[TCPLemminks]

Nv.mOOnGLaDe

+ [Interview] +

Nv.Rossi

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

Nv.Rossi: Thank you very much! My preparations are going quite splendidly. I have been practicing far more then I am used to and am still enjoying the game as I do so. All in all I'm feeling quite content no matter what happens.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

Nv.Rossi: I have decided to stick to solely laddering on Korea as preparation. I have played a few customs with close friends such as mafia and also with my Korean clan NsP. Besides that I still consider myself an avid spectator and am enjoying keeping up with all the latest tournaments to see if any players or styles catch my eye.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

Nv.Rossi: I feel like the big 3 going into this event are Moonglade, Mafia and Pig. All 3 of them have been posting extremely strong results recently and look to be in fearsome shape. Its hard to pick out any specific weaknesses for these players. However if i knew some I would prefer to keep them between myself and my Terran brothers in Nv.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

Nv.Rossi: The fact that Tastosis are casting this event is going to bring in a much larger audience and mentally I have tried to prepare myself for this . There's going to be a significant amount of viewers and the prestige players are placing on this tournament is very high. Dealing with the stress and pressure that I as a player place on myself has been tough, but my excitement towards this coming weekend is started to outweigh the rest.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent Eve.Techtron?

Nv.Rossi: Techtron is a great guy and a great player. I am very confident vs him as I recently 2-0ed him at ACL melbourne and I feel my time training has improved me tenfold from that period. I hope he does well and wish him good luck!

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

Nv.Rossi: I feel like everybody has a chance and it will come down to who plays better on the day. I don't think anyone should be singled out.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

Nv.Rossi: Thanks for the interview! The previews are looking pretty sexy so far. I'd like to shoutout to my team Nv Gamecom and Manager Dox! Follow us on twitter @Nvsc2 and at facebook.com/Nvsc2. Furthermore a big shoutout to our main Sponsor Gamecom for supporting our team as well as Frag Labs and Horize(Check them out). Lastly a big shoutout to everyone who has been supporting the competitors in this WCS.I hope the event turns out to be amazing and that we can turn some heads internationally! Also please follow myself on twitter @NvRossi

iM.Mafia

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

iM.Mafia: Thank you very much! My preparations have been great, I've been practicing about 8 hours everyday.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

iM.Mafia: I have been practicing mostly on the ladder (KR/NA) servers, been watching a lot of replays/VODs too when I'm not playing.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

iM.Mafia: Top 3 of Oceania would likely be myself, GLaDe and PiG. They have great mechanics and are solid macro players overall. I don't think they have many weaknesses, I think if Glade practiced more he would be great. If Pig stopped getting nervous and making excuses all the time, he'd be better too.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

iM.Mafia: Yes, most definitely. Knowing that they are casting the event and most likely casting a game that I'm playing in live has made me want to play even better and do well. It's a dream come true for me to have Tastosis casting my games ^^.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent Legionnaire?

iM.Mafia: I'm happy we're playing SC2 and not BW that's for sure. Nah but honestly I never really followed BW but from what I've heard he was a BW legend so I have a lot of respect for him in that regard. I don't expect him to be a pushover or anything because of his experience so I won't be counting him out and will play my best.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

iM.Mafia: I think there are a few candidates for dark horse, JazBas for Zerg, He has a very good tournament record and is very unpredictable which makes him quite hard to play against.
* Rossi for Terran, At the start of the year he was impressive and has just been very consistent throughout the whole year but there's a good chance of him doing well because of the practice he's been putting in.
* Light for Protoss, beating glade and pig 2-0 2-0 respectively in the recent ACL has surprised a lot of people. But its obviously no fluke, he's always been very consistent and if he plays his best he has a great chance also of doing well.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

iM.Mafia: Shoutouts to all my fans/supporters and my team, Team Immunity and their sponsors, Intel, Gigabyte, BenQ, GeIL, Antec, SteelSeries and Redbull.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

Tt.Pig

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

Tt.Pig: Aloha! Not bad at all. I'm also preparing for IEM so I perhaps haven't focused on ZvZ as much as I should have but there's still a few days left so hopefully I should be ready in time. I've been practicing a lot more then I'm used to and mostly on Korean ladder so I'm looking in decent shape.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

