T v T

My favorite moment from MLG Anaheim had to be the following. It wasn't any of the matchups, but rather this statement.

Mr. Bitter says to Husky while casting a game.

"I just looked up at the other screen to see what everyone was yelling about, and it's a T v T, and I'm so glad that we aren't casting it."

Polt and MMA Interview

The GSL Super Tournament is two days away, and while none of the players I was rooting for made it to the finals (not even MKP), I am nonetheless excited about the match. When I watch both of these players I can see the styles of their mentors and friends at work. MMA truly reminds me of Boxer, while Polt looks like a less crazy version of MKP. Although I know that Polt's record against Terran is dismal and MMA's records is superb, I am still hoping that Polt can get a revenge kill for his friend on Saturday.

Below is the GOMTV interview with the players from yesterday:

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Q. What are your thoughts on the final of GSL Super Tournament?

MMA: Semifinals was really tough for me and I know a lot of people considered the semifinals to be the actual final. I personally think the final will be easier because MKP is better than Polt.

Polt: Starting from Ro64 ,I faced stronger opponents as I advanced. And I think MMA is stronger than oGsTOP. But since I have been getting better progressively I am confident.

Gerrard: MKP is the most hardworking and most talented player in the team. But I believe Polt facing MMA is better than having to play against MKP. We will work on building good strategies to defeat MMA.

Cella: MMA is considered as the king of TvT. And Polt is well known for his TvP sklils. I personally thought Alicia was gonna win and meet MMA in the final but was surprised to see Polt win. But he is not gonna be good enough to defeat MMA.

Note: MMA has 73% win ratio against Terrans. Polt has 35% win ratio against Terrans.

Polt: Alicia has better win ratio against Terran but I beat him so I think I will do good against MMA.

Q. MMA. You already exposed a lot of strategies against Terran. Do you think this will work against your favor?

MMA: We (SlayerS) still have an infinite number of strategies and we are ready display them in games.

Q. Polt. You have MKP, a great teammate, on your team. Are you working with MKP to come up good strategies to beat MMA?

Polt: MKP creates many good builds. Most of the builds players are using now are modified versions of what MKP has introduced first. MKP showed me a new build recently that is really great. I am ready to show it off at the final.

Q. Polt beat Alicia and MMA beat MKP. Were you asked to carry out the revenge for your teammate?

Polt: MKP said that if MMA wins the final then he will not be able to sleep comfortably. To help him sleep peacefully I will do my best to win the final.

MMA: Alicia didn’t really say anything. Alicia actually went to the reserve forces training so I will see him once he gets back.

Q. MMA. You have been showing similar patterns in your games such as secret expos or Medivac harassment. How are you going to develop this strategy?

Polt. How are you going to prepare against MMA's play style?

MMA: My strength lies in multitasking and double-way Medivac harassment. But even though people know that I am going to use that strategy in advance they don’t know how to defend against it.

Polt: I am kinda weak against Medivac harassment but all out war is also important. I am going to push through with strength.

Q. Since it’s TvT, maps are not going to affect the gameplay that much. However, which map do you think will be the deciding factor and what’s your prediction for the score?

Polt: I believe it will be the maps for 3rd or 4th set. The player who wins both sets will win the final. If the wins are split over the 3rd and 4th set, then it will go to the 7th set. I am expecting 4-1.

MMA: I believe that first set is most important because how you play your first game will affect the result of 2nd and 3rd set. I believe the score is going to be either 4-0 or 4-1.

Q. MMA. BoxeR also plays Terran and he can help out MMA with good strategies. How has BoxeR helped you make it all the way to the final?

MMA: Boxer is a great motivator and whenever he watches my game he helps me out a lot. He told me to stay calm at the semifinals after I was down 2 games. He helped me get back into the game and that’s how I was able to come back and win the game. I believe he will be of a great help to me at the final.

Q. Polt. Prime team does not have BoxeR helping out the team. How are you going to overcome that gap?

Polt: It is true that MMA has BoxeR supporting him but I have my teammates that I care about and have to lead. I have to get a revenge on MMA for MKP and I will do my best to win the team its first champion’s trophy. I will work hard to fill the gap to the best of my abilities.

