[x5_dot]

Day 1 of SEA/Oceania's WCS Qualifiers had a mixture of participants, ranging from well known names, to up-and-comers, to those who just wanted to have a go. There were some upsets, with Rossi and Fenner not making it through, and also stories of breakthroughs, like that of Probe's. As the list of retirements of top SEA players continue to grow, it was also a chance to see the new generation of players to hold the torch from now on.

Team Exile5's Stormz and Daehfeurd interviewed our top 8 winners of Day 1, and here are the results:


Congratulations on your results in Stage 1 of the Qualifiers. Can you tell us a little more about yourself?

Alopex: My name is Johnny, I'm 20 years old, my ID is Alopex, I live in Sydney Australia and I'm currently on the great Frenetic Array Academy, I've been playing SC2 since 2011!

Fighto: Cheers. So my name is Ross Muldoon. I'm from Melbourne and I've been gaming since as long as I can remember; from WC3 up until SC since about mid-way through WoL. It's only recently that I've been entering Australian tournaments, and I'm currently in team SYF with my boy Hitman and Troy and just enjoy gaming really, minus LoL. What a silly game.

Kayz: Hi, my name is Kun Zheng and my SC2 ID is KayZ. I am currently a full time student at UNSW. I’ve been playing SC2 on and off since WoL beta. I also enjoy playing DotA2 and following the pro scene of both SC2 and DotA2.

Lobo: Thanks! I'm a Protoss player from Singapore, 20 years old and currently serving fulltime military service.

Myuu: Hi, and thanks . I’m a Zerg player from Sydney Australia and I play for Avant Garde.

Petrify: Thanks! Umm... my names Mark and I'm a 21 year old studying commercial law who enjoys playing video games! Other than that, there's not much too me, I am a man of simple tastes.

Pezz: I'm Pezz from Team Silicon, known as one of the strongest Protoss players in SEA.
-->insert generic answer

Probe: Hello, My name is Sean Kempen and I am a Melbourne Protoss player on Ecko Esports. I hate Mutalisks and PvP.


How much did you practice in the lead up?

Alopex: Honestly I did not practice anywhere near enough before coming into this tourney, I was busy with some real life stuff, but after this tourney it really gave me a lot of motivation to start practicing hard again.

Fighto: I didn't really practice specifically for SEA qualifier. I just played a butt load of ladder and custom games with friends and, since that means I play most of the people in the tournament on ladder already, I thought I was in with a pretty decent chance.

Kayz: I didn’t practice much as I only intended to enter the qualifiers for fun. As such I had almost no experience on the new season maps.

Lobo: No practice. I'm in camp from Sunday night through the week until Friday night and I'm usually too tired after all the crap I do to be practicing. The occasional online tournies that I play in is basically all the StarCraft I get.

Myuu: Umm, I didn’t actually practice that much; being honest probably just an hour or two for the days leading up to the event as I wasn’t planning to play SC2 this holidays, wanted to take a break haha.

Petrify: I didn't practice at all, I stopped playing for like 3-4 months. I was pretty surprised I "won" (i say that because the last 3 games were walkovers) the first stage qualifier. I only entered for fun.

I've always believed that the way I play SC2 doesn't take much practice, as long as I don't play against a build I've never seen before I should be okay, and I still watch StarCraft. I just play mechanically and reactionary, so as long as my mechanics don't dip it's easy to play well.

Pezz: I'm different from most SEA players in terms of how I practice. Most do it in big chunks, like before a tournament they will flat out play 30 games a day. I've tried that, and I agree that's the fastest way to improve, mass gaming for 1 day gives you tons of progress. It's just not really my style, I like to be lazy in between games, check Reddit, streams, procrastinate etc. I also like watching anime daily.

Probe: Since I am currently on holidays I have been able to play a lot more. To practice for the upcoming SYF LAN in February I have been trying to play a minimum of 20 games per day. And for this event the majority of my preparation was thinking of the builds I was going to do, instead of practicing them.


How did you feel before the Qualifier? Who were you most worried about?

Alopex: Before the qualifiers I was determined to at least qualify for day 2 to prove that I am capable of going head to head with the finest players in SEA region, and I am very happy to have achieved that objective. I was worried about the really good Protosses in our region, Another, Pezz and Fighto etc who I had played on ladder quite a few times, I feel like they are really good players and I didn't feel all that confident in ZvP. Also the volatility in ZvZ worried me quite a lot, SEA is known to have quite a few good Zergs and I could be knocked out in the first round in a ZvZ.

Fighto: I wasn’t nervous or anything. I know these players pretty well by now even if they don't know me but the only person who I was hoping to dodge is KingKong since he's knocked me out of a lot of tournaments and beats me on ladder. I think I can maybe beat him but yeah, he was the one for me to watch out for.

Kayz: I was most worried about facing any Protosses as TvP is by far my worst matchup. I was lucky to only face Zergs throughout the entire qualifier.

Lobo: I didn't have very high expectations after seeing how strong the list of players looked so I just went in trying to see where I stood. Didn't have anyone in particular I was worried about but I generally don't like to play against Zerg as I feel that's my weakest matchup.

