Fnatic - A profesional gaming team

Arguably the most accomplished player in the draft, he has represented Peru at the WCG Grand FInals and travelled to Korea and China for tournaments. Most recently, he finished top 8 in the Pokerstrategy TSL. His terran is one of the most feared outside of Korea and he made it known in the group stage by rolling through, only dropping a single match.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?#

Everything is okay so far, I haven't gotten nervous because I have a lot of experience in big tournaments. I think its too early to say whether I will become a FnaticMSI player but so far everything is going well.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts home?

I hope so and I hope that I will become a part of the team and my future will be with FnaticMSI heading into Starcraft II.

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

Everything is going well so far. I am in a good position to take first place because I believe in my skill level. All the players are good but lets see who becomes the best of the best.

Looking at your upcoming game, How confident do you feel going into this game and how are you going to win the game?

I believe in my strategies and I can always expect to come out of a game with something. My PvT is imba :D

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been a long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are here now show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players, do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up to the draft?

Well yeah I just came out of my last team, mousesports, in order to pursue this draft and become a FnaticMSI player because I've always liked them.

What would it mean to you to win the draft, I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

Well yeah the laptop is a great incentive and also is the chance to become a part of FnaticMSI and being a professional gamer under the tag.

Possibly the second most known participant, CaStrO is also a former WCG Peru winner, who fell to Ret in the Ro16 of the Pokerstrategy TSL. Throughout 2009, CaStrO finished among the top in nearly every tournament. He is one of the foreign scene's best Zerg players.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

Well no, I'm an experienced player so I don't get nervous anymore, So I'm just going to give it my best shot.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts?

I'm confident and I practice daily so I can say yes and I think I can win the whole tournament.

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

I think LRM)Mate (a.k.a LeeYH), he caught me off guard, I didn't expect him to play so well, but I managed to win and get through undefeated and I think my fellow countryman Fenix will be the hardest to defeat from now on.

Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing GosuDark, How confident do you feeling going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

Me and my friend GosuDark have always practiced together and he has gotten better, but he still lacks experience. I think I will go mass hydra because that's what I've been practicing.

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been and long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are now here show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players. Do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up for the draft?

Of course I'm still motivated, here in my city people love FnaticMSI and if they see that I'm a part of FnaticMSI they will love me too, so that's what I want!

 What would it mean to you to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

Like I said, over here they love FnaticMSI and winning FnaticMSI's tournament would be a reason to celebrate for our city and about the prize, I reall like it and I want to use it to brag to my friends. Thankyou for the tournament :)

 TT1 (Kabal): The aggressive Canadian Protoss has quite a history, but in 2009 has reformed his image and his valuable community contributions (replays against top korean players and game insight) have solidified his acceptance back into the community. TT1 also advanced to the Ro16 of the Pokerstrategy TSL, losing in a nail-biter to the beast from the east, White-Ra.

The Interview:

 You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

I'm not really as nervous as I used to be. I still remember how extremely nervous I was in the first round of the TSL like it was yesterday, but since then due to that experience I think I came out from it as a much more confident player.

 Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts home?

I would never play a tournament if I knew I didn't have a chance of winning it, one think I never lack is confidence in myself and when i'm in shape I know I can compete at a high level.

 How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

None of the games were really hard up until now. Tarson who I thought would have been my hardest opponent in the group stage ended up giving me the w.o once he finished in the top 2, moman forfeited the series after he loss the first game. The only full series I played was vs. future and that went pretty well.

 Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing Pike. How confident do you feel going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

Pike is a good player and I know i'm going to have to be in very good shape if I want to pull through with the win. I intend to start massgaming on ICCUP soon.

 The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been a long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are here now show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players, do you still hold the same motivationg that you had when you first signed up to the draft?

I've been dedicated as much as I am now as I was seven years ago when I started playing broodwar. I've always had a strong passion for competative gaming and I always try to be the best player that I can be.

What would it mean to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

The laptop is nice but the recognition of being the best player is much more important to me.

Another feared Protoss player, Kr has been low key for quite some time, always popping up to qualify for major tournaments and then receding back into the shadows. In the most recent TSL, Kr fell to CaStrO in the group stage. He now has his chance to prove his skills in one of gaming's greatest organisations.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

I'm not nervous at all now, maybe just a little bit during the games but I can't say it impacts my game or anything.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts?

Of course I do believe I can win, why else would I play?

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

My group went well, and fast. The games against GosuDark were probably the hardest. In terms of the one to watch, I would probably choose Kabal or Fenix.

Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing LeeYH, How confident do you feeling going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

I don't know LeeYH at all, So I can't really comment. I hope to win the game though :)

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been and long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are now here show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players. Do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up for the draft?

I still want it the same...

 What would it mean to you to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

I would feel good, being able to be a part of this organisation and great team would be amazing and the laptop simply increases my motivation.

