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)
deth
YoonYJ
Ninja
Legionnaire
Light

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.deth

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

Nv.deth: Preparations have gone as well as I could have hoped for - I had a nasty sinus infection for over a week and was pretty out of it, but have maintained a good practice regime and am confident in my abilities.

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

Nv.deth: No comment.

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.deth: I don't feel it's particularly useful to make predictions at this stage, its all going to come down to the individual games which in many cases are going to go all over the place.

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.deth: It's certainly exciting knowing the viewership that world-class commentators such as Tastosis will bring to our players and matches, it's a really powerful motivating tool to make me try to show the best games I can.

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

Nv.deth: No comment.

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

Nv.deth: I don't think we have a dark horse to be honest, I think each player is pretty well established with their skill and their place in the scene (except frustration really).

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

Nv.deth: Shoutout to Gamecom/Plantronics as well as Frag Labs and Horize, as well as my super manager Derek 'Dox' Reball and the rest of my teammates in Nv. If it wasn't for you guys I probably wouldn't be playing the game right now, and definitely not as motivated to improve (particularly get good form for MLG later this year)! Also as always a shoutout to all my boys in TA, my supportive girlfriend Naomi aka Nom, and Cam's Mum.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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Nv.YoonYJ

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

YoonYJ: My preps have been okay, I have been playing been laddering a little on the KR server and practicing with pig and edge. I was expected to vs a Zerg first round however received a toss, so I'll have to start prepping some more.

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

YoonYJ: We all know each other inside out as we have played together for a while, so nothing has really changed.

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?

YoonYJ: I would say moonglade, mafia and pig. They have relatively similar styles, and zergs have no weaknesses .

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?

YoonYJ: Nope.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent x5.Frustration?

YoonYJ: I think it will be a huge challenge for me as I'm not aware of his style, and he has good macro but I will give it my best shot.

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

YoonYJ: Probably iaguz, I know that he plays a lot of games and is capable of beating Zergs.

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

YoonYJ: Shoutouts to nirvana and dox, who are ALT and NV leaders. shoutout also to edge and jared for the games.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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cR.Ninja

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

cR.Ninja: Hi! My preparations are going great other than falling sick and being unable to practice the past few days i was very happy with them.

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

cR.Ninja: Mostly ladder on the Korean server, some games on NA and practice games with Pig, my Korean clan aLive and cRFenner helped me to prepare also!

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?

cR.Ninja: Well assuming I'm up there somewhere I think it's most likely going to be Glade/Mafia/Pig and then tgun, light and iaguz in any order. All players have weaknesses but I don't think I should say them before a tournament.

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?

cR.Ninja: Having the premiere SC2 casters Tastosis along with the large prize pool has motivated me even more to do well.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent Tt.Pig?

cR.Ninja: Pig is a great friend and my clanmate and whoever wins our match it will suck knocking the other one out, our tournament games also tend to devolve into stupidity very often so that makes it even more 50/50 >.<.

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

cR.Ninja: Most of the players in WCS that will do well are already known in the SEA scene, I would say Legionnaire is the Dark Horse if he prepares before the event just because of his experience in SC1 and nobody knows anything about him in sc2

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

cR.Ninja: Shoutout to everyone who helped me practice, clan aLt, my team Carnage and my family for supporting me.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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Legionnaire

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

Legionnaire: Thanks a lot, it was a bit of a surprise to qualify.

My preparations were mixed. After ACL Brisbane, my plan was to make masters on the Korea server within a week... that didn't pan out to well. I only made masters this week. I think my main issue is I've been forcing myself to play even when I'm tired after work. Just to get the number of games up. During these times i was just losing 80% of my games, which really doesn't help to move up the ladder.

Beyond that I think I'm playing fairly well, not quite sure if I have enough to put up too much of a fight vs the top Aussies.

My mechanics suck, and my builds are limited so maybe I'll take a game or two but I doubt I'll advance far. I didn't even know Blizzard had introduced all of the positional hotkeys into the game (like in SC1) until Xaracos told me about it after ACL Brisbane. Still not using them as much as i should. But we'll see how I go.

