[grumpy1377]

Timothy ‘Mafia’ He ~ Professional Starcraft II Player from Team Immunity

This interview was conducted on the evening of day one of IEM. Mafia has just finished his open groups.

Mafia, how did you prepare for IEM Singapore?

I was playing a lot actually, this trip is connected to the Shanghai trip [BWC], I was playing about 10-12 hours a day. Unfortunately the flights are a like a day so that’s been holding back my practice. If I have no trips, I’ll be on my computer and practicing. I’ve been practicing a lot actually.

I feel that there are some leaks in my game, so just playing a lot definitely helps that, so I can be playing the best game.

As Immunity is sponsored by BenQ, I noticed that they sent you the new RTS monitor (RL2450T), has that improved your game?

Definitely, it’s funny because before that I actually had an older version of a BenQ monitor and I didn’t realise how much difference it actually makes. Receiving the new monitor, I went from 5ms to 2ms (response time) and I noticed the difference in that, it was insane and I was really happy and surprised - playing without any lag is so nice.

I really like how BenQ has the RTS feature; it looks a lot better than normal. Everytime I got to events now, I hope that the BenQ monitor is there so I can use the setting – it’s really nice.

*The monitors used at IEM Singapore were the XL2420Ts, they have same feature including a few RL2450H as well. *

[Interview] LordByrnsy – ESL Asia & Australia Starcraft II Referee at IEM Singapore.

What’s the role of a Starcraft II referee here at IEM Singapore?

Usually we have to do checking for hacks and all that kind of stuff, but since all these computers are set up by us, we don’t have to worry about that here. Basically what I do is help them [the players] set up, make sure their computers are fine and connected to the network.

Then after that, I make sure the games run on time and in order and that the games get played. Then it comes down to decisions, we got to report all the results and keep a record of who vetoed what so we have a record so there can’t be a complaint later down the line. Basically to make sure everything runs smoothly.

If there’s a problem in the game, like if the game disconnects, we’ll watch the replay and make a decision at the end to see if the game warrants a re-play.

How does it feel to be an Australian gamer representing Australia in terms of refereeing a global tournament like IEM?

Feels pretty good, I’ve worked with ESL for about a year and a half now as the head admin for SC2 for SEA and now Australia. To get them to fly me here was amazing – it’s such a great feeling and recognition for all the work I’ve done.

I love eSports, it’s f*cking the best thing in the world, and I want to make a career out of it and this is a stepping-stone on the way.

Joshua ‘deathdoG’ Edwards - Marketing Executive at BenQ Australia & Team Immunity member

Joshua, it seems that BenQ is investing its resources into eSports. Sponsoring IEM & MLG, supporting various pro gamers & teams including Immunity, making monitors targeted towards the competitive gaming community and of course hiring a pro-gamer as their marketing executive in Australia. Does this mean BenQ is looking into eSports in the future as something serious?

I think it’s something that’s been in our roadmap for the last two years and since HeatoN and SpawN helped us with the XL2410T and then the XL2420T, it’s been something that’s been floating around across the regions of the world. Especially in Europe as they clear a high quantity of XL2420Ts in places like Russia and Poland.

I think to do so in Australia and make it [investing in the Australian & SEA eSports scene] more of a priority is something BenQ are trying to do. I’d say that hiring me is a step towards that situation because I have knowledge of eSports, have contacts in the industry and I know who’s going to need products so I can aggresively position products that way. I think it’s definitely something we’re going to focus on leading onto 2013 and 2014.

What can we see from BenQ in 2013?

At the moment, I can’t say much regarding products but I can say that we will be continuing in the way we’re heading with XL2420Ts and RL2450H. I expect to see more BenQ monitors at events, especially in Australia and even more-so globally.

That’s always the big thing with live events; it’s really hard to get a standard setup that everyone gets to use. Especially in FPS games where people with 120Hz monitors will have the advantage over the 60Hz monitor users.

Yeah, that’s right. The problem with us at the moment in Australia is that because geographically, it’s hard to ship product around - especially with the size of the mointors. Fair enough, if you want to supply mice, keyboards and headsets, but if you want to ship 20-30 monitors on a pallet, then it’s going to cost a fair bit especially if you want to send it to W.A. or Tasmania. So we are constrained by that but I’m going to do my best to try sponsor as many events as I can and try to get some product placement out there to further our position in eSports.

What’s the best way for people who are interested in working with BenQ Australia to contact you?

You can send emails to me at Joshua.Edwards@benq.com.

Matthew Wu traveled to IEM Singapore as a guest of BenQ Australia.