LeeYH (a.k.a Mate) is a very young and unorthodox Protoss, he is making his first big jump onto the foreign scene. This unknown Hungarian player has yet to achieve any major results and has worked hard to qualify for the top 16 here, and will continue to try and prove himself worthy of his position at this stage.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

Of course it does. I'm very young and I haven't played many tournaments so far and I'm always nervous during big tournaments and on LANs also. I should not be that nervous, it really makes me worse.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts?

Well I play twenty games a day or more. I improved very quickly in the past and I feel better and better with every single day. So yes I think I can make it, but it will be hard because there are so many good players in the Ro16 that I saw and as we should've expected. There are people who have played a long time and participated in many competitions so they're really old stagers and won't be as nervous as me during our games.

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

Well i'm not really satisfied, I played so badly against CaStrO, I made so many mistakes and I managed to lose from 1-0...I was so disappointed because my hands were shaking during our games because I was so nervous, It was really annoying.

Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing Kr, How confident do you feeling going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

Well I have no idea, I'll try to do my own game and hope I'll get a cool starter map so I will be able to manage a win but it will be hard because Kr is a really talented player.

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been and long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are now here show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players. Do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up for the draft?

Of course I have, to be honest I have the most of it now. When I signed up at first I didn't even think about getting into the top 16 so I'm pretty motivated and excited.

 What would it mean to you to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

Well for me it's not about the laptop, but it is really nice from MSI. First of all I want to be a contracted player and winning the whole league would be awesome because it would mean that I am a good player. For me that is much more important than the laptop.

Merz, an old school Swedish Terran, merz has been around forever it seems. He is another player without major accomplishments but has recently seemed to hit top form and showed it in the group stage, where he went undefeated to take the top spot in Group H.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

I don't really get nervous up until the actual moment when the game starts. I can get really nervous during the first 5-10 minutes of an opening game when it's in a tournament that matters as much as this one. But once I get that first game done, win or lose, the tension usually goes away and I can play without having to deal with my nerves.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts?

Definitely, there are some tough opponents out there but I've beaten all of them before, so anything is possible.

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

They've been ok I guess. The only one I felt I had real trouble with in my group was user. Someone to definitely look out for is Fenix, he performed well during the TSL and feels really dangerous at the moment.

Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing Tarson, How confident do you feeling going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

Tarson is probably one of the players i'd want to play the least in the Ro16. The reason for that being for one, he's been performing very well lately, and secondly, he's Terran which means it's going to be Terran vs Terran. I've always struggled in TvT, my problem has mainly been that I'm not consistent enough. I'm just going to focus on playing my own game, I usually like to take the initiative and steer the game into a certain direction when i'm playing TvT, so that will be my plan.

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been and long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are now here show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players. Do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up for the draft?

Of course! I'm going to try my best to win this thing, representing such a well known team who's had excellent results would be an honour and a great motivational boost to perform even better in the future.

 What would it mean to you to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

It would mean a whole lot, yeah the laptop is definitely a nice touch and a really generous initiative from MSI, but i'll have to admit I value becoming a FnaticMSI player more. Just to put things into perspective, If I were offered either the laptop or becoming a player representing FnaticMSI i'd take the latter without a doubt.

Oystein, probably Norway's strongest player, who has been around the scene for quite a while now. Although Oystein has yet to place in any important tournaments or events, his name can always be seen atop foreigner ladder rankings and in clanwars at the highest division. He plays multiple races and can be a dangeous opponent for anyone.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

No not really, I have never had any ambitions or dreams to earn money from BW, except maybe for a brief while when I was 16-17 it seemed like a cool thing, but it quickly went away. I play this game strictly for fun and to test myself against others so any money I might win along the way is just a bonus, and anyway I need to win a lot before I willeven be in a surplus from BW as I have lost a lot in best games in the past. I have very rarely been nervous while playing, pretty much only during my first NWs and CWs when other people suddenly started relying on me to win, beside that I never feel nervous.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts?

I do believe I can beat everyone in the tournament if I play my best and I think my chances are fairly decent if I can avoid having to play Zegs as my PvZ is a lot worse than my other two matchups. However there is a lot of good players left in this tournament so it will be hard to make it into the top4 for sure, regardless of who I play.

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

I have only played vs. Shauni so far, but those games were really close and I usually lose more than I win vs. him when we practice so I am pretty satisfied about beating him when it counts. I guess I would have to go with the boring answer of Fenix and CastrO as they are the best two players by a small margin in this tournament in my opinion. Behind those two though are people that are so similar in skill so anything can happen.

Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing KawaiiRice,  How confident do you feeling going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

Normally I would feel pretty confident as PvT is maybe my best matchup and I have done well vs. Kawaii when we have played in the past, but lately I have pretty much only played the SC2 beta beside playing in the TL: Arena so I am not sure how much that will affect me. I did notice the last time I played BW I ended up trying to use SC2 hotkeys on a few occasions so it's possible this can affect me, but at least it looks like Kawaii is also playing a lot of the SC2 beta right now so hopefully it evens out. I will try to get myself a day of playing BW before the match and hope for the best.

