[nirvAnA]

The first in our two part pre-season interview series features Team Managers jump, WaWa, yongming and deL.

Q1: Who do you think is the strongest team to win this Nation War League and why?

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WaWa: I think Team AU is one of the favorable teams to win the whole event. Even though TW, SG and NZ have amazing players in their roster. I think AU has the most depth in their lineup and that's pretty hard to beat. TW is a close 2nd but I'm not really familiar with their players besides Sen. I'm still hoping for an upset to happen.

yongming: China, followed closely by Taiwan. Apart from Korea and Taiwan, I believe that they are the only country with a professional starcraft scene. Outside of Korea, China is beastly in Brood War, WarCraft III, DotA, etc. It is only natural that they are beastly in Starcraft II as well.

jump: In my opinion I think everyone think as same as me best of SEA Nation war League season 2 is China because xigua and xiaot are top players in world although China don't have Loner but that enough to be the strongest team in this season

deL: Initially I would have said China, and still would have if the format was all-kill just based off what I saw from their Zerg ace XiGua. However, seeing a few key players had other tournament commitments China's lineup is looking a lot less scary, though still perfectly capable of a win.

Taiwan's lineup looks similarly talented and with players coming fresh off their intense local TeSL seasons I am sure they are all in top form. The rivalry between SEA and TW should fuel their desire to win this event! As always you can't leave out the defending champions Australia especially with such an enigmatic leader - though last season was close! I'd say China, Taiwan and Australia are equally likely tournament favourites.

Q2: Are you happy with your team selection and if you had to pick your 3 star players who will they be?

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WaWa: I am very happy with the selection we have and the PH community will mostly agree. The players were not only chosen based on skill but also with the willingness of participating in the Nation War Series and representing Philippines proudly. Right now, we have enderr and jabito as our 1&2 (in no order). The third person could be anyone in the team as they all show potential of being great at this game.

yongming: I think that our selection process is fair and the team is definitely sufficient in putting up a strong showing in this nation wars. However, I am not staying satisfied with the current pool of players. I hope that those who did not make the team will strive harder to compete for the team selection slots. As for those who never participated in a tournaments, I hope they will consider to do so and who knows they might be the next up and coming player from Singapore.

I think the top 3 players in Singapore currently is pretty much common knowledge, namely, iceiceice, FlashRevz and aLtOxygeN. I consider them to be the players with the most experience and results from tournaments.

jump: I'm very happy with Thailand team everyone in top of server are join in Thailand team such as NeoRedArchon and Fah and sure top 3 stars of Thailand are NeoRedArchon NEOindy Fah

deL: Australia is a really easy team to manage for me, as with most of the players I have known them since BW days and see them play almost daily. I am definitely happy with the team and I think it represents not only the best SC2 talent Australia has to offer but also some of the best players in SEA. One regret is that Filthy is only playing casually now, but I guess if he had been in form it would mean too many direct invites leaving no room for qualifiers, and it would make picking the strongest lineup a real headache!

The top three players might not necessarily be the most skilled players of course, as there are a lot of unknowns in a nation war. Players with a lot of pride in playing for their country or a good team spirit could punch above their weight. Similarly, arguably the greatest threats are players who are not from the SEA region so results in SEA might not matter so much. Players who will take the event seriously and practice on their map or for their opponent should excel compared to those who see it as just another event, and as such I am expecting mOOnGLaDe (last season's MVP), Azz (puts a lot of thought into every game) and PiG (most enthusiastic player in the team). Notable mentions of course go to Rossi, deth and EdgE who having played in TA will encourage and help each other with their games, iaguz who can perform under pressure, and SenSei for his national team experience from season 1 and BW.

Q3: How do you think you will fare in your first match this week, who are your picks for qualifying from your group and how far do you think your team can go?

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WaWa: With all the matches lined up for this month, I think week 1 has the highest potential for us to win even though it is pretty much just as hard. I trust all of my players and I believe we have the potential to win the whole event. GLHF son!

yongming: I think I have made sufficient preparations over the week discussing with my players and deciding who to play on which map. In such a format where player line-ups are selected according to maps and then released in full, I tried minimise disadvantageous situation that could happen. Thailand's line-up did not come too much of a surprise to me but I expected certain players to be sent out other maps. Overall, I am confident with the line-up I had put out against Thailand. I hope I am not appearing to write off Malaysia prematurely but me and my team recognise that the winner of Singapore vs Thailand in the first round could potentially decide who gets place second in group A with China looking set to take top spot. However, if I have to pick, I would pick China followed by Singapore to make out of Group A.

As for how far Singapore could go, it really depends on who we meet in the semi-finals (Australia or Taiwan). I would say we have a 50-50 chance against Australia but it is totally unpredictable against Taiwan as my players would have more experience playing against Australian players compared to the Taiwanese players. Making to the semi-finals is a decent result but ideally I hope we could put up a strong challenge and make it to the finals.

jump: In first match Thailand have to play with Singapore I think this is importance match for Thailand to get second rank in Group A because everyone knew China will get Rank 1 in Group A by the way I believe Thailand can go to Final Round if we do the best !!

deL: This first week is going to be a real litmus test for a lot of these teams and the competition. The unknown quantities of the Chinese and Taiwanese lineups, as well as the unseen strength of the underdogs in Malaysia and Philippines will make for some interesting results. I am excited in particular to see the heavyweight matchup of Azz vs SEn and I think that could set the pace for the rest of the match. If Azz can pull an inspirational upset - which he is more than capable of - the rest of the team is going to be inspired to put in that little bit more so the effort of taking down SEn doesn't go to waste! All of the players are very comfortable on their maps of choice, and most are very comfortable with the matchups so I trust them to play their best and if they do that we're a sure win with that lineup. My one worry is that mOOnGLaDe being the gentleman he is will not give his match against female gamer luway his all, though I am sure Kelly will be watching closely and if he shows he is going soft on luway, her jealousy will make GLaDe close out the series :P I won't predict a score because I don't like making predictions about my own team, but I expect a victory whether it's hard fought or one-sided.

I hear a lot about Taiwan having a strong lineup but nothing's certain yet. My only definite pick for this group is Australia as I think New Zealand and the Philippines have much improved lineups from last season and could potentially sneak a spot. As for Australia, I'd be lying if I said I'd be happy with anything other than a grand finals appearance so hopefully everything goes smoothly.

Thoughts, comments, your answers to these questions? Feel free to post them in this thread!!

[deL]

Seems like most people might be overestimating China a bit! It's a bit of a reduced roster remember