You advanced to the Ro16 of the OSL. How do you feel?
I am really glad. I was nervous about playing in a new environment but I made it through so I’m relieved and satisfied.
If the resume from replay feature hadn’t existed then you would have had to play a re-game.
I think it is a really good feature that we can play again from a fair point in the game.
You are the fourth player to have secured 100 victories for the OSL.
I started remembering the entirety of my pro gaming career. I’m going to see this as just the beginning and aim for 200 victories.
Your first time playing in a five man booth.
The five man booth was really clean. The only disappointing part about today was when I had to move all my stuff to the main stage for the winners’ match. So I couldn’t really focus well since I had to hurry up and set up my stuff. I can’t help but think it would have been better to just choose one spot and stick with it.
You gained a lot of advantages with hellbats. How do you feel about the hellbat nerf that will soon take effect?
I have no idea why they are nerfing hellbats. I know that you see a ton of hellbats for TvT, but in my personal opinion, you can’t use hellbats for TvP so it’s a useless unit for that matchup. Since I have no choice on the matter, I guess I’m just going to have to find out a way to not rely on hellbats so much.
Any specific player you would like to face for the Ro16?
Nope. I just want to advance higher than the previous season so that I can advance to the season finals and even advance to global finals.
How did you feel about returning to the Starleague stage?
I felt like I was back at my hometown. I have a lot of memories here. Since no one has ever won a fourth OSL before, I will work hard so that I can become the first player to do so.
How do you think your skills are compared to your BW days?
I think it’s around 50% of what I was during the BW days. But I see endless possibilities ahead of me for improvement in the future. I see myself making good results as long as I keep playing like this. But I think it’s going to take around two years for me to arrive at my regular form again.
What did you think of the WCS Season 1 Finals?
I was really envious and I took the time to reflect on myself. I will fire it up for this season and work even harder so I can put up good results.
The season final champion INnoVation said that you are a role model player. (T/N: Thank you very much Ensue and pencil_ethics for fixing my original translation And a huge apology to all others who read this interview beforehand and thought a bonjwa discussion had started. I will be extra careful from here on out to ensure that a mistake like that never happens again)
I am not sure if I am that kind of player (laughs). I am grateful to hear that, and think hearing such words provides motivation for me to try harder. I will become a player suited to such compliments.
I didn’t like my performance for game one but I am glad that I was able to successfully advance like this. I think I’m going to have to put on better performances from here on out.
It feels like your flare has died down since the WCS Korea Season 1 championship.
I think I dropped my guard and got a little too complacent after I won the championship. But I’ve learned a lot of things as of late so there’s no way that I’m going to make that mistake again.
You were very close to being the first player eliminated from the Ro32 after you lost game one.
I got a little flustered because I really wasn’t expecting to lose.
We heard that you prepared more extensively for ZvTs.
I practiced a lot of ZvT because I was expecting to meet Flash in the winners’ round. I really prepared extensively but I wasn’t able to show what I had prepared so it was disappointing.
You had the economic advantage in game one but a comeback occurred.
I really thought that I was far ahead. I felt that I wasn’t going to lose no matter what after seeing my opponent’s movements. But then my decision making skills got scattered after my swarm hosts died. I lost the game because I just couldn’t stay patient.
Any specific player you would like to face for the Ro16?
I don’t really know if there is one. The groups are chosen through a raffle so I could even end up meeting a teammate. As long as I don’t have to play against a teammate, I think I am confident enough to win against any player.
You disappointingly were not able to make the WCS Season 1 Finals finals.
I so badly wanted to make the finals so I am still feeling disappointed. But the past is the past so I am trying to focus on my future games. If I can just secure a bit more WCS points, then I can aim for the WCS global finals. I will do my best to work harder so that I can attend BlizzCcon.
From here on out, a lot of players, even newcomers will probably be aiming for the WCS.
I very much see that as a possibility. There is a saying that no one is invincible when it comes to SC2 and I agree with that saying. But I am confident that I can maintain my spot right now.
