[sheepy]

Episode 1: Malcolm 'rLsEscapisT' Tay

The players that dominate at the dawn of any new RTS are almost always RTS veterans that have had years of experience and already have many transferable macro or micro mechanics that can be adjusted to suit the needs of a new game. This has not been any different in the SC2 scene, with *Known* gamers such and Moonglade and Nirvana dominating the scene at the game's launch, and the bulk of the top of SEA made out of players with experience in other RTS games.

However, as the months go by, new inspired players who have had their love for the strategy genre cultivated by Starcraft 2 begin to appear. These players have a larger slope to climb than the strategy buffs and the RTS veterans who have had years of relevant experience. They have to build and nurture their macro and micro mechanics from scratch... some give up on this difficult path, but others bloom into amazing new talents that may possibly reach higher heights. With SC2SEA's "Rising StarZ" We want to bring these relatively unknown players into the spotlight and learn more about them as well as how they have closed the gap between themselves and veteran RTS gamers.


This time we take a look at an inidvidual who came out of nowhere and took a recent community open, rLsEscapisT ! Escapist has kindly put aside the time to answer some of our questions about his history as well has how he has reached the level he is at today.

rLsEscapisT interview !

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SC2SEA : Hi Escapist tell us a bit about yourself
Escapist : Hi My name is Malcolm and i'm from Singapore

SC2SEA: Your came out of nowhere to win a community open.. quite an impressive feat. Can you tell us about any of your prior RTS experience?
Escapist : I've never been into Real time strategy games before this. I previously played Warcraft 3, but not the standard game. Only Dota and also mainly in-house games with friends.

SC2SEA: So why and how did u end up buying and playing Starcraft 2? Did u pick it up expecting to play a similar user mad map to Dota?
Escapist : Well i got roped in by a friend to buy Starcraft 2, and ended up giving it a try. I had never played an RTS before, let alone one that was as macro orientated and fast paced as Starcraft 2

SC2SEA: So why did you pick protoss as your race?
EscapisT: I had two real life friends playing the game, and one had picked terran and the other had picked zerg. I thought zerg was the most popular race and i didn't want to pick the same race as them, so i picked protoss to give it some love.

SC2SEA: So with no RTS experience, how did you pick up the game so fast?
Escapist: Well to start off. i played all 50 of the practice matches prior to placement, and i lost almost all of them. at the end of placement, i was seeded in the bronze league. It was difficult at first and i played alot with blink stalkers. I enjoyed microing blink stalkers alot, and often was so focused doing it that i would float 2-3k minerals.

SC2SEA: Wow your the first person I've known that has played all 50 of the practice matches. Was it difficult getting out of bronze? How did you approach improvement?
EscapisT: I really hate losing, and i'm the type of player that thinks alot about why i lost. I spent alot of time watching replays where i had lost and trying to figure out why i lost and how i could prevent it in the future. I would say more than actually playing the game itself. I think that analysis and thought is better than just playing masses of games. I eventually climbed all the way up to diamond by searching for pro player vods on youtube.

SC2SEA: You are now a part of clan RLS. How did you end up with this clan?
EscapisT: Well i met cure and zanooku on ladder, and i was approached to zanooku to join the clan. I thought he was really and nice and mannered guy, and i thought i'd give it a shot. The clan was new at the time, with only Cure Zan and millionaire.

SC2SEA: Your win at the community open has really brought you into the spotlight. Where you confident going into it?
EscapisT: I didn't expect to go far, but before i knew it, i was in the finals and somehow got through and won.

SC2SEA: Who'd you say was your most challenging opponent in the Community open?
EscapisT: Definitely Roz. i knew his pvp was good, and i tried to be creative the first game but totally messed it up.

SC2SEA: Whats your next goal after winning the CO?
Escapist: Just taking it as it comes along. I hope to do well in the starleague and the KOF tournaments.

SC2SEA: RLS Sponsors players with korean accounts. Have you played on the korean server? how did you find it?
EscapisT: I found it really difficult because it was Laggy~~~~~

SC2SEA: Whats your favorite matchup and most disliked matchup
Escapist: PvZ is my favourite, but i feel that i enjoy dictating the flow of the game, and the Zerg being the one to react. PvT is my most disliked, because of 1 base and 2 base all - ins. There are a large variety of possible unit compositions that do not require the Terran to scout, and i have to make the correct composition to counter it. The Terran builds a specific composition, hits a timing, and then just comes at me.

SC2SEA: Any rival or a person that you admire and want to beat?
EscapisT: Zanooku

SC2SEA: Any tips for helping people new to RTS improve like you have?
Escapist : The time that i improved the most after playing sc2 is probably after i joined rLs.
The practice i've had with the players had some really solid games which helped alot in the overall gameplay.

SC2SEA: Thanks for your time Escapist! Any shoutouts?
EscapisT: I love Cure!

Also check out rLsEscapisT's new gamer profile Here!

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More Rising StarZ!

Episode 1: EscapisT

Protoss
Singapore
aLt
Organiser
Retired

Episode 2: Rossi

Terran
Australia
Nv
TA

Episode 3: Timber

Terran
Malaysia
pRo
pRo Leader

Episode 4: yang

Protoss
Australia
iM
TA

Episode 5: Shortizz

Zerg
Singapore
aLt

Episode 6: Pox

Zerg
Australia
ToR

[nirvAnA]

love this feature! wonder who are the next players!

[TAcawkballs]

hey remember that poll for rising stars, that we all voted for then got taken down and never spoken of again? good website......

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

We were actually in the processing of interviewing the winner rossi, but one of his clanmates was taking forever to give us back the interview questions. such uninformed comments are unappreciated

[FvRelimzkE]

I hope I'm featured here one day ^_^
Going from 10 years of FPS straight to RTS has proven to be not the easiest challenge of my life :P