Blizz eSports interviews Bisu, Stork, JD, Flash

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What were your initial impressions of StarCraft II?

Jaedong: I think StarCraft II is very similar to Brood War except for the UI. StarCraft II is really fun so I wish to continue to play it. Although I was a Brood War pro-gamer when StarCraft II was launched, I had good feelings about it and really wanted to play the game because I thought this game would be loved globally.

Flash: Honestly, I didn’t like StarCraft II at first because I have been doing very well with Brood War, and I thought that Brood War would continue to be more popular. However, StarCraft II became a global trend and I found it to actually be really fun, so I decided to practice StarCraft II to become a super-star.

Bisu: Hello, I am Taek Young Kim! As a pro-gamer, not as a gamer, I felt a little bit anxious at first because I worried I would lose my job. As time went on, I quickly began to think “Someday I will play StarCraft II,” as I watched the growing popularity of the game. I was sad at first because I lost a lot, but now I’m enjoying the game as I feel my skill grow. I wish to reach a Grand Final at a global competition for passionate global fans.

When you first played StarCraft II, how did your games go?

Jaedong: It was really difficult to play StarCraft II in my first game because I was used to playing Brood War.

Flash: My first StarCraft II game was almost a year after the game was released. I had arm surgery and rehabilitated with athletes in the mountains at that time, then suddenly I felt like playing StarCraft II, so I played alone secretly. Nothing but losses filled my game history, but I kept playing so I could find common ground between Brood War and StarCraft II.

Bisu: I have trouble playing StarCraft II because so many protoss units have been changed. I knew I could change Hotkeys but I didn’t, in order to get used to the new game.

Stork: About two years ago, when StarCraft II launched, StarCraft II was the only game that was allowed to be played in my team house besides Brood War, so we played StarCraft II during break time. I adapted soon because not only were units like the zealot similar, but the overall trend of the game resembled Brood War. Although two Brood War pro-gamers in my team house rapidly turned into StarCraft II pros, I believed that I could catch up with them soon so I remained in the team house.

Many players in the KeSPA Proleague have claimed Protoss is especially strong, and Protoss players seem to be having the most success in their transition. What causes this, would you say?

Jaedong: Strong? Is protoss strong? I’m not sure about that. I don’t know whether protoss is really strong and I think balance always changes as time passes.

Flash: The reason protoss is so strong is… oh, honestly, I have no idea. I don’t think I have enough skill to judge the balance. However I can say StarCraft II protoss has advantages for new players, like Warp Gates.

Bisu: I think protoss is a race which everybody can play well at first. The protoss win rate is quite a bit higher than other races among us because our skill is not that high yet. However, protoss doesn’t seem to have that many advantages for all high-level matches that I watched. I believe protoss strength is based on a lot of studies and practices that protoss players have done.

Stork: On my team (Samsung Electronic Khan), I have seen protoss players’ skill grow quicker than other races when we started to play the game. Compared to Brood War, I think Brood War and StarCraft II protoss have many things in common and protoss is the most convenient race to control and needs the least consideration. So I think it makes protoss stronger at low levels, but the strongest race would be zerg as players’ skills grow.

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Flash: My favorite StarCraft II unit is the marauder. It looks strong and it actually is, so I produce it quite often. I liked to use goliaths very much in Brood War so when I heard that Thor replaced the goliath in StarCraft II, I tried to use it a few times. But the Thor is not my favorite because it feels too massive. I miss the goliath, the slim one.

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On June 26 2012 10:20 ZAiNs wrote:
Nice interview .



Poor Artosis.

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On June 26 2012 10:35 crawlingchaos wrote:
Bisu: I appreciate everyone’s love for me very much. I love those fans’ passionate cheers. I also love the BarCraft culture: watching the game with drinking. I wish it would be held in Korea.
lol

Really cool interviews, thanks.

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What was the hardest thing to get used to about StarCraft II?
Jaedong: I feel Brood War and StarCraft II are completely different games. Every unit in StarCraft II has very clear counter units and this seems to make it harder to turn a game around. That was the most difficult thing to adapt to in the new game for me. The new UI also made me frustrated.
Flash: The biggest difference from Brood War is that it’s hard to turn the game around. In Brood War, each player’s performance in unit production varied, but in StarCraft II, everyone can make a lot of units with ease due to the convenient interface. I think this is the most important point that makes tuning the game around harder.
Bisu: Unlike Brood War, unit combinations and the counter build order are very important in StarCraft II. This is the hardest part for me.
Stork: Brood War has “standard” build orders which are viable against any kind of opposing strategy, allowing for a long term fight. In StarCraft II, I feel it’s difficult to come back from having my build order countered or from making a mistake. If I take my first expansion a little bit later then my opponent, the resource gap between us widens due to Chrono Boost, Larva Spawn and MULE. It makes the game hard to turn around.

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On June 26 2012 10:47 iTzSnypah wrote:
I thought the interviews were a bit short and general, mostly just blah. Good interview overall though, considering the prestige of the players interviewed.

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The mutalisk is very commonly used in Brood War but I feel sad that it is impossible to control mutalisks the way I did in Brood War.

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On June 26 2012 10:33 Daray wrote:
Bisu, Stork and Flash agreeing that Protoss is the easiest race to get good at fast. I've been saying that quite some time now

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