Text: Lemminks
Formatting: Cute + xpaperclip

In the lead up to Oceania's Biggest RTS event ever, the WCS Starcraft 2 Oceania Finals - the SC2SEA article writing team "Writer's Block" have been hard at work putting together a series of hype articles for your viewing pleasure! Fresh content will be added daily until the explosive $25,000 finals begin this Saturday... cast by none other than Tastosis!

SC2 SEA WCS Oceania Coverage
WCS Tickets & Information
Monday - WCS Hype Part 1: An Introduction by Tek Kez
Tuesday - WCS Hype Part 2: Player Interviews by Lemminks
Wednesday - WCS Hype Part 3: Player Interviews by Lemminks
Thursday - WCS Hype Part 4: Player Interviews by Lemminks
Friday - WCS Hype Part 5: Final Wrapup by Cute

Interviews in this piece:
(Click to jump)
Rossi
tgun
Techtron
Mafia
yang

Venue: Australian Technology Park - Bay 4 & Dining Room

The Australian Technology Park is located approximately 5km from Sydney's central business district, 8km from Sydney Airport and within 200m of Redfern Station on Sydney’s rail network.

Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/aclprosc2

Catch all the action FREE featuring casting by Tastosis, HDStarcraft, Painuser & Maynarde

Schedule:

Watch online - Friday, 10th August 2012

This event has a fully booked out live audience on Saturday & Sunday, but do note that the WCS Australia games commence on Friday. You can watch from the comfort of your home on ACL's TwitchTV Channel at http://www.twitch.tv/aclprosc2 at 11:00am.

Live Event - Saturday, 11th August 2012

11:00 — 12:00: Doors Open! Ticket holders have express entry through to the viewing area.
12:00 — 13:00: Loser Bracket ...
21:00 — 21:55: Australia Nationals Grand Final
22:00 — 23:00: Australia Tournament Finals Presentation

Live Event - Sunday, 12th August 2012

11:00 — 12:00 Doors open for Oceania Finals!
20:00 — 20:30 Oceania Finals Presentation

Brackets
For more information or ticket enquires kindly visit the ACL WCS Oceania landing page here.
A Warp up of all the Barcrafts covering the event can be found here.

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Nv.Rossi

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

Nv.Rossi: Thank you very much! My preparations are going quite splendidly. I have been practicing far more then I am used to and am still enjoying the game as I do so. All in all I'm feeling quite content no matter what happens.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

Nv.Rossi: I have decided to stick to solely laddering on Korea as preparation. I have played a few customs with close friends such as mafia and also with my Korean clan NsP. Besides that I still consider myself an avid spectator and am enjoying keeping up with all the latest tournaments to see if any players or styles catch my eye.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

Nv.Rossi: I feel like the big 3 going into this event are Moonglade, Mafia and Pig. All 3 of them have been posting extremely strong results recently and look to be in fearsome shape. Its hard to pick out any specific weaknesses for these players. However if i knew some I would prefer to keep them between myself and my Terran brothers in Nv.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

Nv.Rossi: The fact that Tastosis are casting this event is going to bring in a much larger audience and mentally I have tried to prepare myself for this . There's going to be a significant amount of viewers and the prestige players are placing on this tournament is very high. Dealing with the stress and pressure that I as a player place on myself has been tough, but my excitement towards this coming weekend is started to outweigh the rest.

Lemminks : What do you think about your first round opponent Eve.Techtron?

Nv.Rossi: Techtron is a great guy and a great player. I am very confident vs him as I recently 2-0ed him at ACL melbourne and I feel my time training has improved me tenfold from that period. I hope he does well and wish him good luck!