Has anything changed since the WoL days?
I wasn’t able to find a lot of good timing attacks for WoL. But I think my games for HotS go well because attacking and defending both work out really well for me. To play Zerg, you can’t afford to make mistakes but I think I committed some today.
Since opponents RagnaroK and YugiOh were not highly valued as Flash, did you put most of your focus on ZvT?
I am always confident in the basics when it comes to ZvZs. So I really put a lot of focus into preparing for ZvT than ZvZ. But I think that I am going to have to prepare for a lot of various things from here on out.
You advanced to the Ro16 as first from your group.
There was a lot of pressure and I wasn’t feeling confident in my skills so there was no certainty that I was going to make it through. But I still approached my games with the mentality that I had to at least give it a shot.
Why weren’t you feeling confident?
I haven’t been satisfied with my ladder results as of late. I think it’s time that I got some developments.
Around when do you think you’ll be satisfied with your performances?
I feel confident enough to never lose to anyone just as long as I can do well. For me to properly hear that I am a good player, I think I’m going to have to win about three championships.
Today’s matches were bo1. Is that why you stated that you had no confidence?
I think that mistakes are also definitive of skill. It didn’t matter that it was a bo1. I told myself that I could exclude the possibility of losing as long as I didn’t make any mistakes.
You overcame your disadvantage in the early game and pulled off a comeback.
I really don’t know what happened myself. I couldn’t find any good points in my play today. I just somehow won after playing through chaos. And I think I won game two because Bbyong didn’t quite understand TvT yet. I had a feeling that I was about lose game one because I lacked the ability to respond properly, but I somehow won (laughs).
The attack that you endured for game one was a strategy that 8th Team’s TRUE had already done once before.
Since I saw that game, I decided to try to respond differently today.
The Ro16 will be the regular bo3 format.
I think that’s better. I think I am fully capable of winning a bo3 as long as my skills don’t diminish.
Anything else you would like to say?
I think my skills have diminished since I won the championship. Since my winning the championship is already in the past, I am going to work really hard from the Ro16 and onwards so that I can win the championship for this season and do my best so I can advance to the season finals. I will work hard so that I can show fun performances that the fans will want to cheer me on for.
You advanced to the Ro16 as second from your group. How do you feel?
I stated in the televised interview before the matches began that I grabbed advancing out from my group as second as my goal. I am glad that things went as anticipated (laughs).
In his interview, INnoVation stated that he won the winners’ match against you because you lacked concept for TvT.
Bunny recommended that I use a marine/hellion strategy. Rather than say that I lost because I lack concept for the matchup, I lost because I just didn’t put a lot of focus on my TvT.
Your hellbat drop was rather late after you went for triple CCs.
I noticed that Zergs tend to relax after they see a triple CC strategy. So I decided to go for an attack that exposed that. I used my strategy properly today but it wasn’t entirely successful.
What are your goals for this season?
I think I am really good at ladder. I think I fully capable of doing well as long as I can bring out my true skills for this tournament. My goal after getting through Code A, was to get to the Ro16. Since I accomplished my first goal, I will make getting to the season finals as my second goal.
Any specific player you would like to face or avoid for the Ro16?
I don’t really want to avoid anyone for the Ro16 since everyone will be good in the Ro16. For my Code A Ro24 match, I only practiced with Savage. We cheered each other on because we both made it to the OSL but we ended up meeting each other in the final round. I was disappointed that I had to beat a well-known friend in order to advance to the Ro16.
Anything else you would like to say?
I want to apologize to Savage one more time. But so I will be treating him to a meal so I hope we can continue to hang out and not dwell on this. Bunny recommended the build order to me, but I really hope he tries his build orders out more before recommending them to me from now on (laughs). These days, my Proleague performances haven’t been the best, but I want to use today’s victory as momentum to show a good performance from here on out.
Methods to locating SC2 interviews!