Tt.Pig: Luckily I have a pretty good range of American and Korean Terrans I train with so my ZvT practice is doing fine. I don't have so many ZvP or ZvZ partners but Light being the only super strong Protoss in the competition hopefully I won't have to play any. Also I've been training with ninja and Iaguz a bit as we're clanmates and don't mind showing builds TOO much as we tend to all just metagame in tournaments anyway.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

Tt.Pig: If I'm counting myself then I would hope for me being in there, but the other top 3 contenders would be Mafia, Glade and Tgun. With close followers Ninja, Iaguz and Light. I'd rather not share any weaknesses until after I win my share of that $25K

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

Tt.Pig: It'll make it a bit more nerve-wracking. But I have played on an international stage at IEM in China so I know that hard practice is a good remedy for nerves. And I have been practicing hard so I think I should do ok. I guess there's also a part of me that really wants to impress Tastosis and especially Artosis as his commentating from season 1 of GSL actually is responsible for my understanding of the game. Without his descriptions of how to properly train and prepare and how builds operated I don't know if I would be a progamer today. So I definitely want to be able to go back and watch the VOD in a few weeks and hear some praise for my play. That being said I will just be focused on playing my game and beating my opponents. There's enough money on the line for this event to be momentous in all of our careers and we're all determined as players to not let this opportunity pass.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent cR.Ninja?

Tt.Pig: He's a close friend, practice partner and clanmate so whoever wins it'll suck. We'll most likely both be metagaming quite a lot but we'll see how it goes.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

Tt.Pig: Frustration from MI recently formed into X5 is the dark horse. He is unknown on the Australian pro circuit probably because he lives in Perth on the other side of the country. We don't know a lot about him but he could be the next Bielsko. Bielsko was unknown going into WCG 2011 back when he was beating players like Idra on ladder and he showed he had some amazing builds. So you never know what he might bring to the table

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

Tt.Pig: Thanks for having me Lemminks! Shoutout to Tt eSports, Gigabyte Notebooks, Mwave.com.au, AVerMedia and my lovely coach/manager Dot!

Lemminks: Good Luck!

Nv.Deth

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

Nv.deth: Preparations have gone as well as I could have hoped for - I had a nasty sinus infection for over a week and was pretty out of it, but have maintained a good practice regime and am confident in my abilities.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

Nv.deth: No comment.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

Nv.deth: I don't feel it's particularly useful to make predictions at this stage, its all going to come down to the individual games which in many cases are going to go all over the place.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

Nv.deth: It's certainly exciting knowing the viewership that world-class commentators such as Tastosis will bring to our players and matches, it's a really powerful motivating tool to make me try to show the best games I can.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent NvmOOnGLaDe?

Nv.deth: No comment.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

Nv.deth: I don't think we have a dark horse to be honest, I think each player is pretty well established with their skill and their place in the scene (except frustration really).

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

Nv.deth: Shoutout to Gamecom/Plantronics as well as Frag Labs and Horize, as well as my super manager Derek 'Dox' Reball and the rest of my teammates in Nv. If it wasn't for you guys I probably wouldn't be playing the game right now, and definitely not as motivated to improve (particularly get good form for MLG later this year)! Also as always a shoutout to all my boys in TA, my supportive girlfriend Naomi aka Nom, and Cam's Mum.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

Eve.Techtron

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

Eve.Techtron: Thanks! Preparations have been not the greatest as I have just started getting back into the school year; having*a hard time finding solid practice hours and after ACL Melbourne I took a minor break from SC2.

Lemminks: Unlike a number of the other participants, a lot of your practice partners aren't competing in this event. How much of an advantage do you consider that to be?

Eve.Techtron: It’s always tough trying to prepare for tournaments when brackets haven’t been released in advance, but with my teammates I’ve been able to send them replays from my ladder games asking for advice and tips on how to improve my play.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

Eve.Techtron: Honestly the competition in Australia has come a long way from the days where Moonglade was the number one contender in all tournaments. We have such great players developing who can easily be top 3 material.

