SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

**x5_dot** · Wed, 24th-Sep-2014, 8:21 AM

With his recent SEA Rising Star win over Blysk, Team Exile5 decided to get to know this young player better.

Hi MightyKiwi, thanks for dedicating your time to this interview today.
First up, lets go back to the start. When did you first start taking an interest in video games and what were they?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Hi ^_^ No problem. Well, the first time I started taking an interest in games was when I was very young, around six or seven. I used to watch my dad play Age of Empires and eventually we set up a LAN and I used to play AoE with him and his friends sometimes. I never could beat my dad.

That is very sweet! How did your path in gaming lead you to StarCraft II?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Well, I played lots of games throughout my childhood. I wasn't super competitive until I hit about 15. So I had played n64 , Genisis, gameboys all that good stuff but when i moved to New York City when I was 14 that's when things changed. I was very opposed to the move so when a friend showed me Call of Duty MW2 I was all over it for a year, playing as much as I could until one day I saw a YouTube video of people playing SC2. I picked up the game, and once I played it I never looked back

Do you remember what that video was?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Yes! it was from TheUENtv, they played team games with a Zerg called OneManZerg! Maybe that's why I chose Zerg.

haha fantastic, I love hearing stories like this.
When you started playing, were you aware how big StarCraft was?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Not at all, I didn't even know about esports. But once I lost all five of my 1v1 placement matches and got to Bronze League I was hooked on trying to have a better ladder rank than my friends.

When you did find out about esports, how did you feel about it? Did you think it would ever get to this stage?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: I'm not sure how long it took me to find out about it but it was within the first couple months of playing, when my school friends and I discovered the MLG circuit. I remember it was before the Koreans started coming to the MLGs. I never did think it would grow as fast as it has.

So you're a player from New Zealand, but you mentioned earlier that you went to live in NYC. What's the background behind that?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Putting it very simply my dad was in a Diplomatic position for the NZ Government. So when I was 5 we lived in Canada for three and a half years and then came back to NZ. And then later when I was 15 we moved to NYC for another 3 years. I discovered SC2 in the US. It was interesting to come back to NZ and have no idea what the local scene was like. Soon after I came home, there was a LAN in Wellington. I thought I would go and have a nice easy LAN win. First match of my group I got 2-0'd by Crimson and a nice dose of reality when it came to how bad I was at the time

Speaking of the New Zealand scene, how has it been over the years? We hear a lot about ACL and their LANs. Does NZ still have a decent SC2 scene?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Not at all, its almost completely dead since Petraeus is gone, Jazbas doesn't play anymore and the rest of the prominant players have seemlingly lost interest. We haven't had a LAN in almost 2 years. We were meant to have one for the Digital Nationz convention, but it was cancelled because they thought there was not enough community interest. There haven't been any LANs or even online NZ events since Rogue moved to Australia. Myself and a few others have been talking about organsing something next month though, so i am still hopeful ^_^

So who still plays from New Zealand other than you?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Well the regular players that I know of are Enak, Metalcore and Sparrow. There are plenty of others who play not so often. Crimson plays and is competitive but has long breaks. Currently he's basically a traitor to CS:GO. I think the last tournament he signed up for he no showed because he was playing CS:GO. There are lots more that play on a less regular and less competitive basis (I hope).

This makes you the new NZ hope. How do you feel about that?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: HA! Well I guess for a while now I've seen myself as the second best player from New Zealand, but I was always cautious because i know that Crimson can come in and 2-0 me as he has done before. I don't think that I should be happy that I'm the NZ hope as I've been slacking a lot since I got back from the ROOT house. I wish there was more of a scene here, but I'll still try my best.

That's right! You were in the ROOT House. How long were you there for?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: I lived there for six months.

