FXO Winning

FXOpen is the first foreign/non-Korean team to compete in the GSTL and although people were very excited about their participation, no one expected them to do very well. There was plenty of discussion of them being all killed by B or C team players and making fools of themselves. The expectations were so low, that so long as they didn't look stupid and play horrible games, it could be considered a win for the non-Korean scene.

They didn't do too well in their first few games, taking a few games, but never winning a match.

That was of course until last week, when they were matched up against Incredible Miracle, a team which has two double GSL winners, both of whom are considered to be the best in the world for Protoss and Terran. They had already lost against teams with lesser reputations and accomplishments and so there was not much hope for them winning against the powerhouse of IM.

Four games later, FXOpen was literally living and playing in a different world. qxc had been sent out as their first player and he went on to all-kill IM. Granted the first three players were not the best IM had to offer, but the fourth game was taken off of Mvp.

Here's an interview with qxc after his all-kill from TL.

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Hello "Bandana Man," what do you think of your new Korean nickname?
I think it's quite touching. I've also grown rather fond of John Lennon Toto Destroyer as well as the Bandana Terran. Although if I am to continue my reign as Bandana Man I will require a new bandana sometime soon.

Interviewer's note: If someone got Qxc a fitting bandana for Anaheim, Fionn's wish for a pirate Qxc may be in the near future

What was behind the decision to put yourself out first?

With Sheth gone our options were more limited. Sending out a protoss on Bel'Shir was basically out of the question and of the three remaining players (Me/Tgun/Moonan) I felt the most comfortable on the map.

Did you expect the results that you achieved?

I don't know if expect is the right word. I had been hoping for an all kill and I had done some preparation beforehand (researching IM's likely roster and preparing ceremonies of course).

What was did it feel like when IM put out MVP for the final match? Were you nervous at all?

I went into the match aiming for an all kill. I knew that meant eventually I would be playing world class players and whatever nervousness I might have had about that I had already dealt with beforehand. At the time I felt ready to take on anyone IM had.

In all four games, you showed some extremely solid play, what would you contribute your increase in skill to?

Practicing against Koreans has helped tremendously. In order to be competitive here I needed to improve significantly. Additionally my practice regiment has become much more focused (and actually exists) which has helped me systematically iron out my problems and increase my skill.

In our very first interview, I asked how many Korean's have heard of you, and you responded "if all goes as planned, many more than before," do you feel more recognized in Korea now than before?

If the attention I've been getting online is any indication I would say that yes. Many many more Koreans have heard of Bandana Terran.

What future goals do you have for Korea?

I'd like to play in the next Code A. After that I have to return to the USA for one year of university. After that... who knows?

How did you guys celebrate your victory?

We went out and got BBQ. After that I went and worked out. Played some Diablo 2 and just generally relaxed. Our schedule has been pretty grueling and more than anything else I just wanted to take a break. Oh and I also read about 20 issues of Deadpool. That character is hilarious.

You'll be fighting your way through the open bracket of MLG Anaheim, how do you anticipate yourself doing there?

I hope to do well but there's a lot of factors that I don't have a good handle on yet. I'm not sure the best way to deal with jet lag as well as the endurance required to play for hours on end. Unlike the GSTL which I was able to test my progress in almost weekly it's been a while since I've played in a LAN tournament. With a bit of luck and my new found power level I expect I can make it quite far.

Scan the island?

Yes sir!

Foreigners

One of the things I find very interesting about Starcraft and Starcraft 2 is the way in which the world becomes reordered with South Korea at the center. The best players are in South Korea, the hardest ladder on SC2 is the Korean ladder, and the best prizes and most competitions are in South Korea. In the last GSL that I watched, Open Season 3, there were a number of foreign players who qualified, and one, LiquidJinro actually made it to the semi-finals, but for the most part, most of the non-Korean players got picked off early and in very anti-climatic ways. This contrasted in very interesting ways with the commentary of Tasteless and Artosis who are working hard to carry the banner of foreign players in Korea in hopes of expanding the audience and influence of the game, and so they would often speak the hyperbolic glories of a player right before and in the middle of him being flayed alive by some Korean player with far less of their talent or potential. It is hard to tell whether or not they are good since the commentatory comes from either a place of horizontal fraternity or of wishing for vicarious victories.

This drama makes it more attractive to non-Korean players who watch the tournaments with an unconscious nationalist bent, who see themselves as involved in some mental battle for world supremacy. Even if people don't articulate themselves in such way, they draw from imagined cultures, countries, civilizations and so it becomes an epic war where countries that are used to be at the top, are now the new underdogs. You cheer for people who in another situation you might see little connection to except for a love of SC or SC2, but in this moment you become the eager coalition of non-Koreans, a gosu group of rebels seeking to topple the gosu Galactic Empire.

GOMTV, even opened a foreigner house recently so that overseas players can have a place to sleep and practice while they are in South Korea trying to qualify for a tourney and whittle away at the South Korean Starcraft behemoth.

If you're interested in following how foreigners are doing in SC2, someone who is following it very carefully is Artosis and has uploaded over the past week several videos of interviews with foreign players who have been comign into Korea from Europe, the US and Australia to try their hand in the GSL.