Moonglade, Mafia, Pig, Tgun, Iaguz and Rossi would be great contenders for top 3 but it will likely follow in SEA tradition and will most likely be a Zerg top 3 in any order, it all depends on who can perform on the day.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

Eve.Techtron: This is a great event to showcase the talent we have in Australia and help get the SC2SEA Scene more exposure. When I heard that Tastosis was coming down under, it added to my motivation so I want to able to show the best games!

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent NvRossi?

Eve.Techtron: ZvT is my best matchup even though I lost to him 2:0 at ACL Melbourne. I believe that Rossi will be going in to the match up as the favourite but I have posted great results versus NvTerrans.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

Eve.Techtron: I don’t foresee any breakout performances in this WCS, Going into it we will know who can perform well and I don’t think the new comers will be able to cause any upsets.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

Eve.Techtron: I would like to give a shout out to Team Eve and our sponsors, Own3dTv, Pokerstrategy and Aftershock PC. A big thank you to ACL for their contribution to the Starcraft 2 scene!
You can find out more about Team Eve at Teameve.com also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Own3d TV

Lemminks: Good Luck!

iM.Light

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

iM.Light: Well, to be honest, balancing a full-time job and constant visits to my beloved girlfriend in Adelaide has really eaten away into my practice and preparation time. That said, I have no reasons to justify doing anything else but practice StarCraft II during any spare time I can get. This is why leading up to WCS, I would not play for like weeks straight, and then on my odd day or two off, I put up an amazing 40 games. I'm also using alot of the idle-time I have at work to just theorycraft/think about my strategies and matchups(definitely makes the hours go quicker!).

Overall, I am very satisfied with my preparation, and I am extremely confident with my gameplans, tricks up my sleeve(as Edge says), array of strategies and counter-strategies for all three MU's heading into WCS.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

iM.Light: Being a Protoss player, our game is somewhat like an open-heart surgery, requiring the proper procedure and focus for it to be success rather than continuously dying to stuff until you don't die anymore as Zerg, or continue failing to kill stuff until you kill everything as Terran. Therefore watching VOD's for inspiration, theorycrafting, game planning, developing strategies, and then putting them in practice in ladder sessions are the ways I've been preparing, instead of just mindlessly spamming games.

If I execute my gameplan/strategies correctly, and my control and forcefields are on point, I will not be stopped at WCS.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

iM.Light: There are a few players that have consistently produced top finishes in almost every tournament they participate in - So I'm definitely looking at MoonGlade, Mafia, Pig and Tgun as the favourites, with Mafia and Pig(finalists of ACL Melbourne) being the two in top form at the moment. That said however, the talent in the player pool for WCS Oceania is so deep that any of the other14 players involved could easily take these guys out and notch top 3, given their focus and performance on the day. I wouldn't be a single bit surprised if someone like Ninja or Rossi etc. notched a podium finish.

Although I'm aware that I am not the player in the best form right now, I'm very confident in my ability to take anyone out in a series, convincingly. So I'm definitely going to look for myself taking the Gold medal.

I see, and hope Mafia coming 2nd behind me. Going out on a limb, I'm going to take a non-Zerg to finish third - With Rossi/Yang showing fantastic Zerg-slaying skills lately, I'm going to go with either of them at 3rd.

Don't think any participant is going to really answer the question about style and weakness with the tournament around the corner. What I can say is that - THEY ARE ALL FREAKING GOOD.

However, I do know of their one and only weakness - my beautiful smile as I shake their hands after I am victorious.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

iM.Light: The world will be watching us because of Tastosis, and as such I feel more of an obligation to play at my best, look my best, and represent the organisations I'm a part of the best way possible. Therefore, definitely look for me to produce some very entertaing games, looking absolutely stunningly handsome, and hold a FANTASTIC smile every time I'm on camera, especially when I get proclaimed StarCraft II Champion of Oceania. =]

Oh and meeting Tastosis, HD and Painuser is pretty cool, too. Hahaha.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent iaguz?

iM.Light: Iaguz was a very good teammate, and a very good friend of mine. It saddens me that we have to play in the first round, having to knock one of us into the lower bracket so early. I also find it quite a pity because I see myself and Iaguz being the few individuals to really put the challenge on the big Zerg names.