Can you give me a taste of what a normal day of practice is like in the house?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: The best time for me was during the first three months when I was sitting next to Sage. Generally I would be the last one to wake up, around midday probably, and as soon as I walk up the stairs Petraeus would see me and in an instant the day's banter between us would begin. Sage might chime in with some banter as well if he was in a good mood. I would just grind the whole day and eat when I was hungry. It was a very friendly house, "DAVID" and "F****** DAVID" being randomly shouted by Sage, Pet or Catz at any time during the day would be a normal occurrence. As far as the day of practice was like, I just tried to embrace the #dedication of hitting find match as much as possible.

It certainly worked in your favour. You currently sit in 9th position for OSC points in a table stacked with talent. Now that you're back home, are you as dedicated as ever? Or have you got real life commitments?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Well I have been struggling to be motivated since I got home. I've had a large drop in the amount of games I played. I've been playing CS:GO and OSU a lot more than I should be. For the last week I was really into my SC2 and it was going well. I won the Sea Rising Star Open Tournament #2 but then I had some issues with my wrists which I hadn't had before. Today was actually the first day in the last 2-3 days that my wrists havn't been hurting, so that is a bit worrying for me. Also I have the constant pressure of trying to find a job, my parents really want me to get a job >.< I applied for a few, but I haven't been as active as I should be. I'm really hoping for one that could be in the works though, would be good for my SC2 most likely as well, so fingers crossed

How supportive have your parents been towards your competitive gaming? How did they react to you going to the ROOT house for 6 months?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: I suppose I kind of have a middle ground with my parents. It was worst when I was in high school. They always thought that I had an addiction, I think they still do. They don't harass me about playing anymore though, so I think they've accepted that this is what I love to do. I've had the conversation about playing games and having a more traditional education and job way too many times. I think it has given my parents a good understanding of my perspective on the whole idea of progaming and such, so we know where we stand. Once that was established, going to the ROOT house was really just me asking for money from them, and then my mother being paranoid that I wouldn't eat or look after myself. The other factor would be that my dad wanted be to start Uni asap, and he still does.

So what is your goal for progaming? Where do you want to be in 6 months, 2 years, 10 years?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: Well at some stage I do think that I need to go to university. Until then I think in the next sixth months the goal will be to get a job so that I can support myself and focus on improving my game moreso than playing as much as I can due to the reduced amount of play time. I still hope that I will be able to play competitively during uni, which I hope to start in 2016. I think if I can move to Australia and be a solid player on the national and SEA level that will be a good start for the next 6 months

Looks like you have a long road of gaming ahead of you
Okay so lets move on to Vox. You recently joined this esteemed organisation. What has it been like to be on a team in a division all to yourself?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: It's been fun so far they've given me great opportunities and I've made new friends. They've been very supportive of me as a player. Richard (the owner) and Alicia (my manager) are both great people ^_^ we talk often and play CS:GO, maybe a little too much. To sum it all up, it's great and I'm having a blast so far!

That's great to hear. Its good to see new organisations entering the SC2 scene, and especially treating players well.

Okay lets wind up. We've got a few hashtags going around SEA - #cutforhut #kissblysk #RevItUp. What's yours?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: That's tough.. I've got to be honest I haven't got one. Richard has been using #MKFighting on the Vox page though. I'd say #DAVID would do the trick

haha too fitting. We'll go with both!
Thanks for your time today. Have you got any shout outs to make?

David "MightyKiwi" Gore: For sure. Thanks to all the sponsors, MSi Australia, Mwave and BenQ for supporting Vox. Richard and Alicia for giving me amazing opportunities. My NZ people like MACK, Crimbonansaxapple, Kane the C*** and even AgUy aka Elliot or AGOOOEY (we need to get him back to SC2). Also CatZ and my ROOT buddies! Nem is always there for me ^_^ and to everyone I forgot.

Interview: by x5 Dot
Photo: belongs to Vox Eminor

freeedom · Wed, 24th-Sep-2014, 3:58 PM

fantastic. Sad about NZ SC2 scene. Reminds me of the scene in Philippines as well... which is why I'm hosting monthly LAN tourneys there starting next weekend for cash.

Good luck to you and your gaming aspirations!