personality.

Personality should be irrelevant. This is a computer game tournament, not a dating show.

Q: What do you think are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a player?

My mechanics and multitasking are my strengths. Because of that I'm relatively weak to allin and risky/strategical builds since they don't allow me to play to my strengths.

Q: Which matches (other than your own) are you interested in? Why? Who do you believe will win?

Ret vs Naniwa and Kas vs Haypro mainly. I don't think any of the Korean's matches will be close first round, except maybe Boxer's. Ret can be really really good but Naniwa is decent and its PvZ so that should be a pretty close matchup. Kas vs Haypro, Haypro's much better than most people realize and Kas seems to be quite good online so that should be another close matchup between relatively good players. I'd expect Haypro to win that one.

Q: Do you have anything to say to your fans and supporters before the Round of 32?

Thank you all for your support.

Q: You qualified for the TSL relatively early. Give us your thoughts on the qualifiers. Have you been watching the later qualifiers?

I haven't paid too much attention to the qualifiers, I usually just check the finals to see who won/lost.


Q: What are your goals for the TSL3? Do you feel you have something to prove?

To get as far as possible. I've been practicing a lot and want to prove to myself that I can go far.

Q: Your first round opponent is EG.Idra. How do you feel about him? Are you confident you can beat him?

I am confident against him.

Q: Will you have any special strategies planned for Idra? How are you preparing for him? How are you approaching this match?

I will indeed. I've been practicing a lot and feel I am prepared.

Q: Many fans view you as an underdog in this series. Do you like being the underdog? What is your mindset?

I enjoy being viewed as the underdog. My mindset is the same as preparing for any other tournament, focus and play well the day of the match.

Q: If you had to introduce yourself to our fans who never met you, how would you describe yourself? Write a few sentences about your personality.

I enjoy having a good time with the game. I love playing differently styles, whether it is cheesy, unique, or macro. I get bored of playing the same style over and over.

Q: What do you think are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a player?

My greatest strength is having tons of different strategies prepared, but that is my weakness at the same time, since I have to practice all the different styles.

Q: Which matches (other than your own) are you interested in? Why? Who do you believe will win?

I'm interested in Tyler's match. Seeing as he won the last TSL, and he also doesn't play in tournaments too often compared to most of the other players, so it would be nice to see his play style. As for who will win: a Korean?

Q: Do you have anything to say to your fans and supporters before the Round of 32?

Hope you enjoy my games and cheer for me .

Q: You were the first player to qualify for the TSL. What are your thoughts about the TSL qualifiers? What are your goals for the TSL? Have you been practicing hard since qualifying?

I am very glad that I could qualify for TSL3, this is a grand tournament where I will try to prove myself and show that I can compete with the best players. My goal is to play well and that will be very difficult against players of such high class.

Q: Your opponent is Liquid`Haypro who is currently training in Korea. What are your thoughts about him? Are you confident you can win?

In Europe there are not many good Zergs, so this is a weakness of mine. Haypro on the other hand is living in Korea and seeing the world's best Zergs, so I expect it to be very close and . I would call Haypro the favorite, but I will try to prove I can compete against the best.

Q: Many fans believe the Koreans will dominate the TSL3. Do you feel the non-Korean players will do well against the Koreans? Why or why not?

I will wait for the outcome of those games impatiently, I will not guess the outcome. I hope the Europeans will show everything they have.

Q: You are one of three Ukrainians who qualified for the TSL. Why do you think there are so many good players from your country?

Ukraine is an industrious nation , we can set goals and achieve them.

Q: If you had to introduce yourself to our fans who never met you, how would you describe yourself? Write a few sentences about your personality.

I am a person who always strives to achieve. Very focused and emotional, I try to be a good person who still believes in fairy tales.

Q: What do you think are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a player?

My strengths are that I can play any style, I feel the game out and can arrange any counter that is needed. Weakness is definitely sometimes there is no clear plan for the game and I sometimes mess up macro because of so little Brood War experience.


Q: Which matches (other than your own) are you interested in?

It is interesting to look for the Koreans, and in general I will look out for them. I am interesting in every game.

Q: Do you have anything to say to your fans and supporters before the Round of 32?

Thank you all for supporting me, I will show what I can do.

Q: Your first round opponent is Empire.Kas, who is currently the #1 ranked TLPD European player. What are your thoughts about him as a player?

Kas seems to be a really good Terran player.


Q: How will you prepare against Kas? Are you confident?

I'm playing a lot on the US server to prepare for this match.

Q: Recently you were knocked out of GSL Code A by Ganzi. Do you feel you have something to prove? What are your goals for the TSL?

I'm going into this TSL to win.

Q: How is the oGs-Liquid house now that Ret is gone? How are you doing over there?

Its better now, we've done a lot of improvements and upgrades in the last two weeks after Ret's departure. Things are looking better than ever.

Q: Do you feel the Koreans will just dominate this TSL3 or do you feel the NA/EU players will do well against them? Who is likely to be "upset?"

I think if the Koreans take this as seriously as GSL a player from the Kr server will win. I think Ret is the player most likely to win besides Kr server players.

Q: If you had to introduce yourself to our fans who never met you, how would you describe yourself? Write a few sentences about your personality.

I'm a Swedish SC2-player living in Korea where I play in the GSL. I'm a kind and hard working person. In the oGs-Liquid house I'm known as the movie guy and my favorite TV show is Smallville.

Q: What do you think are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a player?

my greatest strength is my ability to make the right choices, and my weakness is protoss.

Q: Which matches (other than your own) are you interested in? Why? Who do you believe will win?

I'm looking forward to Morrow vs Jinro, best Swede outside of Korea vs best Swede in Korea. Idra vs Cruncher is supposed to be a really good match, and of course the grudge match between Ret and Naniwa.

Q: Do you have anything to say to your fans and supporters before the Round of 32?

I want to thank everyone who keeps cheering for me even though I keep losing in the first round of GSL.