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In this episode of Rematch Josef Fares challenges the world elite in Starcraft 2
and we map out the biggest eSports tournaments together with Pontus Eskilsson from Fragbite
we meet Starcraft 2 champion Sjow to talk about the pressure he feels as a pro gamer. We also meet with MorroW to discuss SC2 balance.
This is Rematch, the show with the most actions per minute right now
To live as you learn, thats a saying we endorse here at Rematch and challenges are something we really enjoy
Our resident movie producer turned gamer Josef Fares has taken this to heart
for our sake he has taken on the test pilot suit to test the biggest games together with the best players
Last time he managed to accomplish his mission in Street Fighter 4
this time he will sink his teeth into Starcraft 2
This time Josef is up against TLO, one of best Starcraft 2 players in the world
The RTS-noob Josef is coached by the European Champion Sjow - but will it be enough to give him a chance?
I will start from the ground, what buttons to press
and not focus on too advanced strategies
My league is called Catastrophe league
he thinks he'll build stuff but I'll be in his face like *boof*
Catastrophe league is like that, they're catastrophic. They barely even build anything, we just go in like *boom*
like suicide bombers, *boof*
Can you do that in the game? Blow yourself up?
Worst case scenario I will have to break his arms so he can't use the keyboard
He'd need to play 8 hours per day for 3 months
then I think he would be able to take one game, but not a best of 7
But one game at least
He's not really the worst student but
He's ok..
I actually think I'll chock both him and myself
I have a feeling I might be able to do this
To avoid being laughed in the face and accomplish his mission
he must survive for at least 7 minutes
During that time frame the German also has to nuke Josef to win
But Sjow has doubt when it comes to Josefs chances
It depends on what TLO does
If TLO wants to play a bit fancy and pull of some crazy moves he would of course survive longer
but if he plays standard and just goes for the gold it would be over in four minutes max
When I say that I don't understand the game at all, I mean it.
It's just a mess of units running around.. I don't understand any of it
But thats also to my advantage, within the movie industry people say
Art by accident, when you don't understand anything you might get great art. I think we'll be seeing a win by accident.
To find the right atmosphere for a competition the gang heads out an internet café where Josef and Sjow go through the game plan one last time
Can Josef really defend against the german beast for seven minutes?
Thing is, when I was practicing beforehand I felt quite calm
we went through the game plan, I was supposed to be defensive because he's so damn fast
it went well during practice but during the actual game my game plan went up in smoke
Go action! How did you do that! I'm panicking, *** my phone is ringing too
He got stressed, he panicked a bit
I told him to calm down and just think about his game, easy does it.
Build a worker
How the hell do I do that? Over here? Yeah.
There it comes (Right-click on a mineral field)
Ah, thats right thats where it is (Pump more workers)
Oh you clicked on the wrong thing, you have to (What did I do? What did I do?)
You have built too many workers
Oh ***
So you've put all your money into workers
Oh noooo
You have 150 soon, come on now!
WHATS THAT!?
(It's him, he's attacking you) What the ***?! How do I attack him? How do I kill him?
He's playing with you my friend
He's doing that but wait wait
3 minutes pal
click on his-
I really don't understand anything
For me its just a bunch of characters running around on the screen I don't understand anything
But when you see him playing, if you look at his eyes, they're like "drrrrrrrr" - It's sick man
Just gonna put one more of these *** down
Ah nice
Good defense
He got a little bit nervous I think but then.. apparently he has been playing in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators
5 minutes pal, 2 more to go
(Cancel these) ***! ***!
Cancel them? How? (Put it behind over there he wont be able to reach over there)
He built bunkers and held most of the early stuff but then there was a big timing push
which killed all his bunkers so he was forced to lift off his buildings
It was actually the last think I taught him before the game
To lift his buildings if he was losing to gain time
If he nukes you you'll lose, hide that one
I don't even know where to hide. Ok so I should move that one too
How do I do that? (There, liftoff, 50 seconds left)
Yeah thats right!
Oh he nuked
Oh no! What happened?
I'm not dead right? No? 20 seconds!
