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Welcome to this third episode of IS in Korea
This episode's theme is the fighting spirit!
Well hi there, i'm here with ToD for this interview
from team Fnatic. How are you ? - Easy, what about you ?
Very well, and i must say i'm very pleased to do this interview in french
cause as you all know Tod is french
My first question, what are the results of your stay in Korea?
Well performance wise it hasn't been so oustanding
but... I improved my game a lot
I think as a person i also grew up, got more mature
So in the end... Positive results? Well yes and no
i wished i had performed more and better
but i didn't participate i so many tournaments
and i want to change that in the future, go to more events
So it's been 9 months since you're in Korea
How come there were so many changes ?
You got better as a player, do you know the reasons?
The level here is impressive
and you become the best by training with the best so...
Even if i didn't become the best player, i think i improved a lot
because i played really strong players everyday
I got stomped many times, and it's still the case, like yesterday
I played on the ladder and it didn't go so well...
People can share those adventures with you on you stream
And you say you got better as a person
Once again what's your opinion about that? Why is that so?
Was it because of being a new environement for 9 month?
In a foreign country...
Well i made new friends, lots happened, i lived with many different people
I think that's what made me more mature
What are your next goals, objectives?
I'd like to participate to more tournaments
whether online or... Offline
try to showcase my potential
cause i didn't show that enough in the past
Participate to as many tournaments as possible
improve and get more tournament experience
Cause i didn't do as many as i could have
Are you gonna play for Fnatic in GSTL ?
And also, how does it feel to play with a team once again
that's something you experienced in War 3
What do you expect?
I'm very pleased to do a team match
I hope i will play against TSL, that's our first GSTL match
But i'm not sure at all...
They gave me a mission, i have to train against that race on this map
so that's what i do for now, but i cant tell who's gonna win
I assume you can't tell us more, can you?
Knowing that this interview will be aired in at least 3 weeks...
They told me to practice against Protoss, especially Inori
I picked a map i like and i train on it
So if he comes into play i'm the one they'll send to take him down
That's something we will watch with great interest
How do you train against Protoss?
Well... Firstly knowing that i'll have to pick a map if i face him
I try to choose a map that other players won't pick,
It's at the same time very well planned but also quite random
There are two maps that i focus on
i tried and figure out good build orders on those maps
I tried to develop and refine them a little bit
Played some custom games with Nightend and it went well
i watched a few replays, studied the match up
So that's how i prepare for this match
I think it's the same for everyone else
Some like to play more games on the map they chose
i chose to study more than playing without thinking
I think he must be expecting it, cause Inori aswell trains against Protoss
I think that'd be a great match, i can't wait to see that
So you joined the Fnatic team and moved to Korea
Dis you had any trouble communicating with your Korean teamates?
No not really... If you wanna say something you will always manage
Especially since we're with computers all day
last resort you can use Google Translate and get it done
What do you think about being a pro player in Korea
is it different from other countries you've been to?
Yes pretty much, here it's really acknowledged
When you tell someone you are a progamer they know what it is
As in other countries, people would go... "You what? A progRamer right ?"
This happens very often, i say progamer and people hear "programer"...
So here in Korea, you have the word "Progamer", and people know what it is
it means it's really acknowledged
accepted by society
But more than being accepted, is it something that people respect ?
Is it a job that's well very seen by others, is it something kinda noble?
Any positive or negative feeling towards it?
i think people see us as athletes
Furthermore when Korean casters are casting a game
they use the players name followed by "Sun Soo" which mean athlete
So you get respect out of it, i wouldn't say noble but...
So that's quite respected
So it's noble...
So you've seen a lot, you've been into Esports for a while
What do you think about the way esports evolved in Europe
over the past 8-10 years...
Do you mean as a player?
Well as a viewer and also as a part of it for many years
Do you feel that Esports in France evolves in a good way?
That it evolves faster or slower than other countries? I dunno, anything...