Liquid Jinro Interview

In the past two GSL tournaments (Season 3 and Code S) Jinro from Team Liquid made it into the semi-finals, the Round of Four, but lost both times. Against oGsMC he was soundly defeated, and while things were sometimes close against MarineKingPrime.WE, he still lost 1-3. Most of the things I read about Starcraft 2 are from American sources, in English and so they are naturally biased towards non-Korea or "foreign" players. In the case of Jinro, since the most popular Starcraft website in the world is dedicated to the team he is a part of, he gets far more attention than most. But one thing you have to like about Jinro is both his honesty and his humility. I think he'll

I've been let down by the incredible dominance of Terran players in both the Code S and GSL Season 3. It has led to some incredibly exciting and mind-boggling T v T, but also to alot of Terran Cheese Rushes, which are probably the least interesting to watch. I'm not really looking forward to the finals for Code S later this week, even though I find MarineKing's style to be unorthodox and interesting to watch. I've already noticed that Zerg are finding ways to come back on the ladder, developing various cheesy rush tactics of their own to take our Terran and Protoss just in the way they've been taken out with SCV all ins and Four Gate rushes. I hope that at the highest levels of SC2 the best zergs in the world can find similar ways of coming back. I did see some fantastic play from IMNestea in Code S, although he did not make it to the finals.

When my brother made it to the Master's League and then broke back into the 3000 points level, I decided to buy him some Jinro to celebrate. I told him, hopefully someday he'll be able to drink Jinro with Jinro at the OGS house in South Korea. Returning to LiquidJinro, I came across this interview on TeamLiquid.net after his loss last week, and decided to paste it below.

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Tough loss. What's your take on what happened vs. MarineKing?Hm, well I was definitely outplayed in the last game, in the Jungle Basin game I just messed up really hard because I got overenthusiastic when my marines were killing his depot :D . In the Steppes game, I got a bit overeager to end it too, and then his good defense bit me in the ass. Game 1 went according to plan, except for him getting siege tanks - didn't expect that.

MarineKing plays a very unique style. How did you do against it in practice?

Decently, but I think to beat him I'd need more prep time, as he plays this style everyday whereas most other Terrans don't play in that style, so I don't know this specific matchup (his style vs a more normal terran style) as well as he does.

Looking back on your Code S run, what are you especially proud of? What do you regret?

Winning TvP with mech on TV was a very nice feeling. I regret losing games I should have won, such as vs Check and the first match against MarineKing, which led to team mates getting knocked out. I also regret not setting my goal as winning the tournament and nothing else (I had a goal of making it back to the semis), as during the semis I didn't feel nearly as nervous as during any other game, which isn't good - it indicates I didn't want the win enough.

In a previous interview, you said you felt you needed to prove last season's run wasn't a fluke. You made it back to the semifinals, where you finished before. Do you consider that progress?

I think I played a lot tougher opponents this time, and even in the games where I lost (ie vs MarineKing), I was at least for the most part playing pretty well. So yes, progress in that regard.

Do you feel player and fan opinion about you has changed in Korea?

The reception to me losing seem to have been a lot better than last time I lost, i.e. no "overrated" posts at all from what I've seen but I have no idea how I'm supposed to tell if people are see me differently apart from that. The oGs guys treat me like they've always done. Lots of people ask for autographs, but that's not new.

We've heard you've been feeling under the weather lately. Are you going to take a break or rest up before the next Code S tournament? How long do you have?

Well, as soon as the games vs MKP ended I noticed a pretty serious throat-pain, and everything just got worse from there - fever etc. I actually thought it was all caused by not getting any sleep, so I even went to the gym when I got back. Not such a good idea as it turns out, now I'm sick AND sore. I don't know when the next GSL starts, I didn't plan to take any real time off but since I'm sick there's no choice really.

What are your goals for the next GSL?

To win and only to win. Both this and the last GSL my goals weren't victory focused enough - for GSL 1, I wanted code S and when I played the semis I was kinda expecting to lose. For GSL 2, I wanted to prove my last run wasn't a fluke so once I got to the semis, I wasn't really expecting to lose but I was a bit too... satisfied I guess.

You felt different before these matches?

For every other GSL game, aside from last Semis, I've been nauseatingly nervous. Every time I'd have something to drink after the first game, my arm would shake - especially if I'd just won. But this semis, nothing. While its good in that I didn't make the kind of mistakes I sometimes do when nervous, like miss depots etc, I don't think its good from the standpoint of being mentally sharp, on edge. So my goal for next season is to get into the semis, feel terrible and win them then get into the finals and feel the same way and win those too.

How will you prepare differently next season?

I want to work on my overall game and mechanics for the next GSL. Both MarineKing and MVP are extremely active ladder players, and I think their ability to just beat opponents with standard, strong play saves them a lot of mental strength in the earlier rounds of GSLs, whereas I usually spend a lot of time and effort preparing new things from the first round to the last, energy that could be better saved for the later rounds I think.

Any last words for your fans?

Thanks for watching and supporting, hopefully I'll see you at the finals next GSL.

Thanks for the interview, feel better!

Thanks.