Myuu: I was little nervous going into the qualifier as I didn't practice that much however I really wanted to play just for fun. I pretty much wasn't aware of the qualifier until like 2 days prior to it thus I wasn’t expecting much. As for players I was most afraid of, probably Fighto, Lobo and Probe as I’m really bad at ZvP atm.

Petrify: The night before the qualifier I had friends over and I was lucky I remembered to get up in time for it. I wasn't worried about anyone, it was just for fun. When I was in the actual bracket I knew I had to beat Phoenix or Fenner to qualify, and I was a little bit worried about Fenner because I know how hard he practices, but fortunately for me Phoenix did my dirty work for me.

Pezz: I was most worried about PiG without a doubt, we practiced 1 week before the tournament and he beat me 4-1. I feel like his win was well deserved and that he's the best player in SEA atm, even better than KingKong (imo).

Probe: I really did not think I would do well, or even make it to day 2. Because of this I didn't feel much pressure. I wasn't worried about one particular person, I just wanted to avoid PvP and really strong players.



Having played on Day 2 now how do you feel about your performance over the weekend?

Alopex: I was overall happy about my results, but the day 2 showing was really poor for me, I guess that's what happens when you don't practice nearly as much. All the players who qualified for day 2 were all really good players and I am confident to compete against them in the future when I get my dedication on!

Fighto: I was really disappointed. I played extremely well to qualify for day two, and then I matched Iaguz. I was confident in my PvT and I've heard his TvP isn't that strong. I played a really strong early game in both games but due to bad decision making I feel like I gave them away. Feeling pretty deflated after games I knew I could have won, I didn't play the loser brackets well at all, getting knocked out first round. Definitely thought I could do better considering how many games of sc2 I play

Kayz: I’m slightly disappointed that I lost to Petrify 2-1 in Stage 2 after taking the first game in a close 40 minute TvZ. Overall I am satisfied that I managed to qualify for Stage 2 as I didn’t expect to make it, however I think I had a bit of luck with the brackets.

Lobo: Much better than I expected! I was thinking I might not make it out of Day 1 and wouldn't have been surprised if I had dropped out early in Day 2. However given how I lost the deciding game against Enderr after I got myself in a pretty good position I must say I was a little disappointed and left wondering how much further I could have gone.

Myuu: I thought my performance was rather underwhelming over the weekend even with the little amount of practice I had as I pretty much lost primarily to rookie mistakes and had several one sided games.

Petrify: Day 2 was less fun than Day 1 because I got into my own head a little with the "holy shit what if you do well without actually playing", and when I was up 1 game against RedArchon on stream I pretty much defeated myself by thinking I was going to win. He wrecked me game 2 and 3 due to really basic mistakes from me. I was a little embarrassed by those games.

Pezz: I felt pretty bad. I had both games against Lobo in the bag and managed to throw them. This is most likely my last shot at going to an international tournament considering I have uni + work this year. I'll keep playing but 2014 won't be the best year for results most likely.

Probe: Of course I am really happy with my results! I think I showed some good games and really surprised myself with how far I went. However the competitor inside me still sees room for improvement.


Which series are you most happy with?

Alopex: I was quite happy with the games vs Another, I knew he was really emotional when he plays and I went for a proxy hatch in his natural to stop him from expanding to try to mess with his head, and that eventually won the game. In the last game I was able to stop his fast DT play and used the advantage to switch to mutas and won the series. I was really happy to take chances and win with the odd strategies to win tournament games.

Fighto: None of them. Unless I win them all, I'm never happy.

Kayz: None of them really stand out so I would say the series against Surge as that win allowed me to advance to Stage 2.

Lobo: Hmm... probably the one against RA (RedArchon) because winning that meant I would place in the money.

Myuu: Well I’m going to choose the only victory I had over the weekend which was against Blysk, although the games were quite weird, and extremely short it kind of gave me the motivation to play StarCraft again.

Petrify: I was most happy with my series vs Pezz on Day 1. It was seriously hilarious trash talking each other and doing stupid builds (neither of us intended to) in front of 3.5k people. I wish people were able to screw around as much in pro games, it’s much more enjoyable to play and watch.

Pezz: I don't think I beat anyone too notable so none.

Probe: While Protossing Iaguz was fun, beating Fenner to qualify for Day 2 would be the series I am most happy with. Killing 50 drones with Oracles is the best feeling in the world .


If you were stuck on a deserted island which StarCraft unit would you have with you?

Alopex: Lol, I think I would just call in a Battlecruiser to get me the hell outta there!

Fighto: Def Muta cause I could just base trade with other islands with very little to no skill. Such a sick unit.

Kayz: Mothership core for recall.

Lobo: Maybe a Mothership core to get me out ...?

Myuu: mmm I’ve gotta choose the Mothership core here . Couldn't i just recall home.

Petrify:

+ [R18+ answer] +

A banshee so I could bang the driver, then while she’s asleep get into the banshee and fly away off the deserted island.

Pezz: A ******* Warp Prism, that way i could warp in friends or just leave.

Probe: If the deserted island is hot, I would pick a drone, morph it into a spawning pool and then sit in it all day to cool down.

Contributors:-
Interviews: x5 Daehfeurd, x5 Stormz
Editing: x5 Dot

All StarCraft 2 images are the property of Blizzard Entertainment