SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

UHF · Wed, 22nd-Aug-2012, 12:22 AM # 1

ToR.Pox

Name: Anthony Carapetis | Country: Australia | Race: Zerg | Team: Time of Rising (ToR)

Sitting at #2 Grandmaster on the SEA Ladder with a 72% win rate, you'd expect to see a name you'd know all about. However, the gentlemen that holds this rank is still mostly unknown to a lot of the community (even though he isn't a new face). With some recent promising results, this often under-rated Zerg is certainly set to make ripples in the competitive scene. Pox took the time to answer some questions and share a little bit more about himself!

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Hi Pox, thank you for allowing us to ask some questions & get to know you better. Let’s start with a short introduction - please introduce yourself for all the readers (and future fans)!

Hi! I'm a 20 year old mathematics student from Melbourne. Outside of gaming, I am interested in science, computer programming, eating and sleeping (though I do a little too much of the eating and not quite enough of the sleeping).

Before we get into Starcraft II, can you give us a brief run down of your previous gaming history / experience?

I've been PC gaming as long as I can remember, but it's mostly casual. RTS has always been features in my game list; I remember playing (poorly) hours upon hours with friends in Dark Reign, Total Annihilation, WC3, C&C3. The other historically dominant genre I play would be FPS - with some highlights being the Half-Life games, Quake 3, Wolfenstein:ET, Far Cry, STALKER:SoC and TF2. As for competition, I remember playing a few clanwars in Wolf:ET and entering the community ladder for DEFCON, but I never took either very seriously. Starcraft II is the first time I've really made an effort to be competitive, and as such it has subsumed my gaming - every now and again I will pick up a single-player game (examples I can think of are Braid, Portal 2, Deus Ex 1), but otherwise it's just Starcraft.

I read you've been playing Starcraft II since launch - how did you get into the game, and what drew you toward the Zerg race?

Towards the end of the Starcraft II beta I came across some casted games on gaming.reddit and found myself really enjoying them, which came as quite a surprise as I had previously dismissed watching esports (along with regular sports) as boring. At the time I hadn't played an RTS for 2-3 years and decided SC2 looked like fun - boy was I right! I never got a beta key, but I bought the game a few days after release, placed into gold and started laddering as random. After a month or two I decided Zerg felt right - the ability to switch the larva economy back and forth between drones and units is what drew me in. I've been a servant of the swarm ever since except for a brief stint as Protoss.

The Zerg Overmind is pleased

Did you plan to play at a competitive level from the beginning? What was your first competitive event?

I always thought it would be cool, but never really thought it was realistic at first; I just played ladder for fun and to improve. After hitting the SEA Top 200 in late 2010 I realised that I at least had a shot at competing online, so in 2011 I started entering events like the Masters Cup and later on the go4sc2 weeklies and Playhem dailies.

I've done a quick search of your tournament history and it seems you've played in quite a few tournaments. What are your best results?

I haven't had a large amount of tournament success... I won a z33k SEA Weekly once. My best results I can think of are probably 3rd place at the Melbourne regionals for the last ACL and top 4 in Eve Cup #2.

The run that secured 3rd place at ACL Melbourne Regionals

I've noticed you are consistantly winning your way deep into Masters Cup (and other events) brackets, but seem to stumble at the final step when you run into to the heavy hitters of our scene. Is it hard to stay focused & motivated in such a competitive environment, and what do you do to improve for next time?

My success against non-top-tier players always came from trying to play a stable macro style, relying on mechanics, scouting and the defender's advantage. Against top players this is a lot harder to make work (especially in ZvZ and ZvP), so I've been trying more aggressive playstyles over the last year; but I still have trouble matching against top Zerg and Protoss players. (Masters Cup? More like "Lose to Mafia in the quarter-finals" Cup.) It can be a little demotivating sometimes but I'm usually fine because I've never really expected to succeed. I usually watch the replays after a tournament loss and try to find the flaws in my play. Sometimes it's just mechanics, but often there's a decision that seemed reasonable in the heat of the moment but is clearly wrong from an observer's point of view.

Are there any players (local or international) that you look towards whether it be for play styles or inspiration?

I've never really been a big studier in SC2 - I watch pro tournaments for fun and naturally pick some things up, but I don't download replay packs etc. However, ZvP is a matchup that I've had a lot of trouble in, and thus have looked to pros like Stephano and Snute for ideas. This has led to me making nothing but roaches in half my games and nothing but banelings in the other half. I have found that being retarded is occasionally inexplicably helpful in ZvZ, so I guess I have PiG to thank for that.

So how much time in general do you spend playing each day? Are you happy with that amount?

Typically 1-5 hours. Thanks to living with my parents, I usually have enough time free that I can play until I'm no longer enjoying myself; so I'm perfectly happy!

You joined Time of Rising (clan ToR & now team ToR) back in May. How did that come about and how has your time been so far in the team?

I met DanO via our mutual clan zL on the NA server. Some time later I ran into him on SEA and he told me about ToR, so I started hanging out in the channel and getting to know some people. With a leader like Spartaz and a mascot like Spook, how could I not join? I'm enjoying both the social aspect (have met a lot of friendly people) and the opportunity to play clanwars.

Time of Rising - a growing force in the SEA scene

Do you have any goals for competitive Starcraft II? What are you plans for next year?

I'm not committing too much to SC2 - I'll continue playing competitively as long as I enjoy it, and I'll see how far I get. I haven't yet decided if or where I will be pursuing postgraduate studies next year, but it's likely I'll stay in Australia and thus in SEA tournaments. I would like to make grandmaster on the NA server sometime soon and do well in future ACL events!

Thank you for the interview! Any last words or comments?

Thanks for interviewing me! My last word is asdf!

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A massive shout out to Pox for being prompt & articulate when answering questions.
He seems like a really nice guy so if you come across him in your travels, be sure to say hello!

Interview & Graphics by UHF

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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