It's hard to say, i dont pay so much attention
I mostly try to do my tournaments, so i know whats up in the community
but i think to someone who's not into esports
i dont really see how it's different today, still not so broadcasted
I think it's still more than before, so its nice there are tournaments such as IS
It's a good thing and it was in a really famous venue
I think if we'd have more events like that, we'd be going the right way
So you feel like its going the right way but..
How will you benefit from it ?
Personnaly i'd be pleased, since i've been gaming for a while
So if it all goes well, develops, i'd feel like i've accomplished something
at least i'd have been part of it
As a player i'm not sure, maybe more people will watch
streams and all, so i'd make more money
I'm not sure really, i haven't thought about it
But it's very interesting because...
What you say is that Esports is kind of your fight, something you fight for
I've been playing for very long time
and nothing would please me more than its success
that it would be broadcasted on Tv, and many people would be into it
Because i find it really interesting
You got a sports in Esports, and many sports are so popular
Esports a little less popular, so i'd be pleased if that changes
So about Korea, do you feel like things changed around here?
and i hope i'm not mistaken, but you came to Korea when you played War3
and now you're back in Korea, did something changed in Esports?
Its mostly the same
Speaking of broadcasts and Tv channels... one is gone
But there are still leagues on TV
It has changed maybe more towards the internet
For example GomTv is the only channel featuring a league in Korea
and it's not cable Tv it's a web Tv
so maybe it evolved more towards the internet community
But Teamwise it's a lot more professional than it was before
Now it's very organised, you got one coach
A house for the team and that's it
Training-wise players now have a working schedule they gotta follow
Coach gets everthing done, registers players and all that
So it's a lot more organised than before, everyone knows what they got to do
player training like mad men
You personnaly started Esports a while back...
And you very really good during the War3 era...
Don't you feel like you were there too soon?
And Esports is so young it's hard to theorise about it
But is there an age at which you'd shine, breakthrough...
which might be Stephano's age right now
or yours when you shined at War 3
do you feel like you were here too soon?
Or is it an advantage? More experience
I think age has its importance, and its better to be younger
but regarding this i don't have any regrets
To have devoted myself to esports as did
I have great memories, i traveled the hole world, i met many great people so...
No regrets
Game-wise i also had a lot of fun
I was good at War3, and i loved playing tournaments evrywhere
I remember there was a time
i really wanted to do as many tournaments as possible
and wasn't scared of anyone
This is such an unmatched feeling to have... So no regrets either
We kind of feel like the former War 3 pros, playing SC2 now
i mean you, Moon, Grubby
Have some trouble reaching the highest level in Sc2
What do you think about it?
Coincidence ?
No i think people pay to much attention about this
and they've got the wrong idea about how your skill
how can be passed over to another more recent game
People think that since Grubby was very good at War3
if the switches to Sc2 will automatically be great aswell, and it's not that simple
What made him so strong at War3 was
His tenacity, his relentless traning, his motivation
and now we've switched to SC2, and there are many young players
who weren't successfull at War3 or other games
and now play SC2
and they have that flame, that motivation, relentless training
So there is a lot of competition around
and what we did with War3, now new players do it for Sc2
But we already know how to train well and all that, so we go through it
maybe not as much as for War3
To my opinion we have a good level
but it's almost impossible to do the same thing we did for War3
And i think this is the same for other games, like Brood War players
people expect them to stomp everyone
so maybe Flash was great at SC
and i think he will be really strong at SC2 but...
i don't picture him doing the same as he did with SC
Dominating like this for years...
Having a W/L ratio of 75% against world's best players
Sorry but I'm a little sceptical
But i understand people favouring him so much
so to that happen would be like a dream to them
they tell so but also really hope this happens
But you gotta be realistic, he's gonna switch to a new game
Good chances is he wont love the game as he loved BW
because it's never the same thing, the first game you were really into
Then he must keep being motivated, playing a lot
So many things have to be taken into consideration
then it's a little bit random
Good BW players will be successfull, but maybe not to the same level
That's why i always find it weird when people say stuff like
"Nestea sucked at BW he was a 2v2 player"
Yeah well, they gave everything they had for SC2, they were really strong
i can only respect that
What advice would you give to young players who want to become progamers?