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

Nv.Rossi: I feel like everybody has a chance and it will come down to who plays better on the day. I don't think anyone should be singled out.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

Nv.Rossi: Thanks for the interview! The previews are looking pretty sexy so far. I'd like to shoutout to my team Nv Gamecom and Manager Dox! Follow us on twitter @Nvsc2 and at facebook.com/Nvsc2. Furthermore a big shoutout to our main Sponsor Gamecom for supporting our team as well as Frag Labs and Horize(Check them out). Lastly a big shoutout to everyone who has been supporting the competitors in this WCS.I hope the event turns out to be amazing and that we can turn some heads internationally! Also please follow myself on twitter @NvRossi

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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GoSu.tgun

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

GoSu.tgun: Preparations are the same as usual. Play a hell of a lot, try to win. Usually, try to win a lot. I've been focusing very heavily on ZvZ, as I feel like it will be the predominate match up.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

GoSu.tgun: Playing on the Korean ladder, talking to my teammates & other practice partners. Not everyone I know is Australian .

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

GoSu.tgun: Myself, Mafia and PiG. I wouldn't really be able to describe their style. Mafia is probably the most passive player in Australia, PiG plays very standard but knows a wide variety of cheese. Hard to really pin a "style" on a player.

I feel it'd be really disrespectful to point out weaknesses before a tournament. Even having that question is a bit weird...

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

GoSu.tgun: I've been to Korea. Hasn't changed a damn thing, don't think it will for any players.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent Tek.BiGbiRd?

GoSutgun: I'm not too sure about him -- haven't really ever seen him play, but I've already received some replays of his recent PvZ builds. I can't say that I'm too worried -- I'm thinking of my second round (vs. the winner of Iaguz/Light), but I never take an opponent lightly.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

GoSu.tgun: Iaguz. Dark horse in the fact that everyone is under-rating him. Easily the best terran (in my opinion, please don't kill me Nv) in Australia. This is a call out to the other Terrans, feel free to prove me wrong.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

GoSu.tgun: Shoutout to my team, itsGoSu, all of our sponsors (found on the website over at itsgosu.com), my girlfriend who's been extremely supportive, and most of all

Cam's mum.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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Eve.Techtron

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

Eve.Techtron: Thanks! Preparations have been not the greatest as I have just started getting back into the school year; having a hard time finding solid practice hours and after ACL Melbourne I took a minor break from SC2.

Lemminks: Unlike a number of the other participants, a lot of your practice partners aren't competing in this event. How much of an advantage do you consider that to be?

Eve.Techtron: It’s always tough trying to prepare for tournaments when brackets haven’t been released in advance, but with my teammates I’ve been able to send them replays from my ladder games asking for advice and tips on how to improve my play.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

Eve.Techtron: Honestly the competition in Australia has come a long way from the days where Moonglade was the number one contender in all tournaments. We have such great players developing who can easily be top 3 material.

Moonglade, Mafia, Pig, Tgun, Iaguz and Rossi would be great contenders for top 3 but it will likely follow in SEA tradition and will most likely be a Zerg top 3 in any order, it all depends on who can perform on the day.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

Eve.Techtron: This is a great event to showcase the talent we have in Australia and help get the SC2SEA Scene more exposure. When I heard that Tastosis was coming down under, it added to my motivation so I want to able to show the best games!

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent NvRossi?

Eve.Techtron: ZvT is my best matchup even though I lost to him 2:0 at ACL Melbourne. I believe that Rossi will be going in to the match up as the favourite but I have posted great results versus NvTerrans.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

Eve.Techtron: I don’t foresee any breakout performances in this WCS, Going into it we will know who can perform well and I don’t think the new comers will be able to cause any upsets.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

Eve.Techtron: I would like to give a shout out to Team Eve and our sponsors, Own3dTv, Pokerstrategy and Aftershock PC. A big thank you to ACL for their contribution to the Starcraft 2 scene!
You can find out more about Team Eve at Teameve.com also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Own3d TV.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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iM.Mafia