Q. Prize money for the champion of GSL Super Tournament is 100 million won. Is claiming that money one of your goals in the upcoming final.

MMA: Even though the prize money is big I just want to win the championship as a pro-gamer. I have someone from SK Telecom (team) who have motivated me to win this final no matter what but I am not going to disclose more information on this until I actually hold the trophy in my hands.

Polt: Every time you play a match you have to win to take the prize money home. And it is true that money does concern me sometimes. However, once I make it to the studio and sit in that booth, the money disappears from my sight completely. And I just feel like I want to destroy the opponent in front of me. Right now defeating MMA is my only goal.

Q. Polt. This is your first time to advance to a final and your biggest enemy could be your nervousness. How are you going to overcome that obstacle?

Polt: I have not lost games in which I was able to display my full skills. I believe that if I can draw out my full SC2 skills at the final then I will have no problem overcoming the nervousness.

Gerrard: Polt is a good player but he has been having camera frights and was only able to show only 50% of what he is capable of. I just want him to stay calm and maybe I will have make him take some sedatives to do his best at the final (hahaha).

Q. MMA. After winning MLG Columbus, you said that your next goal is winning the Super Tournament. Are you nervous about the upcoming final?

MMA: The pressure from the final of an individual league is nothing compared to the pressure I faced from the GSTL final. I was the team captain and had to lead the team to the victory when they needed me the most. I think I will be able to cope with the nervousness pretty well.

Q. Polt. You are quite of a celebrity at your school. What are your thoughts on that? And is it hard to study and play at the same time?

Polt: I am grateful that people recognize me and cheer me on when the see me on campus. It is a bit tough doing both at the same time but college is college and game is game.

Note: At an interview Polt said that studying is easier than playing the game.

Q. Cella. What is MMA's biggest strength?

Cella: Other players sometimes take a break to take their mind off the game for a bit but MMA always pratices hard. When he is not playing he watches the game VODs and analyzes his opponent thoroughly. He doesn’t have any interest in other things and only takes his time off to work out. His strength is also his weakness because thanks to his characteristics, pleasing the community is a little hard.

Q. MMA do you know of Rainbow (Korean Girl Group) who will be performing at the upcoming final?

MMA: I have heard of them but I don’t know how many members they have. I just know it’s a girl group.

Q. Gerrard. What is Polt's biggest strength?

Gerrard: I believe most gamers are very focused on the game. Polt also practices a lot. Cella said concentration and constant practice is the strengths of MMA but Polt also has those strengths. On top of that, Polt also uses his practice time very efficently and effectively.

Q. Polt do you know of Rainbow (Korean Girl Group)?

Polt: Yeah I know of Rainbow and am familiar with their main song.

Note: Fans asked him to sing a line from the song but Polt kindly declined.

Q. Famous players have nicknames. Are there any nicknames you have been thinking of and would like the community to call you that nickname? And what would you do with the prize money?

Polt: I like the nickname I already have. I don’t really have anywhere to spend the prize money so I will save it and pay my tuition with it.

MMA: I have heard people call me Military Terran and that one is my least favorite. (MMA is short for Military Manpower Administration in Korea.)

I want the fans to give me a good nickname and if I win the prize money I want to help my parents get a new home.

Q. Is there a SC2 unit that you think you can use/control better than everyone else?

Polt: I am good with Marauders. Marauders are usually used against Protoss and that’s why I think my TvP is good.

MMA: I am good with Mules. Just kidding. I use Marines pretty well.

Q. MMA. Not Medivacs?

MMA: Wel I can control Medivacs well but Marines are the ones that get in the Medivac.

Q. What are the differences between MKP’s Marines and your Marines?

MMA: Don’t really wanna face his Marines really and I don't want to talk about the differences. I will need my Medivacs.

Q. Are there times when during break you feel like you want to use cheese rush or strategies other than the ones you have prepared?

MMA: I try to stick to my original plan but when I feel like a certain strategy would work better then I use that strategy.

Polt: I always stick to the strategy I have prepared. There is a saying that whenever you take a test the first answer is always the right one. I don't want to be wrong.