Be sure you really got this into you, that you do it for the right reasons
I've seen many players do it looking for fame and money
and those are bad reasons, you gotta really like the game and competing
But if you got that...
Study-wise i think you should at least get your high school diploma
so you can take a year of as Stephano did
Stephano...Some people critized him because he droped school
or because he wanted back in
But i think he did exactly the right thing
He turned pro right after graduating
he's been doing it for a while? One year?
And well...
After that i think it would have been a mistake to go back to school
He was too successfull at SC2, he was winning too much money
So i think he made the right decision, to keep on playing SC2
As long as he has fun and earns money playing SC2, i think he shouldn't quit
But since he has graduated he can go back to study and do what he wants
You mentioned the Iron Squid earlier on
Well the finals... I tried to pay attention
but it was nightime so i only saw a little of one match, i dont recall which one
But i noticed there were many people out there, and i was pleased
You guys must have been working hard
i just saw the making of video, and it looked like a lot of work
I think you put on a great live show
It's nice to see that, especially in France
I asked Alive how it went and he told me it was the best tournament he'd been to
"they treated me really well" he said - Alive ?
Yeah alive told me that
I was very pleased to hear that as well
So i made me even more sad that i didn't qualify
and i think i could have done it... Anyway i'm proud that
Frenchmen organised something like that
And i think this will go on, i hear there will be an second edition
Also the Korean players are very enthousiastic, going "iron squid yeah!"
So you're telling me Koreans wanna participate to the Iron Squid
because they've got great memories of it, but why is that?
Is it because it's a little similar the the GSL?
maybe they enjoyed discovering another country? What do you think?
Two things. First the tournament is well organised
So, for once Fred has done a good job organising this
Fred aka Kaoru
Organised matches and settled any argument
I think it s a good idea to let the players play their games when they can
and then broadcast the games - By casting replays?
It's a lot better especially with different time zones
And then the really good thing about it were the finals
Really, the players loved it
The korean community is really close to one another, they communicate a lot
Since the 4 players who went there loved the tournament
they told it around, so everyone knows, and wants to go there
That's good for us?
Personnaly your run in IS was stopped in round robin
if you could play one game one more time
from round robin which would it be?
Apart the game against Boxer... No i'm kidding i know its the one
If i could go back in time, that last game against Boxer
Right when i had a lot of units and he had none, which i didn't know
I would just A clic and watch...That's what i should have done...
Well if you got anything else you want to say to your fans
protosses who can't win against zerg, what would it be?
Well even if i have trouble trying harder sometimes, you should try harder
Maybe we will find strategies and ideas to defeat that race
Allright thank you very much, ciao!
Hi, welcome to the Fnatic house, let me show you around, come in
I have to ask you to take your shoes off...
Right this way...
So you've got three bedrooms
This is the biggest one, that's where the Koreans sleep for now
4 of them are living here nowadays
3 bunk beds, so 6 people can sleep there
Some prefer sleeping on the floor so they put blankets on the floor
They set up a Tv and a computer to watch a few streams... Pretty cool
It seems like training a little, and having fun a lot
The 5 korean players, i don't know what they're doing
Alive here...
Oz.. Byul there...
Rain... And Moon over there
Moon doesnt live with us be he came in today as we train for GSTL
so he comes and train with us, he looks really focused
That's where we play all day
You got double air conditionning so it's pretty cool
always a nice temperature, kitchen is back there if you wanna eat something
Little fridge out there
The second bedroom, the middle one
Smaller than the other one, but still bigger than the smallest
So Nightend has settled there, brought his computer to train where he sleeps
He is all alone in this pretty nice room
Funny story, Koreans prefer bed made out of wood, so we got them some
The bedroom / Office / Interview room..
You got a Sofa and a banner of the team
That's where i sleep, i'm alone
It's about our first match in GSTL against TSL
Here you got the date, first map will be "entombed valley"
We wrote down every maps so everyone can see it easely as they're playing
And there every opponents
This was the Fnatic house, by ToD, thanks for coming by
i go back to train for GSTL, see you soon!