Go to the TL.net search bar and type in [Interview] and then search. You will find the most recent interviews at the top
Go to the liquipedia page for that specific tournament and find this icon: If you click on that icon, it will take you to the interview for that group's match winners
hehe is anyone truly surprised by this :3 and im rlly glad you put a banner. when i get excited to see an interview without even seeing the games or LR, the banner prevents me from seeing
How do you think your skills are compared to your BW days?
I think it’s around 50% of what I was during the BW days. But I see endless possibilities ahead of me for improvement in the future. I see myself making good results as long as I keep playing like this. But I think it’s going to take around two years for me to arrive at my regular form again.
Well, that were two very interesting interviews to read. Thanks for the translation.
Flash saying he finds himself at 50% strength surprises me a lot. As a non-brood war-follower, I'm already amazed at his play. To think that is only half of his true ability, is kinda... intimidating.
Also, it is a surprise to me that the Group Stage Ro16 doesn't have Group Nominations, according to Soulkey it's a raffle?
On June 19 2013 07:11 Negius wrote: Also, it is a surprise to me that the Group Stage Ro16 doesn't have Group Nominations, according to Soulkey it's a raffle?
It could be where they have player just pick the ball from inside a box. The ball would say like a1-a4 to d1-d4. I think they have done it like that before but with the last 4 player from the previous top 4 osl players being the first in each group.
I don't think Flash is anywhere near Bonjwa level in SCII and its quite debatable if such a term can even be used considering the amount of tournaments there are so no one player can win them all due to the amount of time they'll have to put in just to fly around etc... It's definitely surprising that Innovation said that he should be called Bonjwa for SCII since he hasn't accomplished much since he switched over. Is Innovation's interview coming? Thanks Seeker!
I think raffle selections refers to how OGN does their group selection before. There WILL still be group selection, but the players dont have 100% control on selecting their groups. THe way they did it was the top 4 gets seeded and the other players will pick 2 random balls. Ex. A3 and B3, then he chooses which one he would prefer, and as far as I can remember, the 4 seeds also has the power to switch players around (once for 2nd to 4th seed and twice for the 1st seed).
ok .. two of the best in the world ATM namely soulkey(i still dont think hes the best zerg) and innovation(he is probably on the top of the entire sc2 population ) both are scared of flash .. scared might not be the right word .. ill settle with intimidated .. but flash must be really that good that even a player as good as innovation respects him that well ..
but come on innovation he's not bonjwa level YET ..
i still believe that innovation is so good but overhyped by fans ..
anyways nice article .. looking forward for JD and Flash rivalry again just like in BW if JD does not screw up in improving
On June 19 2013 18:21 crashonly wrote: Flash has "no idea" why they're nerfing hellbats, lol. Sure hope he isn't relying on them too, too much, and can still win games without them.
Wonder why is Bbyong dissing Bunny so much :o
Thanks for the translations!
flash relies on marauder micro so much .. thats what i observed .. maybe i am so wrong haha
Flash was also known in Broodwar for tweaking his build orders to perfection. He's losing a lot right now, but only with experience and those defeats he can adjust his build orders that they will be untouchable. Thing is, it was a lot easier in Broodwar to be all-around save compared to now. Lets see how long it takes until Flash will be able to completely read opponents and have his build orders tight.
Looking forward to follow his development once again. Thanks for the translation, good interviews.
Flash has no idea why they are nerfing hellbats and uses TvP as excuse? They are not only used a lot in TvT but as well in TvZ. Was hoping better from him.
To dispel any concerns, the original question asked had nothing to do with bonjwa (let there be an end to the dispute right now). I will retranslate that question and answer only.
The season final champion INnoVation has said you are an exemplary player. (T/N: an alternative lesser translation is "your example is worth following", similar to role model) I am not sure if I am that kind of player (laughter). I am grateful to hear that, and think hearing such words provides motivation for me to try harder. I will become a player suited to such compliments.