Q. Polt. Do you actually guess on some of your answers during the test?

Polt: Sometimes…

Q. What do you think of the balance?

Polt: I believe it changes depending on the map. Overall, GSL maps are comfortable for me as a Terran player but I am not sure about how it is for Protoss or Zerg because I don’t play those races.

MMA: I also believe that it changes depending on the map. There were certain maps that were good for Terran but I believe when the new maps come out people will complain less about the balance. I think Protoss is a strong race but some players don’t use its strengths well.

Q. MMA. You were recently eliminated from another tournament. What happened? Also what do you think about the comments about your looks?

MMA: I lost yesterday because I lack skill. And I know my face is little shady due to my facial hair. I shave often but it just keeps growing back. I am planning on doing something about this in the near future.

Q. Polt. What do you think about the comments about your looks?

Polt: People get mad when others say that I am good looking. I haven’t personally thought about it and don’t really care about it.

Q. Coaches. What are you doing to prepare your players for the final?

Gerrard: We have MKP who is helping out a lot. Polt had to do his school work while playing the game and that’s why he had trouble making up new builds but MKP has been of a great help. MKP is good at building new builds and strategies but Polt is good at adapting to those strategies, analyzing his opponents and making that strategy one of his own. We will do our best to help Polt get ready for the final.

Cella: There aren’t many things I can advise MMA on regarding TvT strategies since MMA is already on a high level. However, SlayserS is known as the top notch Terran team. We have BoxeR and are able to make good strategies. Ganzi, BoxeR, and Ryung will be a good support for MMA.

Q. Many people didn’t want TvT for the final. But there are various types of Terrans. When you have to play against a Terran player which type is worse? A classic textbook Terran that is predictable but strong or unorthodox Terran that is using risky but powerful strategies?

Polt: Speedy Terran is pretty tough to play against but you end up winning when you defend their attacks. However, players like NaDa are hard to fight against even though you know what they are trying to do.

MMA: Strategies like double Barracks, Mech and Gas first are being used these days.However, classic textbook Terran is strong. And sticking to the basics will win you the game.

Q. What are some of the hard things you have been facing preparing for the final?

Polt: I had a busy schedule and I am exhausted but I believe MMA had to go through the same schedule so maintaining a good condition for the final is important and is definitely necessary.

MMA: I don’t agree with Polt. I went to MLG and was so tired after the event. I was in zombie mode for a while so I don't think Polt and I had to go through the same schedule. I agree that maintaining a good condition is important, however.

Q. Coaches. You will have a champion from your team soon. What are your thoughts on this?

Cella: I want MMA to do his best since the opportunity doesn't come often. SC2 is still in its beginning stage and I want the fans to help us make this game something bigger than what it is now.

Gerrard: MKP advanced to the final 3 times but couldn’t take home the trophy. And now Polt is at the final. Many players share the dream of becoming the champion but I am going to help Polt win the Optimus ID and this will be passed on to the next player who wins the championship. Hopefully this will motivate MKP to work harder as well. It’s going to be some form of title at the Prime house.

Q. Players have to face slump at some point. How do you overcome your slump or stress when you practice?

MMA: Whenever I experience slump I tell myself that it’s okay as long as my skill level doesn’t drop. Whenever games don’t work out well I exercise. I play soccer or go hiking with my teammates.

Polt: The game changed rapidly recently and when I couldn’t adapt to the change I experience slump. Thinking about my current situation and adapting to the change helped me overcome the slump.

The Genius Terran

When I first started following Starcraft 2 last year, I would regularly vent about the gap between the legendary status of some players and the level of play that they would sometimes exhibit. For example, although Julyzerg is now my favorite player, the first games I saw him play didn't impress me. The same went for Fruitdealer who was a god in the first season of the GSL, but has since struggled.

One such player who did not impress when I first heard of his legend was oGsNada, the Genius Terran from Starcraft 1. Known as the most consistent progamer, a golden mouse winner and an all around nice guy. The legend didn't seem to manifest at first. This does not mean I didn't think he was a good player, but rather I found myself trying to discern what of him was real and what was hype.

