Are you ready to cross the line? (A pre WCS Interview with PiG)
Hi, everybody.
With the accomplishments of some of our SEA guys, like DemiLove being picked to the academy of a professional european team, EnDeer being picked by a brand new NA team, Iaguz and PiG qualifying for WCS, I often see some conversations in chat like: I don't know if I like SC2 enough to invest more; I don't know where to improve; my passion comes and goes; can I make a living from it... and so on.
Since to me it looks like lack of motivation and/or concerns of walking an unknown path, I wrote a quick interview to both PiG and Iaguz, who are SEA's represents in WCS and have already walked (are walking) this tortuous path and can be safely taken as role models for facing challenges. I wish I could post both replies together, but I sent this to them like a week before WCS. Iaguz is probably caught by training, so let's see what PiG has to share. As soon as Iaguz replies, I will update:
Q1: What is your training regime for Starcraft 2? Do you practice on ladder, against teammates, friends? What is your preferred method to improve gameplay?
PiG: Korean ladder is fantastic for practice, though lately there has been some trouble with hackers. Luckily Blizzard have finally been active spreading the word to progamers on how to effectively report hackers so hopefully that'll fix up soon. Other than that I like to practice with other players that speak english so we can have long sessions grinding out games, discussing maps and really talking about builds and reactions and how to improve our play. About a 50/50 split is probably best for this but due to the Aussie timezone and most of my practice partners living in Europe it can be tough to find time to practice with them. I should make more of an effort to stay up late to play more customs!
Q2: Both of you are professional gamers in the true sense of the term, that is, you live from the game. If we consider this a job like any other, what is your daily discipline to execute it? At what time do you start practicing, how long does each session take, how much effort do you put into it?
PiG: It's a very flexible job so it's hard to say there's any standard day. But I'll give an example of recently when I've been balancing streaming + practice I would wake around 9am, spend an hour to an hour and a half reading emails, sending notes to my students and booking in coaching sessions, scheduling social media posts and so on. From 10.30 I would start a "session". A "Session" is basically a block of 3-5 hours of practice, though this can include coaching, streaming or other work. This first session will stop after about 4 hours at around 1.30pm. I then go for a jog + full body stretching and shower which takes about 1 hour. At 2.30pm I make lunch and relax. At 4pm my stream starts and ends around 9 to 9.30pm. I then spend 30 minutes editing youtube highlights, answering skype messages and social media responses and chatting with my twitch chat. From 10pm I make dinner and relax/watch TV/play fun games until sleep around 1am. This is a very full schedule as you can see so I make sure I only do one Session on Wednesdays and Saturdays and leave the evening free to spend time with my girlfriend. Sunday is a free day where I try to not play any Starcraft, though I often watch quite a bit.
Q3: In my view, PiG and Fenner have a more educational streaming style, different than other pros like ForGG and Rain (less talking, if any at all). Iaguz is not very fond to stream, I believe?
PiG: Iaguz used to stream more with commentary in the ROOT house but never quite as much as me, fenner or petraeus.
Q4: The previous questions allow me to better ask this one. I often see players in SC2SEA chat mentioning that, at some point, they don't feel like practicing, they are not having fun at the moment, one needs to put a large amount of effort to play decently, and so on. I have mixed feeling about it, it could be lack of motivation and/or approach the thin line between staying as an enthusiast (but without high aspirations) or effectively going pro (when things will get really serious). Can you please share your view of it?
PiG: It's definitely an awkward spot to be between casual and professional play. You're good but you aren't quite consistent. You feel like you could be as good as the pros when your winning, but then when you're losing you're not so sure. You wonder how you could possibly catch up to the guys at the top in a game that's been out for 4 years, you wonder how you can go pro in a scene like Australia/SEA with so few tournaments. I definitely understand where these players feel and how they can lose motivation. I think the best thing to do is for these players to work on their focus and mindset when playing and just seek to learn more about the game and enjoy themselves. Often our ego getting bruised from losing or performing below the standard we set for ourselves is a key reason we lose motivation.
However if they really are putting aside other things in their life to play, and it is having a negative effect on their life, then I think they should either go all-in on trying to be pro, or they should probably take a more casual approach to the game.
Q5: While we play as enthusiasts, we are satisfied with winning a small tournament here and there, some bucks, while normally residing in the Diamond League, the above average players. Advancing to high Master and GM certainly requires a disproportional amount of practice, discipline, investment, abdications, often going against parents' will. Please tell us your own experience with it, how easy or difficult it was to pursue the progaming career, what you left behind and, most importantly, how satisfied you are.
PiG: I think any competition or sport with such widespread, serious competition, requires a huge commitment to go pro and make a living off. For me, I saw a lot of players making a living off this game and thought I could do the same as I'd already had some small success, and as I was so obsessed/in love/addicted to the game, I went all-in. I was already older so I was living out of home and didn't even tell my parents straight away. They were very concerned when I did tell them but I showed I was earning enough money to support myself and since then they have been very supportive and even tune in to watch some of my important matches. The real question was whether my girlfriend who wasn't really into gaming would be supportive, and considering she now is a manager of x5 and came around europe with me last year, I think we see how supportive, and involved in the scene she is now. I was having some questions about the sustainability of my involvement with the scene last year, but streaming and improving my coaching service has made it sustainable. I'm very satisfied right now.
Q6: When did you realize you really wanted to follow the professional career? What players can do to identify if "they have what it takes" to go pro?
PiG: When I was skipping too many classes at uni I realised I was just too involved in it to not go further. For me I was never sure I could be pro, I just focused on coaching at first whilst I learnt more about the game. For me I always hedged my bets by focusing on areas apart from playing as well. However in hindsight this slowed down my progress as a player, even though it gave me more monetary support. I think players need to choose if they are a good entertainer as well as a player they should focus on streaming and content as well as learning the game, whereas if they are a more introverted person, they should focus purely on their play. Either way one needs to recognise that it takes several years to compete with the very best, so if you're new to competitive RTS you have to go into it for the long haul to see results.
Q7: Last one. You are part of, as I like to say, the PIMP squad (Pig Iaguz Moonglade Petraeus). You all had to face the same adversities as other players, and having only 4 pros in the international SC2 scene (considering Moonglade is from the previous generation and already accomplished his mission) shows how challenging it can be for an AU/NZ player, or other SEA countries, to go pro. But still it is possible. Can you write something for the aspiring progamers to help them cross that line previously mentioned?
PiG: Don't be afraid to invest your own money into your progression. I flew myself to many events before and after I had sponsorship, and in hindsight I wish I had even got coaching off some players. Most importantly get heavily involved in the community, especially competitive clans and talk to people about the game a lot. The more you debate what builds are good and why, and try to critically break down the game + try out different strategies, the faster you learn to understand the game. Also don't spend practice time watching streams. Get organised, and have set practice sessions with 0 distractions. Work in empty custom games on your mechanics and builds in isolation before taking them on ladder. Always seek to perfect your macro, but at the same time be able to smoothly continue play when things go wrong. A mix of critical-thinking, perfectionism and confidence is what you need to be successful at this game.
Q8: Please send some final words to the community.
PiG: Thanks for the interview, shoutouts to x5, Nvidia Geforce as well as my personal sponsors Aorus and SSfp for supporting me following my dream as a progamer.
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