English interview - For Is Here #3 - Miniraser

Playing for Fnatic since more than a year and a half now, Miniraser has seen his results getting more and more interesting. Recently challenging in DreamHack Stockholm, he made a name of himself at WCS Europe Season 3, finishing at the first place of his group, followed by StarDust, and taking out the foreigner hope, Snute.

Let's focus on a player in the shadow, a hardworker and extremely nice guy, who accepted to give us a few words.

 Starting Mini

Mini-Miniraser

[M] TinkeR : I'd like to know how did you fall into eSports ? What was the first videogame you've played, competitively, and why did you choose SC2 rather than any other ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : I don't really know how I fell into eSports. I liked videogames a lot when I was younger and then I have always been quite competetive so I guess it was a natural step. The first videogame I played was probably something like Street Fighter II. I used to play WarCraft III quite a lot then StarCraft II got released so I tried it and it was quite fun.

 

What race were you playing in WarCraft III ? Did you have a good level ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : I played all of them at different times, I was pretty shit to be honest.

 

Did you try BroodWar a bit as well or not at all?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Nah, I've never played BroodWar at all.

 

What was your first league placement back then?

Fnatic.Miniraser : I think there was a Copper league in beta ? I was that at first.

 

Oh, I didn't even know this league existed, was it below Bronze or something ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Yes, I think they didn't even have Diamond back then.

 

How long did it take you and what was your reaction when you reached Grandmaster league ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : It took quite a long time for me to reach Grandmaster and I didn't really have a reaction to it.

 

Were you cheering for a specific player/team ? Or at least were you following the eSport scene at your beginning ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : I was always watching some eSports at least, and I liked IdrA quite a bit but that's about it.

 

Mini-raising

 

OK, so you started getting better and better, going from Team prOperty to Western Wolves, and finally Fnatic, how have you been approached by Fnatic ? Did that change your way of practicing ? More custom games than ladder, etc. ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Western Wolves was kind of falling apart so I was looking around for other teams, I asked Fnatic for a try out and I played some inhouse with them. I didn't change my way of practice any other way than I played a lot more than before, my way of practice changed more as I met more people that told me about how they practiced and it taught me a lot.

 

You surprised everyone going through the Ro32 at first place on WCS S3 this year, how would you explain that ? Did you particularly train for your opponents or did you go #yolo style ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : I just prepared a lot better for my opponents than I used to do in previous seasons and it seems like it payed off xD

 

Yes, it definitely looks like it worked :) At DH in Stockholm, according to the score, as I couldn't watch the match, you were close to beat Classic, you even won a game from him, were you expecting that ? It must have been a disappointment afterward losing to MorroW, that you just beat earlier ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : I actually expected to beat Classic. I was very, very disappointed with how that group went but that's just how StarCraft works, the superior player doesn't always win.

 

I guess. So now what are your expectations for future on StarCraft II ? Within the coming months are you planning to attend a tournament ? There's not many left though before the end of the year.

Fnatic.Miniraser :  I don't know, my expectations are just to do as well as possible, I'm not sure if I'll attend any soon upcoming tournaments.

 

About the game

 

Blizzard announced recently changes on how WCS 2015 will be, especially the region lock, what are your thoughts about that ? Do you think it will really change something ?

Fnatic.Miniraser :  I don't think it will be a big deal for Europe at all actually. For NA probably.

 

Most probably, we'll hear about LotV at BlizzCon this year, what are your expectations ? if you would change one thing in the game right now, what would it be ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : I don't really have any expectations. If I could change one thing...hmm... I don't know, I don't have any big ideas :D ...Maybe to bring back Broodlord/Infestors.

 

Some people would want to remove Swarmhost from the game, or at least change the way it's designed, what do you think ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Nah man, I really like Swarmhost :D

 

Who would you consider the best Zerg player in the world right now ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : The best Zerg in the world is probably soO.

 

And your favorite ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Myself.

 

Good answer. Who were you cheering for in the final as a Zerg at Dreamhack Stockholm ? [between Solar and soO]

Fnatic.Miniraser : In the final, I was cheering for Solar.

 

And besides StarCraft II ?

 

OK! Now aside from gaming, I watched your interview with Hot_Bid and it seemed like you were kind of a sportsman, is that still the case at the moment ? Do you have any other hobby besides SC2 and sport ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Not really, I just enjoy exercising, playing StarCraft and hanging out with friends.

 

Are you full-time or studying ? I think you were/are still studying science/maths ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Yes, I'm studying computer science.

 

And did it cross your mind once to go full time or not at all ? Are you just enjoying gaming as a real hobby more than a "job" ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : I was full-time for a bit but it didn't really fit me well so I went back to school.

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years ? Still in eSport ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Most likely not probably. I'll be done with school and have a job I guess.

 

Where does your nickname come from ? :)

Fnatic.Miniraser : Actually a bit of a story. I used to play Age of Empires with my dad when I was younger and he was called "Liftraser" which, in norse mythology, is the guy that is supposed to rebuild the world after Ragnarök, along with Lif. So I thougt Miniraser would be good.

 

Bonus time !

 

I'll not ask you about your favorite movie/actor as I know that you don't watch much movies, but what about music ? Do you have any favorite band/singer ? Any type of music you listen to more than others ?

Fnatic.Miniraser :  I like to listen to pretty much everything, but generally I think I listen mostly to rap. I like Kanye [West] & 50 Cent most.

 

Great then, is there any rap band in Sweden ? I'm curious

Fnatic.Miniraser : Not anyones that I enjoy to listen to too much at least.

 

Any favorite food/meal ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Spicy Thai food is my favorite.

 

Your favorite country/a country you'd like to go and never went to ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : So far, my favorite country I have been to is the US and I'd really like to go back, so if I could chose a country to go to that would be it but if it has to be a country I haven't been to, I would choose Korea.

 

And last question, any fun/unusual story that happened to you ingame or IRL that you’d like to share ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Mmh, I'm just trying to think what stories are acceptable to tell. Some people might not want it public xD.

I can't find a super fun one, but once me and Kevin (Harstem) convinced Anton (Zanster) that the giraffe is the 2nd most deadly animal in Africa, and he bought it xD

 

Ahah ok. Well, thank you very much for your time ! Do you have any words for our french readers ? And a special shoutout ?

Fnatic.Miniraser : Thanks to all the french fans, I really like the french StarCraft II community. It seems more positive and nice than the swedish one, I wish I had more french fans :D! Shoutout to Fnatic & sponsors for supporting me and a special shoutout to Harstem, CatZ, Zanster, Suppy and Sasquatch, without you guys I don't want to know where I would have ended up.

 

OK ! I'm sure you have some fun moments to share with these guys ahah.

Fnatic.Miniraser : Hahaha man, if I could tell you this story ! This interview would get a lot of hits.  Nah sorry man, I can't publish this story. Ask me again when I retire and we can talk :D