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51163 Posts
While XiaOzI is holding it up high in first place, being followed closely by NonY and IdrA, on the other end of the ladder, Katoan is sitting at the unfortunate spot of #1562 , or more known as last place, with amazing statistics of a rank of D-, a single point, 12 wins and 74 losses. I caught up with him a short while ago to ramble about his position at the bottom of the ladder
Hey, thanks for talking to me when its 4am or so where you live, correct? Where I live it's 8:48 am and I've worked for the night
My bad. Anyway, details on yourself, name, age, homeland, race etc. My name is Pekka Rantala, I'm 23 years old, I come from Finland and I "play" protoss
What got you interested into Starcraft, then TL.net, then the TSL, and why are you competing in it? Well actually I started to play with my friends when Starcraft was released back when I was in Junior High here, then took a long like 8 years break from it. Somehow I stumbled upon progaming though, watched a few games and enjoyed it.
After that I found teamliquid, then I heared of TSL and I decided to join it to get some grasp of playing, find new people and in general to enjoy the game
Ah, it's nice to see many players that are old to the game, yet new to the scene, Draco and Legionnaire have even come back for this tournament, which is nice. Anyway, to be more indepth with the TSL, how does it feel to be at the bottom of the table on a single point? Have you had more attention given to you given the fact you are at the bottom of the TSL ladder?
When TSL started I kicked it off with my famous 14 loss streak which ofcourse caught much attention. At worse at that point I had 30-50 challenges per day, so yeah I guess I get more attention.
Most of the attention is positive though and I especially need to give a nice thank you to people at #teamliquid who constantly train me to actually beat this 1 point of mine
As for the feeling of being worst... I just like to play the game, so I don't care so much about points
TL.net IRC is a great group of people. Moving on from your performance of the TSL, how do you feel the top 48 is going to shape out to be? Do you think there will be any dark horses? Or is your knowledge too limited for an answer?
My knowledge of the scene is quite limited to be honest, but I'm still praying for Chill to reach the top 48 (despite him saying he won't). I'm also cheering for TSL-Napoleon as he is the best ranked Finnish player in TSL at the moment. I'm always looking for people who were on Teamliquid Attack though and seems they're all doing great . So no surprises for me in the top48.
Final question, what is your goal rank to hit this TSL?
Well during TSL I'd like to hit D+ to be honest, it's like the ultimate TSL goal for me. My gaming won't end at TSL though and if all comes together well, maybe by TSL season 2 I'll actually be able to compete against some people
Thanks for the interview, any final comments?
Nah, thanks for taking interest in the bottom of the screen too . Hope to see you all in iccup at one point for a game \o/.
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Russian Federation4235 Posts
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katoan, post some of your better replays!
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Everybody has to start from the somewhere and it is usually the bottom. Good luck to him!
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i love this dude, and haven't even met him. Keep shooting bro.
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I wish i had this sort of dedication to anything
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even though you don't need to be told, nice work katoan, i wish i could be more like you ;o
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is awesome32252 Posts
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What a great attitude, Katoan. I suggest posting a rep or two of yours in the strategy forums and maybe people can help you analyze your game, to help you improve faster.
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HonestTea
5007 Posts
So many smiley faces... have fun have fun!
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his dedication is impressive. as long as he doesn't mass game, but actually learns new strategies, bo, and executions by watching replays/vods, i think hes on the right track. i hope to see your progress =]
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That's the essence of the game - having fun. I really enjoyed reading this! Ty for the interview!
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Germany2762 Posts
awesome interview, katoan you rock!
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He probably deserves a secret prize.
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Melbourne5338 Posts
no personal shoutouts? i thought we were friends katoan
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He'll go far, with an attitude and determination like that. Kudos to Katoan for being such a good sport and props to GTR for the interview Great read.
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Belgium9937 Posts
On April 06 2008 19:26 thunk wrote: He probably deserves a secret prize. Word. TSL was about "Determination" after all, wasn't it?