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

iM.Mafia: Thank you very much! My preparations have been great, I've been practicing about 8 hours everyday.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

iM.Mafia: I have been practicing mostly on the ladder (KR/NA) servers, been watching a lot of replays/VODs too when I'm not playing.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

iM.Mafia: Top 3 of Oceania would likely be myself, GLaDe and PiG. They have great mechanics and are solid macro players overall. I don't think they have many weaknesses, I think if Glade practiced more he would be great. If Pig stopped getting nervous and making excuses all the time, he'd be better too.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

iM.Mafia: Yes, most definitely. Knowing that they are casting the event and most likely casting a game that I'm playing in live has made me want to play even better and do well. It's a dream come true for me to have Tastosis casting my games ^^.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent Legionnaire?

iM.Mafia: I'm happy we're playing SC2 and not BW that's for sure. Nah but honestly I never really followed BW but from what I've heard he was a BW legend so I have a lot of respect for him in that regard. I don't expect him to be a pushover or anything because of his experience so I won't be counting him out and will play my best.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

iM.Mafia: I think there are a few candidates for dark horse, JazBas for Zerg, He has a very good tournament record and is very unpredictable which makes him quite hard to play against.
* Rossi for Terran, At the start of the year he was impressive and has just been very consistent throughout the whole year but there's a good chance of him doing well because of the practice he's been putting in.
* Light for Protoss, beating glade and pig 2-0 2-0 respectively in the recent ACL has surprised a lot of people. But its obviously no fluke, he's always been very consistent and if he plays his best he has a great chance also of doing well.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

iM.Mafia: Shoutouts to all my fans/supporters and my team, Team Immunity and their sponsors, Intel, Gigabyte, BenQ, GeIL, Antec, SteelSeries and Redbull.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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iM.yang

Lemminks: Firstly congratulations on qualifying for WCS Australia. How are your preparations going so far?

iM.yang: I've played a pretty consistent amount since GESC in Melbourne so my results should show my preparation.

Lemminks: Considering a lot of your practice partners are participating in WCS Australia, what other methods are you employing to prepare?

iM.yang: I don't practice a lot with other people, it didn't change my habits at all.

Lemminks: In your opinion, who do you think will take top 3 in WCS Oceania? How would you describe their style? Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?

iM.yang: Mopglade, Mafia, Pig - they're basically the 3 strongest players. I don't read enough into people to see any weaknesses, they're just solid.

Lemminks: This will be the first time an Australian Starcraft 2 event will be casted by Tastosis and watched by the world, has this changed the way you approach the event in any way?

iM.yang: Definitely it's changed the way I see the event. This will definately be the event to beat all others, especially how disappointing ACLMelb turned out for me.

Lemminks: Lastly who in WCS Australia would you describe as the dark horse?

iM.yang: Edge. People may expect him to do well but maybe not win, the dude DEFINITELY can and I won't be surprised to see him do extremely well. I have a really hard run in the upper bracket and it starts with this beasty.

Lemminks: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final shoutouts?

iM.yang: No worries. Thanks to team Immunity and my sponsors and especially thanks to the ACL guys for organising what is sure to be an amazing event. Oh and Blizzard for dem e-sports cash dollaz.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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Coming Up Next - Interviews Part 3 by TCPLemminks

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Brought to you by the SC2SEA Writing Team
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[TACeeSerps]

This thread looks sexy!

[x5_Bard]

Wow! Really impressive work!

[Shieldz]

wow agree with bard nice work!

[Snx.Mufasa]

"Do they have any particular weaknesses that you’re willing to share with us?"

^pretty odd question to ask imo

otherwise its been an awesome read ^__^

Quick Comments

TCPLemminks:

Tongue-in-cheek

[Asrathiel]

Ooooh pretty looking Only a few more days to go!!!

[Another]

so much effort going into this ! going to be epic, i wish WCS NZ was 1/10th as good as this !

[ACL VaNzR]

Just want to let you know that the landing page for this event has been updated to reflect new information. The schedule will be going live soon, but opening times and details have been formalised.

I would request that the authors modify their OP and any subsequent post to prevent incorrect information from circulating.

Cheers

http://www.aclpro.com.au/blizzard2012/

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

Done!

[AxSGRiM]

Rossi is such a professional with interviews... Now I feel like putting him in my top 3

Quick Comments

Dox:

chyeah!