Whats happening? (You'll make it, you're gonna make it, nice) Ah.. nice..
*** hell, I had no chance
The only one I have to thank is my Coach
He was awesome. Calm, methodical and gave me pro tips, without him I would never have made it
What's more cowardly? Flying your buildings away or nuking people?
I wonder whats the most cowardly, he's the coward.
He did well, he follow the game plan
He was supposed to play defensive during the game and thats what he did
It went well, he even survived for 8 minutes and not just 7 minutes
He followed my advice and went for it so
I'd say he's a good student
After an intense battle Josef managed to complete his mission
Seven minutes and forty seconds into the game, he was nuked off the map. But it was too late.
How does this impact TLO, might he even retire?
I'll say this, he's welcome to meet me in a game that I'm awesome at so that I can crush him
That was our test pilot Josef Fares who managed to win with a photo finish. It's nice to see that you can defeat eSports stars - if given the right circumstances
Welcome Pontus Eskilsson from Fragbite
When it comes to people like Josef, people that are interested in meeting these players and traveling to different events
we'll try to map out what events are the most interesting
If we look at the biggest tournaments, which are they?
IEM in Hannover, Germany, ESCW in Paris
WCG which changes location from year to year, up next is South Korea and of course Dreamhack in Sweden
So if I want to schedule my backpacker travels
You've been traveling all over, to almost all the big tournaments?
I have been at WCG, ESWC, IEM and Dreamhack yeah
So if you're gonna travel a bit and go to, for example, ESWC in Paris
Which has been in the summer so far?
They've changed it now, it used to be in June but now it is in October
I actually don't really know why they changed it
Maybe it was too hot during the summer, at this last event they were playing in a bunch of tents
It was about 40 C in the tents where we sitting along with about 100 computers
It's was extremely, extremely hot
What is interesting about ESWC is that on the surface everything looks fine
but you hear about owner disputes and other things that sometimes have a negative impact on the tournament
Has that been noticeable while visiting the event?
Yeah.. the last event that was played at Disneyland in Paris
it.. wasn't exactly the best event.. both the computers and the internet connection was sub-par
but I hope they shape up and do a better event now in 2011
What tournament is the most prestigious, if you look at ESWC and WCG for example
I would say that WCG is the most prestigious, it is the Olympics of eSports and they have been at it for eleven years now
This year will be the eleventh event
So they are really into it and tend to follow through with it really well
Extreme Masters is a big tournament as well, what is special about it?
There are online qualifiers and a LAN-qualification with invited players
they do it in Asia, the US and in Europe
ESWC, WCG and you also mention Dreamhack, how does it compare to the others?
Dreamhack is the worlds biggest LAN event, its extremely big and
just being there and being able to meet everyone is an amazing experience
I would rank Dreamhack just below ESWC and WCG
they haven't been doing eSports for as long but
the tournaments they run are still big and prestigious
A tournament which is Starcraft 2 exclusive in Korea is called..
GSL - I haven't been to the tournament but I have been watching a lot of the streams and you can clearly see that they have professionals running it
when it comes to organization but everything can always get better and I hope they continue
Overall, what are the biggest game titles being played if you look at all tournaments?
I would say Counter-strike and Starcraft 2
Starcraft 2 has taken over a lot of the scene, it has great entertainment value for the audience
What are you looking forward to right now? What event will you be attend?
Right now I am looking forward to Dreamhack in June a lot
a great tournament with Starcraft 2 and Counter-strike
they have a great line-up for both tournaments and it should be extremely entertaining to watch
Thank youm Pontus!
It's time to get back to the coach and sensei of Josef Fares
He has won the European IEM Championship
he is in the spotlight right now, we're talking about Jeffrey Brusi, Sjow
After winning IEM in Kiev, Jeffrey 'Sjow' Brusi became a kind of poster boy for Starcraft 2 in Sweden
He was seen all over national media and the largest gaming magazine in the country wrote endless articles about him
The spotlight on Sjow has been strong and relentless
When you have a high ranking and you are good on paper
you have a lot of pressure on you
you are expected to deliver and that takes a toll on me mentally
I try to warm up as much as possible and I try to get in the zone
think that I am sitting at home in front of the computer
I believe that you get into the zone a lot easier that way
So what is he doing as SCVs and Medivacs flicker past his eyes
What does he do to relax and forget about the pressure for a while?