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On April 06 2008 19:26 thunk wrote: He probably deserves a secret prize.
! Katoan, if I wasn't too busy right now, you would be facing stiff competition for that precious #1591 spot
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Trinidad/Tobago1177 Posts
wow ! Katoan is gosu in his own way. GL HF Katoan
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Germany1297 Posts
My honest respect. Examples like yours make me go on after 5 losses a row, just for the fun of it
EDIT: Oh and how about a "reward" like this. The bottom 2 (or 3) duke it out against the winner in team melee (or maybe normal Xvs1). I think this could be acutally interessting!
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Stegosaur
Netherlands1231 Posts
Thumbs up for Katoan! Play to relax!
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Haha, this is great! Keep it going!
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Katoan is awesome, I keep going GOGO KATOAN FIGHTING at him and he just laughs
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He "plays" protoss! That's so cute :D
Great interview.
Good luck Katoan!
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Katoan, you are my hero. I hope to meet irl someday and shake your hand.
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A single elimination tour for the lower end of the ladder (like top8 down) would be awesome.
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On April 06 2008 15:50 useLess wrote: katoan, post some of your better replays!
would be cool. I think many people here would give good advice for a player like him!
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On April 06 2008 15:50 useLess wrote: katoan, post some of your better replays!
Im not sure if these are his better replays but its 3 pvz games against me on longinus:
[url blocked]
Hes not that bad at all. Alot of new players simply gives up after loosing 3 games in a row but not Katoan, Respect.
+ Show Spoiler +He always 2gates PvZ, hell need to mix it up some!
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I think he does that because of Strafe ahahaha
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its not a bad idea for him to stick mostly to one build while he can get his macro/micro more stable to a good level then once he has a good level of play with that build he can start branching out and exploring strategy.
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i played katoan once on TSL
i have to admit, he is a lot better than a lot of the other people ranked above him
but props for being so gm and dedicated to the game!
glhf katoan!
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I love you Katoan. I would be so happy if I had so much energy to play on even after losing some games. Actually my lack of this energy made me quit the game years ago. GL to you!
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United States20661 Posts
I love this man!
Mass gaming at its finest.
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0-3 and i would have thrown the towel in. love for the game is bigger then love for winning the game. the way everyone should act.
(i hope IdrA is reading this)
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I bet this man would have a better record if more highly skilled players weren't always challenging him for matches lol.
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i wish some of us was able to create a game.. maybe i could beat someone T_T
:D
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Katoan is a fucking champ and one of my BW idols, no joke. I wish I could summon up the determination to power forward through the losses like he does.
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United States12607 Posts
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Baltimore, USA22225 Posts
Haha. Nice interview, and what a manner kinda guy.
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much respect man. I'm racing you to D+ rank!
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Massive props to him for sticking to the ladder like that :D
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Woo, gogo! Played a really fun series of ZvPs against him a few days ago. Great guy, and coming up fast!!!
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
I thought I was destined for an interview similar to Katoan's when I went on my losing streak I suppose some experience helps
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Netherlands19124 Posts
Diss Katoan and u be dissin' all of us!
*IRC ROAR*
Keep it up bro :D.
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Good stuff. This is what BW is all about. Furthermore, I've never met a Finn(sp?) i didn't like. My mother was an international business communication consultant. Some of my best family friends are Finnish.
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This guy makes me really happy. He's a badass.
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Calgary25942 Posts
Awesome interview. I won't let you down!
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what a rocker - good luck bud!
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its sad some people pick on him when he had more points.
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Katoan, if there weren't players like you around for TSL, i wouldn't have competed at all thx for inspiring other newcomers to join TSL and increasing the overall positive vibe for the tournament
looking forward to meeting you in a game if that ever happens
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wow that was an interesting interview.
Respects to Kaotan, make me feel I have a lot to learn from him.
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