Flash not caring for hellbats makes sense. He is so slow and stubborn that by the time he incorporated them into his play they would have already been nerfed for a while. Nevertheless, him claiming ignorance is kinda cute.
On June 19 2013 19:59 Daswollvieh wrote: Flash not caring for hellbats makes sense. He is so slow and stubborn that by the time he incorporated them into his play they would have already been nerfed for a while. Nevertheless, him claiming ignorance is kinda cute.
Yeah or maybe pro players can defend them pretty well ... :x
The season final champion INnoVation said that you are a role model player. (T/N: Thank you very much Ensue and pencil_ethics for fixing my original translation And a huge apology to all others who read this interview beforehand and thought a bonjwa discussion had started. I will be extra careful from here on out to ensure that a mistake like that never happens again)
I am not sure if I am that kind of player (laughs). I am grateful to hear that, and think hearing such words provides motivation for me to try harder. I will become a player suited to such compliments.
On June 19 2013 20:32 Seeker wrote: The season final champion INnoVation said that you are a role model player. (T/N: Thank you very much Ensue and pencil_ethics for fixing my original translation And a huge apology to all others who read this interview beforehand and thought a bonjwa discussion had started. I will be extra careful from here on out to ensure that a mistake like that never happens again)
I am not sure if I am that kind of player (laughs). I am grateful to hear that, and think hearing such words provides motivation for me to try harder. I will become a player suited to such compliments.
Proof that, at the end of the day, you are only human d-: Props to all your hard work in getting the interviews translated! I would never be able to put in the time and effort you do (-:
On June 19 2013 18:48 iLoveKT wrote: I think raffle selections refers to how OGN does their group selection before. There WILL still be group selection, but the players dont have 100% control on selecting their groups. THe way they did it was the top 4 gets seeded and the other players will pick 2 random balls. Ex. A3 and B3, then he chooses which one he would prefer, and as far as I can remember, the 4 seeds also has the power to switch players around (once for 2nd to 4th seed and twice for the 1st seed).
I problem about this is that the BW OSL top 4 gets into the round of 16. Now they have to play in the round of 32 even if they did top 4 the last WCS Korea.
On June 19 2013 18:48 iLoveKT wrote: I think raffle selections refers to how OGN does their group selection before. There WILL still be group selection, but the players dont have 100% control on selecting their groups. THe way they did it was the top 4 gets seeded and the other players will pick 2 random balls. Ex. A3 and B3, then he chooses which one he would prefer, and as far as I can remember, the 4 seeds also has the power to switch players around (once for 2nd to 4th seed and twice for the 1st seed).
I problem about this is that the BW OSL top 4 gets into the round of 16. Now they have to play in the round of 32 even if they did top 4 the last WCS Korea.
Yeah I forgot to take into account that the top 4 in BW OSL was seeded directly to the ro16. Well I guess it will be point system like the GSL.
On June 19 2013 19:59 Daswollvieh wrote: Flash not caring for hellbats makes sense. He is so slow and stubborn that by the time he incorporated them into his play they would have already been nerfed for a while. Nevertheless, him claiming ignorance is kinda cute.
Yeah or maybe pro players can defend them pretty well ... :x
well, they helped Innovation to win the WCS championship so I would say that they can quite useful
On June 19 2013 18:48 iLoveKT wrote: I think raffle selections refers to how OGN does their group selection before. There WILL still be group selection, but the players dont have 100% control on selecting their groups. THe way they did it was the top 4 gets seeded and the other players will pick 2 random balls. Ex. A3 and B3, then he chooses which one he would prefer, and as far as I can remember, the 4 seeds also has the power to switch players around (once for 2nd to 4th seed and twice for the 1st seed).
I problem about this is that the BW OSL top 4 gets into the round of 16. Now they have to play in the round of 32 even if they did top 4 the last WCS Korea.
Yeah this change kind of sucks, tbh. The bo1's make a lot more sense with top 4 seeding (and I'm not complaining about bo1's trust me).