English interview - For Is Here #9 - ShoWTimE

Brood War : where it all starts

[M] TinkeR : I'd like to know how did you get into eSports and if StarCraft II was your first video game you've ever played competitively ? How did you end up choosing this game more than another ?

[aTn] ShoWTimE : When I was around 10 years old a friend of mine showed me and my brother StarCraft 1 and we really liked it. Back then we actually didn't have internet so we just played the campaign and some custom games vs Computer ^^

So when StarCraft II came out, we remembered that and my brother ended up buying it. He didn't play it too much so eventually I picked it up and just started playing on ladder, and therefore also got interested in eSports by watching and learning from pro players. It was my first video game I played competitively.

Were you cheering for someone in particular back when you started getting interested in/playing SC2 ? Or were you just playing for fun.

Back then, there weren't many top Protoss players and the race in general had a tough time against the other races, until MC showed everyone how to play Protoss properly. I was amazed at how easy he won games, and from that point I tried to catch every single match of him.

In which league have you been placed at first and how long did it take you to reach Grandmaster ? How was your reaction then ?

I think I won every placement match except one, and got placed into Platinum. I believe it was the second highest league during the time so I was a bit suprised. It took me around two years to get into Grandmaster but I played and won against Grandmaster a lot before that so it wasn't too shocking for me when I eventually got into it :D

2014 : a rise in power

I saw on Liquipedia that you were playing full-time since 2012. First of all, is that still the case? Having a look back on these 2 years, what are your thoughts about your "journey" so far ?

Yes, I'm still playing full-time at the moment. I finished school late 2012 but I guess the point where I started to play seriously was more like early 2013. I think 2013 wasn't very good for me. In Wings of Liberty, the metagame was already figured out and all I had to do once I reached a certain level is copy the top Korean players.

When Heart of the Swarm came out, I was a bit lost at first because I never had to think of my own builds and on top of that I got some problems with my wrists. I couldn't practice as much as I would have liked and fell behind the other players pretty quickly.

This year has been much better for me. My overall skill and understanding of the game increased a lot, I won a decent amount of money and got to go to some more offline events. Overall I'm not too happy but also not too unsatisfied with the last two years. I think next year will be pretty good for me ;)

You definitely looked sharp this year qualifying for WCS Europe PL, doing really great at DH Summer, etc. You've said on an interview for Alternate (your team) that you've prepared your matches for the EPS that you've just won, taking notes, and so on. Was it something new for you ? What basically changed with the way you practiced until then ?

Basically I've just been practicing a lot more consistently because my wrists are a lot better these days. When I have to prepare for matches where I know my opponent in advance, I always take notes and watch many replays of them. So not really anything new for me.

I think the biggest difference is that I got much better at dealing with pressure situation. I used to get really nervous in important matches and played much worse due to it even when I played from home. It still happens sometimes but much rarer.

You didn't actually look very nervous at the EPS Winter, either you hide that well, or you were not that nervous maybe (which helped you to win) ? How confident were you for the playoffs ?

Yes, I wasn't nervous at all. I knew that if I stay calm and play my best I would have a really good chance at winning my second EPS title. I didn't underestimate my opponents but I also wasn't scared of them.

It looks like it's globally going back and forth with HeroMarine and you, going one way or another, how would you describe your rivalry ? Tense, friendly,... ?

I guess you could call it friendly. If I lost in the final again I would have been sad for sure but it's not like I would have had any bad feelings towards him and I think he feels the same.
We even practice together every now and then when we don't have to go up against each other in EPS.

You're currently a member of team Alternate since exactly three months now. How have you been approached by them, and how is it going so far (atmosphere, etc.)? Do you happen to practice a bit with your teammates ?

Overall I'm pretty happy they picked me up and so far it has been nice to be part of the team. The atmosphere is quite good I would say. Everyone gets along with each other well and we are doing great in some of the smaller team leagues.

We don't really practice with one another very often though. If someone has trouble in a certain matchup we try to give tips etc. But other than that, we play mostly on ladder.

StarCraft II more globally

Do you usually watch Korean tournaments like Proleague or GSL ? Do you try to follow one specific player ?