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been and long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are now here show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players. Do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up for the draft? 

Yeah the motivation is still pretty much the same, as I have said earlier this is mostly just me testing myself versus other players and hoping to get a free laptop by winning it, if I end up with a contract from this that is just a bonus. 

 What would it mean to you to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

Beside getting a free laptop it probably wont mean a whole lot for me. I guess being able to say I am a pro if I get a contract will be cool, but I wont shed any tears if I end up losing quickly in the tournament.

Praetor, an up and coming Protoss player from Romania, he has attended and earned top 3 at several local LAN events and has been a competitor in LighT and NrT, playing against the very top teams outside of Korea. He is ready to show that he can compete and be a part of the new FnaticMSI team.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

No, it doesn't make me nervous because it is not my first event of this type. Actually, i'm quite confident that I can do well as the tour progresses.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts?

Yes, I think I can definitely finish in the top four with just a bit of luck to help me.

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

My toughest opponent so far has been Fenix because he is a really talented and experienced player. Almost every game he performs very solidly but I believe anything can happen from the Ro8 onwards.

Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing Asterrix, How confident do you feeling going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

I'm pretty confident that I can win, I've played Asterrix a couple of times and hopefully I'll come out on top once more.

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been and long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are now here show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players. Do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up for the draft?

Yes i'm still motivated and I have tried to practice as much as I can versus good players and I even played from pro gamers in the beginning of the new ICCUP season.

 What would it mean to you to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

Winning the Fnatic Rookie Draft would mean a lot to me because it would be the first major tournament that I would win and the laptop would be really awesome as well, like a bonus for winning the whole tour.

Shauni, a very strong and underrated Swedish Protoss player who has built quite a nice community fanbase over the past year or so. Although he has no major accomplishments yet, Shauni is well known amongst the top players as being a very dangerous opponent and this will be his first major chance to shine.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

When I get nervous I clench my teeth and focus harder. Being nervous often raises my awareness when I play, so I hope i'll get very nervous in the next match. But just the though of getting closer to winning doesn't make me nervous.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts?

I have to!

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

I only played versus Oystein and lost, so that was obviously the most difficult match. I feel right into his trap all three games and I felt very stupid. The walkovers were quite easy in fact. Even so, the results have been very disappointing thus far and I hope to be able to show more in the next stage. As for the players to watch out for, I believe Kr is strong, but so is Castro and several others. It's hard to say.

Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing DeSka, How confident do you feeling going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

I should be able to win. DeSka's overly aggressive style is quite easy to handle when you know it is coming. Even so, I have to watch out. My play versus Zerg has not been the best lately.

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been and long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are now here show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players. Do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up for the draft?

I do, I'm going to start massing games again tomorrow to prepare for my next game.

 What would it mean to you to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

A laptop would be cool, but I'm not playing mainly for prizes. It's the thirst for competative play that drives me on.

Tarson, one of Poland's most feared players, and their number one Terran user, Tarson has competed in WCG Poland and LANcraft in the Czech Republic multiple times. He is also an up and coming Starcraft II top player, in the running in the first few SC2 Zotac Cups.

The Interview:

You've now reached the Ro16 and you are one step closer to possibly becoming a FnaticMSI player, as the tournament moves on through the rounds, does it make you more nervous?

Not really, I played many online tours and I always stay calm (except TSL ;)) I try not to think about the pressure.

Do you believe you can make it to the last four and possibly take one of the FnaticMSI contracts?

Yes I do, I just need to stop playing SC2 and practice SC1 for a while, then I should be okay.

How have you found your games so far? Who has been the most difficult to play against and who do you expect to be the 'one to watch' as the tournament nears it's close?

I played only with Future in the group stages and the games were pretty easy, I am expecting Fenix will be the most difficult opponent for me.

Looking at your upcoming game, you are playing merz, How confident do you feeling going into this game and how are you going to go about winning the game?

When I was practicing a lot I liked to play TvT, in high level games it is really dynamic. I don't really feel confident about upcoming games because for the last two weeks I have only been playing SC2 and forgot how to play SC1 :) I am going to practice hard to try and win these games.

The FnaticMSI Rookie Draft has been and long and testing road for many players and the sixteen who are now here show a lot of dedication to becoming FnaticMSI players. Do you still hold the same motivation that you had when you first signed up for the draft?

Yes, of course, nothing has changed. I am here to join FnaticMSI ;)

 What would it mean to you to win the draft? I guess winning the laptop provided courtesy of MSI would be a great incentive?

It will be a really nice experience to win the draft and also quite a big achievement winning the tournament with so many good players in it. Also the laptop from MSI seems to be very cool and yes you are right, it is very motivating :)