Starcraft 2 news » Australia Nationals – Player Spotlight

With the Australia Nationals just around the corner, Dox from ACLPro sat down with three of the players who will be competing next week in Sydney to represent their country at the StarCraft II World Championship Series.

 

Peter "Legionnaire" Neate — Protoss

How would you describe your play style?

In Brood War, my play would definitely have been classified as a defensive/harass style. I think that Brood War catered to my play style, as it was easier to defend ramps with smaller armies, and you could utilize terrain. I'm not really sure what my style is in StarCraft II; I just do whatever I can do to not die, and to be the last one standing. Even though I qualified for the SEA Blizzard Invitational in 2010 and did okay in some of the early tournaments, I never planned to go pro. I only play for enjoyment and my results reflect that.

 

How have you prepared for this event?

I work full time so I haven't had much time to practice for this event. I did play for most of the first ladder season, pretty much up to the end of 2010. Since then, I only started playing again after WCS Australia Nationals was announced a few months ago. I've probably played around 200 games over the last two months, but the only real time Iget to practice is on the weekend.

Prior to qualifying for the WCS Australia Nationals, I didn't do anything except for playing on ladder. This was just an exercise to re-establish my mechanics. I just did a single build and tried to do it well. But since I qualified,I'vestarted watching GSL and started learning the proper unit compositions. I still disagree with some of the game openings people do, but that's probably got more to do with my lack of knowledge, or lack of ability to pull it off.

As for gaming nowadays, I have no practice partners. I just practice on Ladder. 1-3 hours of bad practice 3-4 days a week. Then 5-6 hours of good practice on weekends. My girlfriend was not very happy that I qualified for the finals, as it meant another month of practice.

 

Who do you think will be your greatest rival?

As far as players to watch out for — anyone who plays zerg, terran, or protoss! If I take wins from anyone I’ll be quite pleased with myself.

 

What army unit could you never do without?

My favorite unit in StarCraft II it would be the colossus. But I believe a good strategy should not revolve around a single unit, it is more about how you utilize abilities of different units to benefit/complement each other. The unit that I couldn't live without is the humble and charismatic Probe. The workhorse of all great protoss armies!

 

David "Rossi" Rossi — Terran

How would you describe your play style?

When StarCraft II first came out, I was playing intermittently. A few months later, I really started getting into it, and since then I've always tried to mix up my general play style as I'm very strategic. I'm happy to switch from aggressive to defensive styles based on my opponents and the maps that I play them on.

 

What success have you had in StarCraft II?

My biggest success in StarCraft II to date is winning the IGN Pro League Qualifier for Australia, and as a result - attending the IPL4 Qualifiers at the PPSL. Apart from that, I was the second person to qualify for WCS Australia. I placed 2nd at the Australian Cyber League's Gold Coast National event, and continue to place well in online tournaments.

 

Who do you think will be your greatest rival?

In the past, I've openly highlighted specific opponents that are intimidating; however I've adopted a new competitive mindset for the WCS Australia National tournament, whereby I should fear no one. I intend to do as well as possible at this event and will respect all opponents equally. If you think you can win, itshouldn'tmatter who your opponent is!

 

How have you prepared for the WCS?

In preparation for this event, I've been watching streams constantly when not practicing, going over GSL VoDs, watching replays of major events such as the TSL qualifiers and laddering as much I can on the Korean server. When studying replays/VODs, I basically look for builds and styles that suit me and when found, I refine them on the ladder for tournament use!

 

What army unit could you never do without?

My favorite terran unit will always be the marine, I love splitting and getting the most value out of them.

 

 

Andrew "mOOnGLaDe" Pender — Zerg

How would you describe your play style?

The funny thing about my style in StarCraft II is that it's forever changing. I'm generally very reactive, but I like to mix things up nearly every match and play in ways that my opponents would not expect - and also to just keep it interesting. This differs greatly from my style in Warcraft III — I feel like I have a lot more options, and there is more strategy available at this point in StarCraft II. I guess this is the biggest difference since my Warcraft III days, though I still try to micro as best as I can in every fight!

 

What success have you had in StarCraft II?

Some of the most amazing experiences that I'll never forget would have to include my 4th place finish at the IEM Season 5 World Championship and playing in GSL Code A, along with winning the SEA Battle.net Invitational last year, and competing at BlizzCon.

 

How long have you been playing?

I've played a ridiculous amount of games since beta — at one point Artosis mentioned during an interview with me that he thinks I play the most games out of anyone except for maybe Check. That’s how much I practice!

 

Who do you think will be your greatest rival?

My greatest rivals at this WCS will definitely be the zerg players. There is so much hinging on build orders and a little luck - which I guess is similar to every other mirror match. It's a very dangerous matchup and I'm going to have to be more careful than ever against my fellow zerg players.

 

How have you prepared for the WCS?

I've been preparing for this event by studying a lot of different zerg styles - mostly in ZvZ - to try and gain an edge over the other zerg players, as well as practicing my mechanics and refining my strategies for the other match ups. I'm spending every day up until the event practicing full time, on ladder and in private practice games.

 

What army unit could you never do without?

If I had to pick the most valuable swarm unit, I'd have to say it’s the infestor. They're so much fun and require a lot of control and care to use them to their maximum potential. This might be my fondness for micro coming from my Warcraft III roots!

 

The WCS Australia/Oceania Finals will be streamed live on www.twitch.tv/aclprosc2 from August 10-12. Further details can be found at www.aclpro.com.au/.