As for the MU itself, Iaguz' TvP has improved significantly lately, add to the fact that he knows my old PvT style quite well means that this bearded man will be no easy feat for me to dispatch. That said however, I've recently been developing my PvT yet again, watching many VODs and having tremendous success with a variety of strategies in practice. I feel like my PvT is as strongest and as unpredictable as it ever has been. Also, because I have won the last few series between us, dare I say I have a little mental edge on him.

This man is a monster of a player, and I wouldn't feel remotely angry or ashamed if I do get outclassed or outplayed. The keyword here is ofcourse - "if".

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

iM.Light: Many of the players such as Edge and Deth are underappreciated for how good and talented they are. Even someone like BigBird is underestimated at his ability to take games from the best. However if I had one pick as a dark horse it would have to be my Immunity teammate Yang (This is me being as least bias as I can). He is generally regarded as extremely good but not quite top tier compared to someone like Glade or Pig. This comparison however, does not come close to giving him his due credit in his extremely high level PvZ. The prince from Perth's PvZ strategies and executions of them are FANTASTIC, that I would not be surprised if he upsets many of his Zerg opponents on his way to a podium finish.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

iM.Light: Thank you, it was a pleasure given the opportunity to do this interview. A big shoutout to my team, Team Immunity and our sponsors Intel, BenQ, Gigabyte, Geil, Antec and Steelseries.

Also shoutouts to Blizzard for going forth with this and getting the necessary personnel for this event to be in international spotlight. Shoutout to team ACL for putting in an enormous effort in hosting this. Shoutout to TA and SC2SEA for being the StarCraft family that I will never be able to say goodbye to. Last but not least, shoutout to all you fans who are going to support your favourite SEA players either at the venue or at barcraft or in your PJs at home during WCS, your support means everything to us.

Oh and mark my words, the Zerg will fall. ^^

Lemminks: Good Luck!

Tek.BiGbiRd

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

Tek.BiGbiRd: Ahhh my preparations have not gone so well to be honest, I had no internet at home so have been staying with my friend/team-mate Champi the last 5-6 weeks but didn't have my PC. I used his computer whenever I could but have not played anywhere near as much as i would have liked unfortunately. I was able to watch some streams and replays using his laptop but couldn't get the games under my belt that I really wanted too. I went home last week and spent 3-4 days unable to play at all .

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

Tek.BiGbiRd: As you said almost all the top players are playing in WCS so it was harder to find good practice partners (When i could play) but i managed to have a good practice session with ToRPox about two weeks ago which helped a lot. Apart from that it was just ladder whenever i could on either NA or Korea.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

Tek.BiGbiRd: I think the favourites for this tournament will be the same as every other tournament in Aus: Zerg, Zerg, Zerg hahaha. But personally i think it is hard to go past mOOnGLaDe. No matter what his form is or is suppose to be in comparison to everyone else he seems to draw from live events and just play at a completely different level. His biggest challengers will be Mafia who has looked extremely strong lately and PiG. Almost everyone in WCS has a shot if they play well enough on the day but I think those three are the favourites. I think my weakness is simply the fact that until two months ago i was working full-time and played very little compared to everyone else. I also live in rural South Australia and often had access to either Mobile broadband using a netstick with very bad coverage or no internet at all so it was hard to keep up consistent practice and thus skill level but I will try my best .

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

Tek.BiGbiRd: Having the best of the best international casters that cast the very best in the world every week actually added quite a bit of pressure. I will have to focus 100% and play my very best for fear of being humiliated in front of thousands of viewers :\ it didn't really change the way i approach this though as this is my first chance playing in a high-level competition so will just play to the best of my ability.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent GoSutgun?

Tek.BiGbiRd: Tgun is in my opinion one of the top contenders in both the Australian and Oceania WCS and is a very difficult opponent, especially having chalked up some tournament wins recently giving him the winning edge. All I can do is focus on my own play and hopefully cause an upset!!! .