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

Legionnaire: I have no practice partners, or replays of me out there, which I guess helps since no one knows what I do. But then again, I don't know what they do. So there are benefits both ways.

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?

Legionnaire: No idea. To be honest, before ACL Brisbane, I wouldn't have been able to name anyone but moonglade. I haven't been following the SC2 scene at all.

I guess Mafia since he is GM on Korea. Tgun since he has played a bit internationally. And moonglade, just because I've known him for years and he is awesome.

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?

Legionnaire: No. I don't see why it would. I've know Tasteless and Artosis for years, so it will be good to catch up with them.

My current game-plan is for them to give me a hidden earpiece so I can listen into my own games.

Lemminks: What do you think about your first round opponent iM.Mafia?

Legionnaire: He is GM on the Korean server. I'm not. What more needs to be said?

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

Legionnaire: No idea. I don't know anyone.

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

Legionnaire: I must say, fantastic job to the team behind WCS Aus people for bringing in the international casters. It's definitely brought a lot of hype and interest to the Australian scene.

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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iM.Light

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

iM.Light: Well, to be honest, balancing a full-time job and constant visits to my beloved girlfriend in Adelaide has really eaten away into my practice and preparation time. That said, I have no reasons to justify doing anything else but practice StarCraft II during any spare time I can get. This is why leading up to WCS, I would not play for like weeks straight, and then on my odd day or two off, I put up an amazing 40 games. I'm also using a lot of the idle-time I have at work to just theorycraft/think about my strategies and matchups(definitely makes the hours go quicker!).

Overall, I am very satisfied with my preparation, and I am extremely confident with my gameplans, tricks up my sleeve(as Edge says), array of strategies and counter-strategies for all three MU's heading into WCS.

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

iM.Light: Being a Protoss player, our game is somewhat like an open-heart surgery, requiring the proper procedure and focus for it to be success rather than continuously dying to stuff until you don't die anymore as Zerg, or continue failing to kill stuff until you kill everything as Terran. Therefore watching VOD's for inspiration, theorycrafting, game planning, developing strategies, and then putting them in practice in ladder sessions are the ways I've been preparing, instead of just mindlessly spamming games.

If I execute my gameplan/strategies correctly, and my control and forcefields are on point, I will not be stopped at WCS.

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.Light: There are a few players that have consistently produced top finishes in almost every tournament they participate in - So I'm definitely looking at MoonGlade, Mafia, Pig and Tgun as the favourites, with Mafia and Pig(finalists of ACL Melbourne) being the two in top form at the moment. That said however, the talent in the player pool for WCS Oceania is so deep that any of the other14 players involved could easily take these guys out and notch top 3, given their focus and performance on the day. I wouldn't be a single bit surprised if someone like Ninja or Rossi etc. notched a podium finish.

Although I'm aware that I am not the player in the best form right now, I'm very confident in my ability to take anyone out in a series, convincingly. So I'm definitely going to look for myself taking the Gold medal.

I see, and hope Mafia coming 2nd behind me. Going out on a limb, I'm going to take a non-Zerg to finish third - With Rossi/Yang showing fantastic Zerg-slaying skills lately, I'm going to go with either of them at 3rd.

Don't think any participant is going to really answer the question about style and weakness with the tournament around the corner. What I can say is that - THEY ARE ALL FREAKING GOOD.

However, I do know of their one and only weakness - my beautiful smile as I shake their hands after I am victorious.

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.Light: The world will be watching us because of Tastosis, and as such I feel more of an obligation to play at my best, look my best, and represent the organisations I'm a part of the best way possible. Therefore, definitely look for me to produce some very entertaining games, looking absolutely stunningly handsome, and hold a FANTASTIC smile every time I'm on camera, especially when I get proclaimed StarCraft II Champion of Oceania. =]

Oh and meeting Tastosis, HD and Painuser is pretty cool, too. Hahaha.

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


iM.Light: Iaguz was a very good teammate, and a very good friend of mine. It saddens me that we have to play in the first round, having to knock one of us into the lower bracket so early. I also find it quite a pity because I see myself and Iaguz being the few individuals to really put the challenge on the big Zerg names.

