Starcraft 2 news » WCS Canada Player Spotlight: Ostojiy, Drewbie, and HuK

This weekend, thirty-two of Canada’s best will come together just outside of Toronto to fight for the right to be called the national champion, and to represent Canada at the North American finals. The games are sure to be exciting and full of stories, but those stories are all the richer if you know the faces behind the keyboards. We contacted three players from the tournament and asked them for their thoughts.

 

 

Christopher “GoSu.Ostojiy” Ostojic

Universities are home to many of North America’s rising stars, and Ostojiy is one of the best. A student at the University of Western Ontario, the beginning of his career was spent largely in online cups and on the StarCraft II ladder. There, he developed a reputation as one of Canada’s best unknown players, and his performance on the ladder earned him an invitation to last year’s North American Battle.net Invitational. Though he didn’t meet with much success, with each subsequent LAN event his performance continues to improve. At the 2012 MLG Winter Championship, Ostojiy managed to reach Pool Play from the open bracket – an extremely difficult feat, and one he’s backed up with consistently strong play since then.

Though he may not have as much live tournament experience as others, Ostojiy is a player who’s earned the respect of even the best pro-gamers. And together with his Collegiate Starleague team, Ostojiy looks to not only clinch a win at the WCS Nationals, but the CSL Canadian Championship in the same weekend. He’s certainly a player to watch out for, and this could be his chance to prove his place as not only one of Canada’s best, but one of the world’s best.

Shiro: The Battle.net Invitational tournament has been replaced by the World Championship Series this year, with the Global Finals taking the place at the Battle.net World Championship later this year. What are your thoughts on this new format?

Last year's North American Battle.net Invitational was an 8-man invitational which was little bit easier to prepare for as there were only a handful of players. While more enjoyable for the players invited, the open WCS format gives a lot more opportunity for up and coming players to make a splash, and as a result is a little more fair. Regardless, I enjoy the regional aspect of Blizzard's events and they always treat the players quite well, so I always look forward to these events. The competition will be tough as there are a lot more games that I will need to win in order to advance to the next stage.

Though the claim has been made that the North American region lags behind the others in terms of competition, this bracket seems to be full of stiff competition. How does the player pool look to you? Who are you looking out for in particular?

I think there is a lot of hidden talent in Canada that will certainly surprise a lot of people. As a nation I think we boast one of the strongest player lineups in the world. On my bracket I'm most concerned about HuK who I have had quite poor results against in LAN. Scarlett is also a really good player, but thankfully I only have to play one of them! Other notables on the bottom bracket include ddoro, dde and TT1, and they are certain to thin out the numbers of the zerg swarm that are attending this tournament.  It will be interesting to see how the event plays out after such an upset filled WCS USA.

Many have said that they miss the “national champion” concept that carried so much weight in the Brood War years through WCG – something Blizzard has tried to create through WCS. Does the thought of competing to represent Canada on the world stage give this tournament extra weight?

Representing my home country at the World Championships would be an incredible honour. I love the fact that I would be representing not only myself and my team, but also an entire nation of nerds! This is certainly one of the most important tournaments of my career (in part because I have a really good shot at winning it all).

What are your personal expectations going into this event?

I don't get to attend many LANs that are completely Korean free, so I hope to make the most of it and take first! Anything less than the top 3 will be disappointing as I am in good shape at the moment and feel confident going up against every single player in the tournament. Even with double elimination anything can happen so I am preparing a variety of builds and styles for this event.

What would a win at this tournament mean for you?

The chance to move on to the World Championship is huge, but more importantly it would be my first major LAN victory and that speaks for itself. I think that in order to move on to winning larger events, I need to take a win here to overcome that mental block which has haunted my offline career. Ultimately winning WCS Canada would make the years of hard work and dedication that I put into StarCraft more than worth it.

You’ve consistently been a player on the verge of a major break-out, with your strongest performance to date being reaching Pool Play at the MLG Winter Championship. What do you think it will take for you to break into the spotlight and claim a major victory?

I've always struggled with nerves and consistency at LANs while posting better results online. Hopefully playing in my hometown in front of some of my friends and family will help, and I can play to my full potential. WCS Canada is a huge opportunity for me to prove that I can actually win a LAN not only to the Starcraft community but also to myself. Up until now I've always been unable to go from being a good player to a great player.