I like to watch MMA, UFC and Strikeforce
I think it is really fun to watch
I tend to watch football too
I have tried thai boxing as well but only for a few weeks
it was in Thailand, I got hit a few times and had to quit
Luckily Sjow is sharper with his mouse and keyboard than in the boxing ring
But how would he describe his own playstyle?
I am very...
methodical when I play
I have a plan which I tend to follow
You could say that I also try to be very aggressive at times
I don't do a big attack, instead I try to find other ways to win
by getting a better economy, harassing
and then follow that up by a big push
I do not SCV scout, I don't think it is worth it because
the information you get is not enough to show you what your opponent is actually doing
all you can see is if your opponent is fast expanding and I can see that anyway with a Marine or Hellion
Besides not scouting, Sjow has received criticism for having low APM
He himself mostly just shrugs
I don't care much, I still win games so
but you could say that I have effective APM, I do not spam
so my APM is my effective APM
I have about 100 to 120
if others did not spam I think they would be at around the same number
Even with his somewhat slow playstyle, Sjow is still one of the top european players
What victory does he rank the highest?
The biggest one is probably...
IEM in Kiev
where I won against White-Ra in the finals and became the European champion
It was probably..
It might not have been the best experience if you look at the event itself
the best was probably when i met MorroW in UL(?) and won
because I was the underdog in that game
I was new on the scene and I knew MorroW was one of the best
so when I beat him in the finals I was ecstatic
In Sweden I look up to MorroW
because he..
He has a special training style
He trains a lot and is very passionate, he doesn't really care if he loses a game
instead he tries to identify his mistakes, thats something I want to learn from him
Then there is MVP as well
he is really good and is a player I study to try and become better
Who would you say your biggest rival is?
In the past it was probably MorroW, it was him and me fighting for dominance in Europe
we won almost all tournaments and it was almost always us two in the finals
when he switched to Zerg his level of play went down because he had to learn to play his new race
But now it is probably...
I think it is probably Naniwa
who is my biggest competitor
he is winning everything right now while I'm kinda on the back foot
I was more dominant in the past and
I will try to get the crown back in our team
There are a lot of new tournaments and I am still at the top
and I feel like I have a chance against anyone I go up against so
if I train hard things should work out
It is time to welcome Stefan 'MorroW' Andersson, one of Swedens most dedicated Starcraft 2 players
Thank you
and welcome Victor Leijonhuvud who you can also see in our other gaming show on SVTPlay, Gameplay
Yeah usually I'm the resident reviewer
You like to sit down and be a bit bitter and think
Yes but honestly I waste almost all my free time on Starcraft
Thats a completely different story
Both of you play Starcraft 2
You are a pro, Victor wants to become a pro
I have given up on those ambitious to be honest
You recently switched race to Zerg
Not very recently, it was a few months ago
Why did you switch?
I thought Zerg was more fun race, more challenging in its mechanics
and it also meant that you had to prepare more for different kinds of attacks
and I thought that suited my style better, I also have a more fun while playing now
But.. Terran feels a bit more safe, at least from a layman point of view
Well based on the campaign content thats the direction Blizzard pushes you
If you look at the statistics, Zerg seems harder to play than Terran
I don't know what the statistics say but it is definitely harder to win
It is hard to go through a tournament with Zerg because there is always the chance that you will get knocked out earlygame
The game is not completely figured out for Zerg but
it is easier for Terran to come up with aggressive builds than for Zerg to come up with counters to everything
You live in the pro house with Sjow and something that I have been thinking about while watching him play
is that he seems to be the odd one out
pretty low apm, lack of scouting
is that a syndrome caused by Terran or simply by his personality?
I think it is more about Sjow than the race
He comes from playing poker so he likes playing on a feel
and to read his opponent instead of keeping track of everything going on
but not scouting also gets him an economical advantage earlygame
so instead of scouting he keeps it back mining minerals
But doesn't he get cheesed all the time?
