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**Baldie** · Tue, 25th-Mar-2014, 8:23 PM

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Mark! Cheers for taking the time out of your day to speak with me. Let's kick this off with a little background on yourself. Who are you, what do you do, how long have you been playing the great game of StarCraft and do you have any sisters. Last question is optional.

Petrify No problems! My name is Mark "Petrify" Fittipaldi, I study commercial law at uni, in my last year at the moment. I've been playing SC2 for about 3 years but i've only played competitively for a little over a year now. I have one sister... o.O

Not going to lie was not expecting you to answer the sister question. You are too forthcoming with information. Last year of law, must be pretty stoked to see the end in sight? Looking forward to making it rain money?

Petrify: Well just as long as Kez doens't read this interveiw I should be fine answering that question. Yeah i'm pretty excited to be finishing, I'm doing a bachelor of commerce but majoring in law so its kind of between two degrees, if I can get a good job out of this degree I'll be stoked, but odds are I'll probably have to do a few years of an actual law degree. Can't wait to make some money though to pour some into the e-sports scene.

Look forward to seeing the cheque in the mail. So you've been playing StarCraft II for a few years now but more recently took it up competitively. What made you switch from casual to competitive?

Petrify: Hmm, well I just started in bronze with some friends and I wanted to be better than them so I practiced a little bit and eventually got to high masters on NA. One of my friends told me about the SC2SEA scene and as soon as I heard about Aussie tournaments I turned competitive. I guess it was natural because I'm a really competitive person, nothing feels better to me than winning.

I guess winning Season 1 Stage 1 Qualifiers must have felt great then? Can you share with us a little bit about how you prepared going into the qualifiers and how you felt after Stage 1 had concluded?

Petrify: Yeah it felt pretty good. To be honest I didn't practice at all in the leadup, I "quit" for about 3 months and probably played only 10 games of SC2 before the tournament. I think this is actually the reason I played well, because as soon as I start putting value on matches I seem to think too much and play worse. So not having any expectations does wonders for my play.

After stage 1 I began to want to do well in stage 2 which I think is dangerous for my mentality. So I wasn't confident for stage 2 at all

Wow what a way to come out of a break! Perhaps you've found the key to success for you. I guess that may answer my next question. How are you looking to prepare for season 2?

Petrify: I've definitely been playing more than I was in preparation for season 1. I played a bit of ladder but mostly just a custom game or two every now and then. Still my practice is far less than most of the people I talk to. I am not putting any expectations on myself for season 2 so hopefully that pays off.

If it does I am sure you will be the envy of a lot of players - kind of like that gifted student in Year 12 who never studied and got top of their class! So I recently interviewed Lalor from Silicon Sports. Obviously you know him quite well being on his pro team. Have you enjoyed your time on Team Silicon Sports so far? He tells me you play an important roll in managing the team?

Petrify: Yeah I kind of feel bad doing well when most people practice so much. I only just recently got the 1000 wins portrait on my main account haha. I am very close with Rez, Silicon Sports is like family to me. Up until we recruited Law recently we were all Melbourne based, so it is super fun hanging out at barcrafts and LAN's together. We're just like a bunch of friends.

I do a little bit for Silicon Sports, I mostly handle recruiting and try and let players know to signup for tournaments and stuff. I'm very happy with our recent recruit Law. Expect big things from him!

One to put on the watch list for sure. Speaking of watch list, we are at what feels like a generation switch for StarCraft II, at least in our region. Is there any fresh blood in the scene you are looking forward to seeing more of? Perhaps a dark horse to come through Stage 1?

Petrify: I think the 3 players that have the most potential to break out in the scene at the moment are DemiLove, Law and Probe. Probe obviously showed how good he can be in the last WCS qualifiers, I hope he can back it up, as I feel protoss is the weakest race at the moment, especially in SEA. And the other two really impress me as Zerg players, especially Law's macro.

So it's been made known that the highest placing ANZ player in Stage 1 of Season 2 will automatically qualify for an invite into Stage 2 of Season 3 (bit of a mouthful!). You were a little early to the party finishing 1st in Season 1! Do you think you can go back to back and take the invite?

Petrify: Yeah pretty sad I didn't get an invite this season but I'm sure everyone who got one deserved it more. I think I can easily take the invite again, but it just comes down to my mentality on the day and the brackets. I don't think I can lose a zvp or zvz if I play the way I want, but if I hit terrans then anything than happen.

Fighting words! Given you have been playing competitively for over a year now, I'm sure you've learnt a lot of things when it comes to the game. Do you have any tips for aspiring players? Perhaps some words of wisdom?

Petrify: Well this is the part where most people say practice makes perfect etc, but I don't think i'm entitled to say that. I think the best thing people can do is be really confident in their ability and go into each game with a gameplan. Don't take the game too seriously as after all it's just a game, learn to smile after a win or loss and you will get better naturally.

Thanks for your time Mark and good luck for this weekend! Do you have any final words or shoutouts?

Petrify: No worries, big thanks to Silicon Sports for the support and all the guys on Syf for the customs!

For more details on WCS America: Season 2 Oceania/SEA Qualifiers go to

www.wcs2014.aclpro.com.au