As for the MU itself, Iaguz' TvP has improved significantly lately, add to the fact that he knows my old PvT style quite well means that this bearded man will be no easy feat for me to dispatch. That said however, I've recently been developing my PvT yet again, watching many VODs and having tremendous success with a variety of strategies in practice. I feel like my PvT is as strongest and as unpredictable as it ever has been. Also, because I have won the last few series between us, dare I say I have a little mental edge on him.

This man is a monster of a player, and I wouldn't feel remotely angry or ashamed if I do get outclassed or outplayed. The keyword here is of course - "if".

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

iM.Light: Many of the players such as Edge and Deth are underappreciated for how good and talented they are. Even someone like BigBird is underestimated at his ability to take games from the best. However if I had one pick as a dark horse it would have to be my Immunity teammate Yang (This is me being as least bias as I can). He is generally regarded as extremely good but not quite top tier compared to someone like Glade or Pig. This comparison however, does not come close to giving him his due credit in his extremely high level PvZ. The prince from Perth's PvZ strategies and executions of them are FANTASTIC, that I would not be surprised if he upsets many of his Zerg opponents on his way to a podium finish.

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

iM.Light: Thank you, it was a pleasure given the opportunity to do this interview. A big shoutout to my team, Team Immunity and our sponsors Intel, BenQ, Gigabyte, Geil, Antec and Steelseries.

Also shoutouts to Blizzard for going forth with this and getting the necessary personnel for this event to be in international spotlight. Shoutout to team ACL for putting in an enormous effort in hosting this. Shoutout to TA and SC2SEA for being the StarCraft family that I will never be able to say goodbye to. Last but not least, shoutout to all you fans who are going to support your favourite SEA players either at the venue or at barcraft or in your PJs at home during WCS, your support means everything to us.

Oh and mark my words, the Zerg will fall. ^^

Lemminks: Good Luck!

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Coming Up Next - Final Wrap-up by Cute

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Brought to you by the SC2SEA Writing Team
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[TCPLemminks]

We were unable to get in contact with Andrew "mOOnGLaDe" Pender for his interview. I, on behalf of the sc2sea writing team, would like to apologise and hope you enjoy the rest of the hype articles

[syfSoundwave]

Wrap-up is misspelled at the very end there.

Anyway, thanks for the interviews. Light sure is a talkative fellow, hey?

[Cute]

Hahah, Fan-Tas-Tic!

[Delraich]

iM.Light: Many of the players such as Edge and Deth are underappreciated for how good and talented they are. Even someone like BigBird is underestimated at his ability to take games from the best. However if I had one pick as a dark horse it would have to be my Immunity teammate Yang (This is me being as least bias as I can). He is generally regarded as extremely good but not quite top tier compared to someone like Glade or Pig. This comparison however, does not come close to giving him his due credit in his extremely high level PvZ. The prince from Perth's PvZ strategies and executions of them are FANTASTIC, that I would not be surprised if he upsets many of his Zerg opponents on his way to a podium finish.

Yang gonna kick some ass!!

Quick Comments

	Zealo:	hahahaaha awesome!
	nirvAnA:	so good!!!!!

[AxSGRiM]

Light's interview definitely provided my with a lot of insight, as did my custom game vs him (where he smashed be around 2 hours ago). I might have to change my top 3 predictions because of this :P

[Shieldz]

yeah lol light is so gosu now improved so much great interviews too

[nirvAnA]

yea light is really a league above any other protoss in SEA, even though he might sometimes try and be modest and say XXX is better, don't believe that it isn't true!

He put on quite a PvP clinic with the sc2sea chat boys today haha. Hope he does well!

The last Protoss hope!

[Shieldz]

yeah lol i think hes actually the only one that can handle all the zergs right now :P

[AxSGRiM]

What about the first protoss hope Legionnaire?

[Shieldz]

nah dont think hes as good as light but we will see today :P

[FvRphoneheha]

Light's interview so good! Protoss fighting!

[inFeZa]

Loved it ! GG !