Yes, I try to watch most Korean tournaments but mostly when a Protoss is involved of course. I don't care too much about non-Protoss matchups. I'm not following a specific player but my favourites are Rain, Zest and herO.

What are your expectations for Legacy of the Void ? Do you fear you'll face the same "issue" you had switching from Wings of Liberty to Heart of the Swarm for example ?

I'm not sure what to expect for Legacy of the Void. I just hope the game becomes more dynamic and there will be less boring turtle play. I think the same issue won't happen to me again. I will take a different approach and try to experiment a lot more.

Where would you rank yourself among the foreign Protoss ? Who would you consider the best Protoss in the World, and the best foreigners ?

Hmm... that's difficult to answer. I think I might be top 5 among the foreign Protoss? It's hard to pick the best foreign Protoss at the moment because there are many with similar skill level, but I think Lilbow is doing really great right now. The best Protoss in the world is either Zest or Rain. I guess Zest had a better year results wise but they are very close in skill overall.

Besides StarCraft II

What do your parents and friends think of you career ? Do they support you and cheer for you, or kind of don't really care that much ?

My parents support me a lot and are quite interested in what I'm doing, so I'm very thankful about that. They watch many of my matches even though they don't understand that much. My friends can sometimes be a bit critical but all in all they are also supportive. At the recent EPS finals, two of them were there to cheer for me and I really appreciate that.

Do you have any other hobby beside StarCraft II ?

I don't do that much besides StarCraft II to be honest. Recently I've started to really like playing and watching darts. During practice breaks, I play quite a lot. Other than that I like cycling and I work out 4-5 times a week to stay healthy ;)

Where does your nickname come from ? Why ShoWTimE ?

I would like to have a cool story about my nickname but unfortunately there is none :D I just picked it up somewhere and thought it was a nice name. Maybe if I knew I would become more known at some point I would have picked a more unique nickname, but I guess in the end the player makes the name to something great and not the other way around.

Bonus questions !

If you'd have to make a bootcamp for a whole month, and had to pick one zerg, one terran and one protoss to play with, who would you choose and why ?

Thats tricky... I'm not sure if I would pick three really good Koreans or three really good foreigners. I think talking with each other is important and I'm not sure how well I could communicate with the Koreans.

I think I would still go with the Koreans though because they practice non-stop and I could learn the most from them. So for Protoss I would pick Zest, for Terran Innovation and Zerg Life. They are basically the best/one of the best of their respective race and since I would focus mostly on improving in a bootcamp like that they would be the best choice I think.

Do you happen to watch TV shows ? Or do you have any favorite movie ?

Occasionally I watch some TV shows but nothing out of the ordinary. This year I watched stuff like Breaking Bad/Game of Thrones and so on. Currently I'm watching through Sons of Anarchy, so far I like it a lot.

Do you have any favorite country ? Where would you wanna go and never went to ?

I haven't been to too many other countries so far therefore I don't really have a favorite country (besides my own of course :) ) I've only been in other European countries by now so I would love to go to America one day, and also maybe to China or Korea.

Do you have any fun/unusual story you'd like to share that happened to you either ingame or IRL ? :)

Phew... let me think. Hmm I can't come up with anything super funny or so but I guess I can tell you what happened to me yesterday. So as I said I'm getting a bit into darts recently and a couple of days ago I bought myself three new darts because my old ones are getting worn out.

Yesterday I finally got them and wanted to try them out of course. Basically after about 5 minutes of playing, one of them fell to the ground and unfortunately the back part of it broke.

Usually that's not a big deal because you can switch that part but a piece is still in the front part of the dart so I can't do that, and now I have to find a way to get out the remaining part :/
So to make it short, I bought new darts and after 5 minutes I already couldn't play with them anymore :D

Well the interview comes to an end, I'd thank you a lot for your time ! If you have any last words/shoutouts to make, please do so before we wrap up!

Thanks for the interview - it was fun! :) Of course I would like to thank all my fans, my parents and my friends for supporting me. Last but not least I want to thank Team Alternate and their sponsors LG, Nvidia, Intel and Sharkoon.

See you and have a good end of year!

Thanks, you too !