Yesterday while I was watching the VODs for the North American Starleague which began this past week, I saw some of the greatness of Nada. He was playing against SixJaxDde, another Terran, and the series was split 1 - 1 heading into the final game. The final was on Metaloposis and while the game seemed close with similar builds (marines, siege tanks, one or two banshess and finally vikings and medivacs), dde pulled into a serious lead when Nada threw away the bulk of his forces while attempting to break the marines and siege line of dde. Dde, smelling his lead quickly struck back at Nada's third base, inflicting some serious damage and preventing him from mining. Nada, barely held on to hold the line, while dde expanded. When dde withdrew from Nada's third, the floating command center of Nada was landed in his high yield, and he moved his tanks over to attempt to defend it, cramming them into the high ground and the xel'naga towers. Dde with his tank and supply lead slowly pushed into Nada's high yield base. Nada, far behind on bases, money and production facilities, made a brilliant decision which eventually won him the game. While keeping his meager tank force around his high yield, he took almost his entire marine force and dropped them into the main of dde, where all of his production facilities were. The stimmed marines started destroying everything in sight: barracks, the starport, factories and eventually supply depots. Dde, decided to return to his base to deal with the massive drop, leaving the map to Nada, who quickly moved his siege line ahead, and stabilized his side of the map. Dde, tried to rebuild his production facilities in the grass in front of his natural.

It was almost as if a huge crack had appeared in the world. In just a few moments, everything was different. Nada had been losing quietly, sadly and slowly and suddenly he was on top and his victory was almost certain.

The incredible thing about watching Nada play was his macromanagement, something which is the mark of the greatest players. Dde had a much better economy than Nada and always had more money, and so some might see that has Dde playing a better game. But Nada's low money meant that he was managing his economy far better, never letting his money pile up, but always spending it constantly. That puts him in danger if he takes a huge hit to his economy or his army, since he doesn't have alot of money to bounce back right away. But it means that even when he is down, in the long run he can outlast his opponent. He is using his production facilities to their maximum advantage, not overbuilding anything, but only exactly what he needs.

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.

How Do You Say Starcraft in Chamorro?

Part of my reason for starting this Starcraft 2 blog was to bring together my love of Starcraft 2 and my love of the Chamorro language. I have only been a fan of SC2 for a few months, but I have loved speaking and using Chamorro to discuss strange things for many years. On my other blog, No Rest for the Awake – Minagahet Chamorro, since starting it in 2004, have written in Chamorro about the most random things, such as Bollywood Movies, European philosopy, video games and anime. I often lament the fact that the use of the Chamorro language has become so limited. It is something that you use casually to so simple things, but when you start to talk about more modern, contemporary and complex things people tend to switch to English.

So with i abok-hu Leevin I want to come up with list of SC2 terms in Chamorro. Making up names for units such as SCVs, Immortals or Banelings would be a fun experience to go through. Immortal is an easy enough word to translate into Chamorro (taimatai or taiminatai), but Banelings might be tougher. Maybe I could say something about how they are the worst nightmare of Marines? (I mas atdet na chinatguinifen para i Mansindalu siha)

What I really want to do is come up with names for tactics and strategies that we use. It is my dream to one die at the start of a 3v3 match with myself and any combination of my brother, Leevin or Davis, we check out the map and our opponents and say a Chamorro word to pick our strategy. As I’ve already written on this blog “tinigong” is my way of saying “rush,” since “tugong” means to charge someone or rush someone. But the Chamorro language is full of so many other words, especially words for violent physical activities that we could use. One day when Leevin did a number of successful drops with Marines to take out the hatcheries of our opponents, he said that we won because we were able to hamstring our enemies. I recalled then the Chamorro word for “to cut hamstrings” and said that when we do something like that we should call it “kedera.”

My all-time favorite word which must be one day used as a SC2 tactical term is “chungat.” I am seriously thinking of changing my game id to Chungat, just because it is so cool. Chungat means to cut someone’s belly open, and so I wonder what tactic this might describe? Heading straight up the middle? Taking out their main? Supply blocking them, by shredding apart their overlords/pylons/depots like spilling out their intestines?