Goswser

1)  Are you looking forward to attending MLG Orlando?

Of course I’m looking forward to participating!  MLG Orlando has one of the most stacked lineups in terms of the Korean players.  Also it will be warm, and I think this will be a nice change, given the recent weather up here in Ohio.  I go to school at Miami University, and when I tell people how cold it is, people are always like “isn’t that in Florida?”  Now I’ll actually be in the sunshine state haha.  I look forward to meeting with the coL team, I saw them when I was at Columbus, but wasn’t in the academy then, although I was planning on joining it at the time!  Hopefully I get some sleep and get to meet with fellow coL academy zerg NoCreativity and of course all of the coL guys.  I also need to get my brother’s EG jersey signed by HuK while I am there, he’ll kill me if I don’t :p.

2) Have you ever participated in an MLG before? If so, how did you do in the past? What LAN tournaments have you been to in the past?

I was at MLG Columbus in June!  That was the only one I have been to but it was an awesome experience.  I had the luck of running into one Mouz.Morrow in the second round of the open bracket, which was a surreal experience.  I beat him in game 1 which was 45 minutes long, then lost two short games due to misjudging how he would play – he 6 pooled me in the decisive game 3 on  shakuras, but then apologized for cheesing afterwards :/.  In losers bracket I got knocked out by destiny, who was on root at the time.  I wasn’t in good condition at this event however.  Before going I didn’t read the rules and overview very well and brought a keyboard and mouse I wasn’t able to use.  I realized my mistake once there and ran up to microcenter the day of the event to get a keyboard and found one for $3.29 including tax which I am using now.  I had a few friends also competing in mlg and just mooched off of a few different mouses (mice?).  Since then I’ve attained a gaming mouse, although I’m still using the keyboard I got.  Maybe I’ll bring a stack of the keyboards with me so I can smash them on the table as a victory celebration.  MLG Columbus is actually the only big lan event I have attended, I am hoping that I will attend many in the future, as Columbus left me with a very good experience as a player.

3) What type of preparation will you be using in getting ready for MLG Orlando? Will your practice schedule become more rigorous or stay the same for the most part?

My friends already wonder how I manage to practice as much as I do, I already have almost 1000 ladder games this season, plus many many many more custom games from practice and from tournaments I have participated in.  However my practice schedule will become both more structured and much more rigorous, I plan on practicing and preparing in all of the time I’m not doing classwork between now and MLG Orlando.  I’m going to be analyzing every aspect of my play that I can, practicing with everyone in coL academy and also other practice partners I have.  I will also be going over every single replay, analyzing everything I can improve on and pushing myself to refine my play as much as I can.  Besides this I’ll be studying replays and vods of pros to figure out how they deal with situations, so I am as ready as I can be, come October 14^th.  I don’t look at this trip as a vacation, rather as an exam, and doing my best is my first priority.

4) Do you think your level of play is up to par to attend an MLG? The open bracket seems extremely challenging with Korean players; does facing up against a Korean frighten you at all?

When playing at my best, my level of play is up to par I think.  My goal is to win MLG, and while this is not realistically possible at the event I don’t like to focus on where I am and how much farther I have to go, but instead to play each game as though my life depended on it.  Facing a Korean does not frighten me, although they play better than most foreigners, I would much rather face a subpar Korean than a top foreigner.  I think that DIMAGA has shown the world that foreigners have just as much game as Koreans through his incredible performances at every event he has attended that has Koreans at it and look to his play for inspiration, because he is the best player in the world at winning important games and tournaments he has prepared for.  Many of the Koreans are playing in smaller tournaments in the NA region all of the time now, and while the players at Orlando are much better than ZenexYong, only a few of the Koreans looked impressive at previous MLG events and I wouldn’t need to face them unless I made it deep into the championship bracket.
 
5) What are your expectations for MLG Orlando? How far do you have to proceed in the tournament to attain your goal and consider the trip a success?

I expect to have a good time and for this MLG to be even better than previous MLGs.  Hopefully they will give us more time in between matches and take better care of players in the open bracket, which has been a problem at previous events.  Performance wise, I will beat everyone who is worse than me and make sure that when I finally fall it is to a top player.  I will consider the trip a success if I conquer issues with nerves and am able to show my best play, and if I can perform at my top level and win against some of the semipros and underperforming professional players.  Everything is relative, you never know if your going to be the guy who plays platinum players for four rounds, or the guy who runs into JulyZerg in round 1.  Improvement, growth, and representing complexity as far into the tournament as I can are my biggest goals, as well as conquering my nerves and thinking clearly even in important matches.

NoCreativity

1)  Are you looking forward to attending MLG Orlando?

I can’t possibly express how excited I am to attend MLG. It’s difficult for me to actually believe the reality, I’m really going. I feel like this is my chance to debut my skills on the big stage and show what kind of champions come out of the Complexity Academy.

2) Have you ever participated in an MLG before? If so, how did you do in the past? What LAN tournaments have you been to in the past?

I’ve never actually been to a LAN before; the experience is entirely new to me. That being said, I absolutely cannot wait to experience it.

3) What type of preparation will you be using in getting ready for MLG Orlando? Will your practice schedule become more rigorous or stay the same for the most part?

I have a fairly rigorous training schedule to prepare for MLG. The open bracket path is a long and arduous one and I absolutely must be prepared to tackle it. That being said I currently play 8+ hours a day to make sure I’m in top form for competition. I’m very lucky to have the Complexity Academy’s awesome management and players to help me prepare.

4)  Do you think your level of play is up to par to attend an MLG? The open bracket seems extremely challenging with Korean players; does facing up against a Korean frighten you at all?

I believe one can never be too prepared. As for the Koreans, I welcome the challenge, I feel unstoppable right now and I certainly won’t let a Korean stop me in my tracks.

5) What are your expectations for MLG Orlando? How far do you have to proceed in the tournament to attain your goal and consider the trip a success?

I expect to make my way out of the open bracket and onto the main tournament. I’m meticulous in nature; I plan on analyzing all my opponents thoroughly and playing the safest game I can to ensure my spot in the pool play.