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

Tek.BiGbiRd: There are a couple of dark-horses in my eyes simply because they haven't had the best results lately but have the talent for upsets. Rossi has been extremely strong in the past as well as his teammates YoonYJ and deth and they will be very eager to show some Terran skills. Light has the ability to shake up the Zergs choke-hold on Australian events and so does yang.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

Tek.BiGbiRd: Shoutout to my team Teknicity eSports, my team-mate and good friend Champi for letting me stay at his house the last few weeks and to Australian Starcraft/ACL/Blizzard for making this amazing event possible!!!

Lemminks: Good Luck!

Legionnaire

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

Legionnaire: Thanks a lot, it was a bit of a surprise to qualify.

My preparations were mixed. After ACL Brisbane, my plan was to make masters on the Korea server within a week... that didn't pan out to well. I only made masters this week. I think my main issue is I've been forcing myself to play even when I'm tired after work. Just to get the number of games up. During these times i was just losing 80% of my games, which really doesn't help to move up the ladder.

Beyond that I think I'm playing fairly well, not quite sure if i have enough to put up too much of a fight vs the top Aussies.

My mechanics suck, and my builds are limited so maybe I'll take a game or two but I doubt I'll advance far. I didn't even know Blizzard had introduced all of the positional hotkeys into the game (like in SC1) until Xaracos told me about it after ACL Brisbane. Still not using them as much as i should. But we'll see how I go.

Lemminks: Unlike a number of the other participants, a lot of your practice partners aren't competing in this event. How much of an advantage do you consider that to be?

Legionnaire: I have no practice partners, or replays of me out there, which I guess helps since no one knows what I do. But then again, I don't know what they do. So there are benefits both ways.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

Legionnaire: No idea. To be honest, before ACL Brisbane, I wouldn't have been able to name anyone but moonglade. I haven't been following the SC2 scene at all.

I guess Mafia since he is GM on Korea. Tgun since he has played a bit internationally. And moonglade, just because I've known him for years and he is awesome.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

Legionnaire: No. I don't see why it would. I've know Tasteless and Artosis for years, so it will be good to catch up with them.

My current game-plan is for them to give me a hidden earpiece so I can listen into my own games.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent iM.Mafia?

Legionnaire: He is GM on the Korean server. I'm not. What more needs to be said?

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

Legionnaire: No idea. I don't know anyone.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

Legionnaire: I must say, fantastic job to the team behind WCS Aus people for bringing in the international casters. It's definitely brought a lot of hype and interest to the Australian scene.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

iaguz

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

iaguz: Shitloads of practice and study each day, plus preparation for specific opponents. Pretty much been consuming all my time the last month or so.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

iaguz: Mostly ladder. I've still played a few customs with some of the Zergs but it's been mostly ladder. I don't have a lot of practice partners outside of Australia so it's hard to do that sort of thing.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

iaguz: Me.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

iaguz: I did try and mess around with ghosts in TvZ for a showy (and effective!) strategy, but then I found that ghosts are actually completely ******* terrible at everything. So maybe I'll make ravens instead haven't decided yet. My rule for tournaments is if you're not going to win at least make entertaining games. People seem to like those.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent iM.Light?

iaguz: Confident. Ray's PvT is ok but I think I can handle it.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

iaguz: All the non Zergs.

But mostly Frustration and Legionnaire. They're new (well, technically for Pete's sake) and they're untested in major Australian tournaments unlike everyone else. KnightLighT will be interesting to watch too seeing as nobody knows anything about him at all.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

iaguz: Shoutouts to my new team. It might not have been announced by the time of this posting so I can't really talk about it at all but it's a new team for me so... yea. Also shoutout to my brother Josh for deciding to come to WCS and watch me play.

x5.Frustration

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

x5.Frustration: My preparations at the moment for WCS have been average my computer hasn't been running properly so I haven't been able to practice as much as I want to, and I haven't been able to play without my computer freezing so its actually being really crap to try and practice with :/.