No he doesn't because it is quite easy for Terran to sit safely on one base
and build his second command center in his own base while bunkering up
and then he can sell his bunkers while moving out so it is quite safe for the Terran player
Hearth of the Swarm will be coming out soon (tm)
What do you see ahead? Anything to worry about?
Playing style changes and such
The first challenge is the question of balance which is always ongoing
Blizzard has been working on it forever and as far as I know Starcraft still gets patches
I can imagine there being more concerns especially if we see more units being added in the expansion
Yeah exactly, I am a bit afraid of the same thing.. New units are fun but
you are a bit afraid that the units will ruin what we have now and make them effectively start over
The jump between BW and SC2, quite a lot happened on the unit front
Are there any units you are missing?
I miss the Defiler a bit
I really miss all of them but the Defiler especially
Spontaneously I'll say the Lurker, wasn't that even in the alpha?
Yeah that might be true
But I don't think Blizzard wants the Lurker since they introduced the Baneling
which was supposed to fill that role
they have other casters as well with the infestors being able to kill a lot of units at once
but I don't know, I don't really think the Baneling replaced the Lurker
What about Scourge, the air bombs?
Yes you built Scourge and had them patrolling along the edges of your base
and you could suicide them into dropships and other flying units
that is not really in Starcraft 2 but at the same time there is a lot more mobility in SC2
plus the fact that Zerg can spread both creep and overlords all over the map
so that they can see incoming drops in time
and have the time to send enough units to the expansion to save it anyway
People talk about Terran and Zerg and it seems like Terran has more players and more people winning
more than end up in second place as well
Even if there are only small statistical difference between the races you still get that imba-feeling
and you have picked Zerg which feels a bit like
A bit like an underdog
Against all rhyme of reason you've picked Zerg instead of a race which might be easier
Well, the statistics that people have are over a long time period, from the beta and so on
in which Terran had a lot of success, add to that the statistics from the ladder
where you have maps that you can spawn close position on which favors Terran as well
the statistics doesn't really show the whole truth
If you look at GSL statistics from this month only you will get a different picture
which shows a much more even playing field
with those conditions as opposed to the ladder
Is it really completely balanced?
The game is definitely not completely balanced I just think that
you shouldn't listen to statistics so much, focus instead on what pros are saying
if NesTea says something I will have greater confidence in that than statistics
Blizzard works with this all the time, I've asked them several times when meeting them in interviews
When can the game be seen as balanced?
if you look at the patches they do and the changes they introduce
you can see that earlier versions haven't been balanced due to these changes
In some ways it confirms the issues
It is a bit like that, for example when I won against IdrA in IEM with mass reapers
Reapers were too strong and later on we got a patch with nerfed them into the ground
so now almost noone uses Reapers
but then Blizzard kinda shows that "This is not how a Terran should play"
It doesn't need to be imbalance, it might be them saying that "we don't want you to play this way"
for example when ThorZaiN went mass-thor against MC
and only had a bunch of Thors that just trampled MC
then the issue might not be balance but rather that they think
"We do not want the game to look this way"
"You shouldn't just be able to build a big Thor army and there not being a good counter"
So they change it without knowing if its really balanced or not
I have even heard that the change just to change the behavior patterns for us, the players
that they sometimes create nerfs and buffs to promote usage of certain units
Like I said, I think Blizzard is disappointed in some players
Myself for example, I might be stubborn about using new things and stuff
so sometimes they will release a patch - now they made Infestors better
and that might promote the usage of that unit and then you realize, this unit is really good
and they didn't change too much about it, I just hadn't tried to use it much in the past
So its about adapting to the patches as well?
Yeah thats a big part of playing the game
The beta was really just about abusing as much as possible
and the one that could figure out the most broken things about the game won everything
So there's a lot to do Victor
Yes, definately, back to the drawing board! Damn it!
Thank you for coming MorroW, thank you Victor
and you're with us for the next episode of Rematch as well in which we'll see...
This.