English interview - For Is Here #12 - Tefel

A long time ago ...

[M] TinkeR : You've been around for quite a long time now, what was the very first game you've ever played competitively and how did you end up playing StarCraft II ?

[dignitas]Tefel : I come from the StarCraft Brood War scene. It was also my first competitive game. I've been playing this another Blizzard title for over eight years. Being in Polish representation as well and doing really good at that time.

What was the very first league placement you had the first time you've played on ranked games on ladder ? How long did it take you to be Grandmaster ?

Switching to StarCraft II has never been a problem for me. To be honest I don't remember that I've ever been lower than Master league then Grandmaster after Blizzard opened it for the best 200 players.

In the past I have been a member of teams: ieS and BLAST. I remember the old times when I played on another ID: Kuba.

Dignitas and today

You're on Dignitas team since 2012 now, that's a quite rare fact to be on a team for more than two years nowadays. How is the atmosphere there ? More generally, how would you explain differences you're feeling between individual leagues and team leagues ?

Yes that's right. It's been over two years now and I am going to sign a brand new contract for another six months. The atmosphere is OK right now. I remember better times playing Clan Wars and talking a lot about StarCraft II but we are going to play SC2 Improve Team League soon so I am sure that the team spirit will come back :)

I really like team leagues and atmosphere around it. You don't want to let your team down but during the game, there is no big differences [with individual leagues]. You are just doing your best and trying to do everything right.

For me individual leagues are more stressful especially if it is Single Elimination bracket. One mistake and you are out of the tournament. Clan Wars are different. A lot of chances, weeks of competition and players, so even if you failed you can count on your teammates.

You're unfortunately not qualified for this WCS season, how high were your expectations before trying to qualify ?

Yeah, I am quite disappointed because I really tried hard to qualify. I've attended every single qualifier and even the Last chance qualifier. I was hoping to be in Challenger League but unfortunately in decisive moments I failed. Like always, pressure was too high for me and I had problems with my mindset.

In 2015 I expect to win some online tournaments and local offline tournaments. I am waiting for some balance changes and Legacy of the Void to come out. I need more time because I cannot figure anything new. That's why I lost my motivation to play and hard work.

StarCraft II more globally

Are you currently playing full-time ?

I am not playing full-time anymore because of reasons I mentioned before. In this moment I try to reconcile being pro-gamer with programming. I have a Master's degree in computer science, that's why in free time I work on my personal project - an RTS game with RPG and TBS [Turn-based strategy] elements with use of newest UE4 [Unreal Engine 4] technology.

Oh great ! Do you have some screenshots or something you can share about your project ?

Yes sure I have. Gameplay is divided into periods and resources are distributed from your fields only when period begins. Some actions can be performed only once per turn (period).

What are your expectations on your StarCraft II career for this year ?

I wish to get my motivation back and play full time once again. I always wanted to go to Korea or just a teamhouse to improve my skill but I don't feel today is the right time to do this. Zergs seems not too strong on the highest level. Top Korean Zergs cannot find a way to beat Protosses and Terrans. For sure, it is far less balanced than it was in Wings of Liberty. 

Where do you see yourself in five years ?

I am sure I will be connected with games somehow. I'm not sure if I will be still playing because I am quite old. 27 years old right now (from a few days) :D But I really like challenges so if I see opportunity for being the best progamer I will take it :)

You were talking about waiting for some balance changes. Blizzard just released a balance test map with all the changes announced for Legacy of the Void being implemented to Heart of the Swarm regarding the Swarmhost. What are your thoughts about this ?

I think that Zergs need some improvements. I hope these changes will be good for gameplay anyway. No more boring defensive plays and very long games :) I can't wait to see it in action.

How is the StarCraft II scene going in Poland at the moment ? With Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm and people waiting for Legacy of the Void to be released, Heart of the Swarm is currently not living his best time, what do you think about the current situation ?

Polish scene is still going fine if I consider some offline tournaments. Unfortunately there are some problems with lack of new young talented players and the old ones seem to not moving forward. StarCraft is and always was part of my life so I hope StarCraft II will raise when Legacy of the Void will come out.

Who would you consider the best Zerg player right now among the foreigners ? In the world ?

I really don't know. :D There is no one like Stephano before. Snute had a very good time but also had some problems with WCS qualification. Life is obviously the best Zerg in the world. It's very hard to choose someone right now. It's a surprise that recently even « Koreans from Europe » are doing well in GSL.

Besides gaming

Let's talk a bit more about you, what does your family and friends think of your progaming career ?

My family and all my friends support me a lot. My brother always cheers for me and still follows all my games.

Do you have any other hobby beside StarCraft II and programming ? (assuming that you have time for something else)

I regret that I really don't have time for anything else. Fortunately I do not have to study anymore and can do something else. Finally I can do what I like :)

Where does your nickname come from ?

I was using it in StarCraft Brood War already. It comes from German word teufel [devil]. It is a very long and old story. 15 years ago when I was on vacation, a dog was called like that. It's been engraved in my memory :)

Bonus

I'll ask you questions with two or three choices and you'll have to answer without having to explain, you're ready ?

Sure :)

Individual leagues or teamleagues ?

Individual leagues.

Swarm host games: vs Protoss or vs Terran ?

vs Protoss.

soO or Life ?

Life.

Kaelaris or Tasteless ?

Kaelaris.

Proleague or GSL ?

GSL.

RedBull or Monster ?

RedBull :)

Ok ! Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any fun/unusual story that you'd like to share that happened to you IRL or ingame ?

So this happened to me when I was in Romania (playing DreamHack Bucharest). We had really good time with Nerchio, pal and ParanOid. We had even close flight times so we decided to travel back together. I've ordered taxi for us from hotel to the airport and when it arrived, we just loaded our luggage in the cab.

During the trip, the cab driver acted suspicious. He stopped in an almost completely dark place and said he needed to refuel. Because of the car installation, he had to open the trunk. I started to be really afraid of this because all of my luggages were there, as well as my wallet. So when we arrived to the airport, the first thing that I did was to check my luggage.

Unfortunately my wallet was gone. I knew exactly that the cab driver took it. We called the police at the airport and tried to explain everything but I couldn't prove anything. I had no money, no ID card etc. but some friends from Poland were really helpful borrowing me some money.

Fortunately I had my passport elsewhere and I could safely come back to Poland. Now, hearing the sentence « no my friend » (cab driver only knew these words) send chills down my spine.

Ok then! Well that concludes the interview, thanks so much for your time! Do you have any last words, shoutouts to make ?

Thank you for this Interview. Thank You to All for reading it. :)
Please follow me, my new project (Archeo) and my StarCraft II career:
https://www.twitter.com/dignitastefel
https://archeogame.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sc2Tefel

GG.

Thanks and good luck for all your projects to come ! Bye!

Bye! :)