Lemminks: Unlike a number of the other participants, a lot of your practice partners aren't competing in this event. How much of an advantage do you consider that to be?

x5.Frustration: Hmm I consider my advantage to be a lot more then the other players in wcs only because I'm the newest player in the sc2sea scene and no one actually knows me or my builds so I think I have a good advantage in that part.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

x5.Frustration: I think the top 3 players for Oceania would be the players who play the best on the day and have the right mind set everyone going in there has a chance of getting top 3 but if i had to choose it would be , Pig , Moonglade , Mafia, I'm not willing to share weaknesses in their plays, I wish to have that for myself .

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

x5.Frustration: No it has not changed me in anyway shape or form in who's casting or where it is, it will still be the same for me as at RFLan just a bit bigger and across the country. Having Tastosis there and casting will be cool and i would want to show them good games but it wont change my play at all.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent Nv.YoonYJ?

x5.Frustration: I think it will be a tough match hes a very good terran player but i think i have a chance! .

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

x5.Frustration: I would probably say I'm the dark horse in WCS Australia since I'm the newest to the scene and no one actually knows about my play.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

x5.Frustration: Thank you , I would like to shoutout to my team Exile5 and all the people in exile5 especially bard who has helped me a tonne with my builds in all match ups and to our sponsors Western digital , Cm Storm , Cooler master, iinet and Nvidia Gaming and to all the fans who will cheer for me at WCS, Thank you!

Lemminks: Good Luck!

iM.yang

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks : Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

iM.yang: I've played a pretty consistent amount since GESC in Melbourne so my results should show my preparation.

Lemminks : Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

iM.yang: I don't practice a lot with other people, it didn't change my habits at all.

Lemminks : In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

iM.yang: Mopglade, Mafia, Pig - they're basically the 3 strongest players. I don't read enough into people to see any weaknesses, they're just solid.

Lemminks : This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

iM.yang: Definitely it's changed the way I see the event. This will definately be the event to beat all others, especially how disappointing ACLMelb turned out for me.

Lemminks : Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

iM.yang: Edge. People may expect him to do well but maybe not win, the dude DEFINITELY can and I won't be surprised to see him do extremely well. I have a really hard run in the upper bracket and it starts with this beasty.

Lemminks : Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

iM.yang: No worries. Thanks to team Immunity and my sponsors and especially thanks to the ACL guys for organising what is sure to be an amazing event. Oh and Blizzard for dem e-sports cash dollaz.

cR.EdgE

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

cR.EdgE: Thanks very much! My preparations have been going pretty well. I've had ups and downs with confidence, slumps in my play and my overall outlook on SC2 but I've stabilized and I feel I've prepared very well compared to past tournaments.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

cR.EdgE: Well I am actually playing with a few in WCS still, mainly a few Zergs because a lot of my ZvZ's between them come down to the opening build and the form we are in on the day, and any info I can gather on the other players from them is invaluable too. I am also playing with my Team members (Carnage), and my primary games come from Korean Ladder.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

cR.EdgE: Zergs have dominated SEA for a long time and that was only made worse by recent patch changes, but I think the SEA Terrans are as imposing as ever, and the Protoss players always have tricks up their sleeve... so it could go any way but it will still most likely be at least 2 zergs -

1. Mafia
2. mOOnGLaDe
3. Ninja or tgun

Everyone has their own style and their own weaknesses I've picked up just like I do, but I won't openly reveal them yet... .

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

cR.EdgE: This has indeed changed the event. It will be only my 2nd big interstate LAN, and my 3rd big LAN overall... and to have Tastosis cast it to a huge stream audience, a huge live audience and with Australia ready to show it's talent... It's going to be an amazing event as nerve wracking as it is for me. Hopefully I can at least put on a good show, but I'm aiming to remind all of SEA why I've been a top player for 2 years going strong.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent iM.yang?