You’ve also been well-known for your heavy participation in the Collegiate Starleague. What has being a member of a college team done for you as a StarCraft player?

I have had a lot of fun taking a break from the progamer side of the StarCraft scene and hanging out with other members of the Western University CSL team at LAN's and barcrafts. I like to think that I can be just as passionate about my CSL matches as I am for my professional career. My CSL team is participating at the CSL Canadian Championships, which will be run alongside WCS at NASL, so I am excited to win two championships in a single weekend!

 

 

Drew “ROOTDrewbie” Moysey

By contrast, Drewbie is a player who started off with a bang. A long-time Brood War 2v2 player with his friend CatZ, the two started the team ROOT Gaming together during the Wings of Liberty beta. Once the game launched, he immediately found success in both online weekly cups and offline events such as the IEM Season V American Championship, where he took 4^th place. During the inaugural MLG season, he placed 12^th, 5^th, and 8^th respectively. Both he and his team were extremely popular, personable parts of the scene. Unfortunately, he would be unable to replicate his success in 2011. His placing at MLG events began to decline with each event, and although ROOT Gaming was acquired by compLexity – giving Drewbie the opportunity to train in Korea – he was unable to turn things around.

But just when people had finally counted Drewbie out, he miraculously rose from the grave. At the MLG Winter North American Qualifier, he won the entire event over successful Korean players such as Inori and Artist. When he and CatZ were let go from compLexity in May, they announced the rebirth of ROOT Gaming – which is now home to many excellent foreign players, including the USA National Champion ROOTViBE. Is his comeback for real? Is Canada’s star terran hero from 2010 truly here to stay? This weekend is as good a time as any to find out.

Shiro: The Battle.net Invitational tournament has been replaced by the World Championship Series this year, with the Global Finals taking the place at the Battle.net World Championship later this year. What are your thoughts on this new format?

I really like the WCS setup. It gives everyone a chance to play for their country and qualify for the NA / World finals. It's also pretty awesome of Blizzard to pay for everyone's trip, it really helps out lesser known players and people who aren't on big teams and gives them a chance to show their stuff. I think that the Global Finals will be a really awesome tournament and I hope that I can qualify for it.

Though the claim has been made that the North American region lags behind the others in terms of competition, this bracket seems to be full of stiff competition. How does the player pool look to you? Who are you looking out for in particular?

Canada has always been really strong in Brood War and StarCraft II, I think the top Canadian players can compete with anyone. North America just doesn't have as deep of a talent pool as Europe or Korea. I'm not very confident playing against zerg right now and Canada has a lot of good zerg players that aren't very well known. Slush and Scarlett are the two scariest zergs and there's also HuK and TT1 who are pretty scary protoss players, but hopefully I won't run into them.

Many have said that they miss the “national champion” concept that carried so much weight in the Brood War years through WCG – something Blizzard has tried to create through WCS. Does the thought of competing to represent Canada on the world stage give this tournament extra weight?

WCG was really awesome in Brood War, Canada was so strong and I always wanted to qualify for the grand finals and go to Korea to represent my country. I actually won WCG British Columbia one year but I couldn't afford to go to the national championship, I think I was still in high school and my parents didn't really like me playing StarCraft all day. So yeah it would be amazing to be the Canadian champion and represent my country on the world stage, it's something I've wanted to do ever since I first saw WCG back in 2001 or something, I remember watching Elky vs Boxer on Halls of Valhalla and thinking how cool it would be to be there playing.

What are your personal expectations going into this event?

Well I really didn't play very much in the first half of 2012, and I think I fell behind the other top players quite a bit. Now that I'm set up in Peru and everything is going good with ROOT I have been able to start practicing a lot again. I am not very confident against zerg right now, not because it's imbalanced but I am just making a lot of mistakes and not playing as well as I could. I think that I can make top 8 and I will be really disappointed if I don't. If I have a really good day I know I could beat anyone in the tournament and go far and maybe even win.

What would a win at this tournament mean for you?