cR.EdgE: I think i've grown a bit of a rivalry with yang now - mainly because I normally get the better of him in tournaments and yet in practice he takes me down. I'm confident but I'm not going to get ahead of myself, yang is a tough tough opponent and i don't know how hard he's been practicing.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

cR.EdgE: There are a few players (mainly the Protosses) that are more unknown than the rest, but the dark horse to me is YoonYJ. He is an insane player and since he's got strong practice in finally I believe if any non-Zerg can turn heads it's him.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

cR.EdgE: Shoutout to my mum and dad for supporting me, also shoutouts to my Team Carnage for being a great team in so many ways, to Terror Australis for being a second to none community and finally to the whole SEA community for making these 2 years of my life of gaming incredible.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

Nv.YoonYJ

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks : Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

YoonYJ: My preps have been okay, I have been playing been laddering a little on the KR server and practicing with pig and edge. I was expected to vs a Zerg first round however received a toss, so I'll have to start prepping some more.

Lemminks :Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

YoonYJ: we all know each other inside out as we have played together for a while, so nothing has really changed.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

YoonYJ: I would say moonglade, mafia and pig. They have relatively similar styles, and zergs have no weaknesses .

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

YoonYJ: Nope.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent x5.Frustration?

YoonYJ: I think it will be a huge challenge for me as I'm not aware of his style, and he has good macro but I will give it my best shot.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

YoonYJ: Probably iaguz, I know that he plays a lot of games and is capable of beating Zergs.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

YoonYJ: Shoutouts to nirvana and dox, who are ALT and NV leaders. shoutout also to edge and jared for the games.

GoSu.tgun

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

GoSu.tgun: Preparations are the same as usual. Play a hell of a lot, try to win. Usually, try to win a lot. I've been focusing very heavily on ZvZ, as I feel like it will be the predominate match up.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

GoSu.tgun: Playing on the Korean ladder, talking to my teammates & other practice partners. Not everyone I know is Australian .

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

GoSu.tgun: Myself, Mafia and PiG. I wouldn't really be able to describe their style. Mafia is probably the most passive player in Australia, PiG plays very standard but knows a wide variety of cheese. Hard to really pin a "style" on a player.

I feel it'd be really disrespectful to point out weaknesses before a tournament. Even having that question is a bit weird...

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

GoSu.tgun: I've been to Korea. Hasn't changed a damn thing, don't think it will for any players.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent Tek.BiGbiRd?

GoSutgun: I'm not too sure about him -- haven't really ever seen him play, but I've already received some replays of his recent PvZ builds. I can't say that I'm too worried -- I'm thinking of my second round (vs. the winner of Iaguz/Light), but I never take an opponent lightly.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

GoSu.tgun: Iaguz. Dark horse in the fact that everyone is under-rating him. Easily the best terran (in my opinion, please don't kill me Nv) in Australia. This is a call out to the other Terrans, feel free to prove me wrong.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

GoSu.tgun: Shoutout to my team, itsGoSu, all of our sponsors (found on the website over at itsgosu.com), my girlfriend who's been extremely supportive, and most of all

Cam's mum.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

cR.Ninja

+ [Interview] +

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

cR.Ninja: Hi! My preparations are going great other than falling sick and being unable to practice the past few days i was very happy with them.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

cR.Ninja: Mostly ladder on the Korean server, some games on NA and practice games with Pig, my Korean clan aLive and cRFenner helped me to prepare also!

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

cR.Ninja: Well assuming I'm up there somewhere I think it's most likely going to be Glade/Mafia/Pig and then tgun, light and iaguz in any order. All players have weaknesses but I don't think I should say them before a tournament

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

cR.Ninja: Having the premiere SC2 casters Tastosis along with the large prize pool has motivated me even more to do well.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent Tt.Pig?

cR.Ninja: Pig is a great friend and my clanmate and whoever wins our match it will suck knocking the other one out, our tournament games also tend to devolve into stupidity very often so that makes it even more 50/50 >.<.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

cR.Ninja: Most of the players in WCS that will do well are already known in the SEA scene, I would say Legionnaire is the Dark Horse if he prepares before the event just because of his experience in SC1 and nobody knows anything about him in sc2

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

cR.Ninja: Shoutout to everyone who helped me practice, clan aLt, my team Carnage and my family for supporting me.

Lemminks: Good Luck![/b]