It would be really cool to win the first major Canadian only tournament. Early on after SC2 was released I went to 3 LAN's in Vancouver and won them all, so I was pretty known for being the best player in western Canada and that was really cool, but there are a LOT of good players in Ontario/Quebec and being national champion in any competition would be amazing. If you can say “I was the best in Canada” at anything ... well, not a lot of people ever get to say that in their lives.

Your old team reformed earlier this year. How has the reformation of ROOT Gaming affected your training for this event, and you as a player?

Well it's kind of a double edged sword. I have been dedicating a lot of time to the management side of ROOT and getting the team up and running which has given me less time for practicing, but it is really motivating being back in ROOT. Everyone in the team is good friends and we practice and hang out together a lot. Everyone is really good and smart, and has their own styles, so I learn a lot practicing with my teammates. I think that's what made ROOT so good back in the day was that we practiced together as a team so much and figured out strategies and styles before anyone else did and I would like to get back to that.

Your last major win was the NA MLG Winter Qualifier earlier this year, but you’ve struggled somewhat over the past year or so. What have you been doing to work towards a more successful 2012?

Yeah I really did not put in the time necessary to keep up with the rest of the pack ever since I got back from Korea. There were some personal things going on that made me not even want to play StarCraft. I actually didn't play a single game for a month before the MLG qualifier and didn't warm up or anything, I just showed up and played and beat inori and then artist to qualify and get to go to New York. It was a great feeling; I think I forgot how good it feels to win. Things are going good for me now, I am having a great time in Peru and practicing a lot and having fun. I have been improving steadily over the last couple of months and I expect to keep improving as long as I keep working at it which I fully intend on doing. Being in ROOT and living here with CatZ are both really motivating and when HotS comes out it will be new and exciting and easy to play all day and practicing together with my team just like in the good ol' days so I am really looking forward to it.

 

 

Chris “EG.HuK” Loranger

Every country has their superstar, and Canada’s is most definitely HuK. At one time, he was unarguably the best non-Korean player in the world. And even though his 2012 has been less successful than his monstrous run in 2011, in which he won DreamHack Winter, HomeStory Cup III, and MLG Orlando, in addition to his consistent participation in GSL Code S, his play is still to be feared. He took 3rd place at the MLG Winter Arena and 4^th at the Winter Championship, and dominated his NASL group to advance to the main event this weekend. His play is characterized by nonstop aggression with an emphasis on control, so when HuK wins he does it with a show. And if you watch his scouting patterns, his Probe might draw a heart just for you.

All throughout his career, HuK has been his country’s hero. When he held a fan meetup at a mall in Toronto earlier this year, the sheer volume of people who came to see him forced security to eject them from the premises. You can bet that each player in the bracket has their eye on HuK, and that his fans will show up in force here this weekend. He’s the player to beat, and the WCS has been full of upsets so far. No matter how favored he is going in, HuK will have to play his best if he wants to prove that he truly is the best player in his country.

Though the claim has been made that the North American region lags behind the others in terms of competition, this bracket seems to be full of stiff competition. How does the player pool look to you? Who are you looking out for in particular?

The player pool seems pretty tough to be honest. I didn't realize how hard it would be for me until I actually saw the bracket. I'm playing a good PvP player the first round and in the second round I'm playing Scarlett who is, in my opinion, the second best player in Canada and then probably Ostojiy, the third best, after that.

Many have said that they miss the “national champion” concept that carried so much weight in the Brood War years through WCG – something Blizzard has tried to create through WCS. Does the thought of competing to represent Canada on the world stage give this tournament extra weight?

I definitely want to my best to represent Canada, North America, and the western world in general. It's something I take pride in and something I hope to do.

What are your personal expectations going into this event?

I would expect nothing less of myself than to win this tournament.

What would a win at this tournament mean for you?

Although I’d like to say it would mean the world to me, I understand that this is just a stepping stone to the North American Finals and then the World Finals. When I win that, I will have more to say.

You can catch all three of our interviewees, as well as all the other great StarCraft II players competing in the WCS Canadian Nationals this weekend. For more information check out the WCS Canada Nationals blog, and to tune in this weekend, visit www.nasl.tv. Be sure to watch all the action and cheer on your favorites!