It was quite recently announced that you joined SSV Lehnitz and left pro-Gaming. Why did you decide on this?
 - Well, it was a hard decision... I was like the heart of pG, beeing there for 5 years and working hard to make it a good team. Recently I didn't feel the same motivation towards Starcraft which I had in the past years... I couldn't motivate myself to play and even when it was about money I couldn't focus on it anymore. After a shit load of huge cash tournaments you're not that hungry anymore...
Lehnitz made a good offer and they are not as huge and well known as other multigaming clans, so the Starcraft Team would have to grow with them and I might regain old motivation due to contracts and new aims. I am still in a very good relation with my old pG management and many players, pG is still somewhat like a online family to me. I had so many good moments, conversations, drinking and stuff with em... I am already missing the old time, but for me it is time to move on. Like children have to leave their parent's house someday I have to go on as well...

“

The pG change was a direct reaction to the leaving of Breakdown and myself. pG had to regain old strength and that was the way...

”Another news regarding pG.bw hit the scene yesterday - the old lineup will be removed and in comes the Templars of Twilight, assigned as the new pG.bw team. Do you regret in any way that you joined SSV Lehnitz now with the pG change?
 - No, the pG change was a direct reaction to the leaving of Breakdown and myself. pG had to regain old strength and that was the way... I just feel regret for the good old pG guys Slog4, Satanik, Infinity, Draco and others, who seemed to be kicked out by Mondragon without having a real chance to talk it out. But then again I heard that it is not the final list yet and that some of them are gonna stay in pG... I don't know. It feels a bit empty for me, not beeing in the same team with Slog, Satanik, Draco, Nina, Effka, Infinity and many many more. I know them all in real life and shared such a good time sounds weird for the reader because it's only a online gaming clan but for almost all of us it was more than that.

If your old team mates from pG would be kicked from the "new" pG, how possible is it that they will join the SSV Lehnitz organisation?
 - Well, I would have loved to take all of them with me... but Lehnitz is building up a pro team and many old pG member are inactive or cannot play on a professionel level therefore I can only invite the best of the best... The fact that clantags are not a barrier for friendship will help it.
SSV Lehnitz has never been around in the Starcraft Broodwar so far, but this is about to change today, because they were able to open their Broodwar squad with two of the best german Broodwar players. Fisheye[pG] and Breakdown[pG] will play with the new accounts Lehnitz.Fisheye and Lehnitz.Breakdown from now on.
- GosuGamers 5th of July
Are there any other players on the scene today that Lehnitz have their eyes on?
 - Well, as the teamleader, it is more about whom I have my eyes on... I guess we're gonna recruit a few more players, but not many. It will remain a small pro team (A minimum of 4 and I guess a max. of about 7) with high activity and a winning attitude.

Will SSV Lehnitz be a strictly German clan, or will you recruit non-Germans as well?
 - It's not decided yet... I guess we will have a mixed team, but the roots will be German..

As the team leader of SSV Lehnitz, how much "power" do you have. Are you a part of the management, or are you just handeling the team?
 - I have a frequent contact to the management and I tell them my ideas and what the team is going for and they are telling me how realistic those ideas are and what thesponsors can afford. So concerning new members and other stuff my "power" is almost endless. Aight, but let's not forget that I am not a dictator, right now the team consists only of me and Breakdown, but I am gonna talk with him about every decision I do and ask him if he agrees... and I will keep it that way when new members are gonna join.

“

Monthly salary, Lansupport, Hardwaresupport, 0% taxes... I guess it's gonna be the best sponsorship a bw player can get outside of Korea for a longer time...

”You're mentioning "the sponsors" - who are Speed Link, Plantronics among others - what kind of sponsorship do you and Breakdown have? Do you get a monthly paid "salary", or is it in form of hardware?
 - It is all together. Monthly salary, Lansupport, Hardwaresupport, 0% taxes... I guess it's gonna be the best sponsorship a bw player can get outside of Korea for a longer time and don't forget that this team is a rising star, there could be more in the near future..

With this salary, does it mean you can do nothing else than gaming? How big is the salary?
 - I cannot tell the size, because I guess it's better to keep a few secrets, but let's say that it's higher than any amount someone outside of Korea is getting atm. The contract is really fair, I wrote a good part of it by myself. I can do all stuff I want to do as long as I play all the huge tournaments which I would have played anyways + trying my best to play on a high level and do good.

Is Breakdown under the same contract as you?
 - Yes I offered him exactly the same contract as I signed myself. Even though the salary might be a little lower due to the huge interest sponsors had towards me.

Do you think that this has a positive effect on the StarCraft scene? Do you think that more and more serious sponsors and teams will follow SSV Lehnitz lead?
 - It's hard to say if this is a changing point for Starcrafts professionality outside of korea but due to Germanys ever growing pro gaming scene and the recently regain of power in leagues, Starcraft might have a better position towards sponsors than ever. I hope that Starcraft wins the CPL voting (btw. YOU GUYS SHOULD VOTE) then SC would be in the worldtour and EVERYONE would see it + A LOT more sponsor interest.

“

With a better strategy on Korahl I might have even won it.

”
- About WCG 2003You are known for a lot in the StarCraft scene, such as WCG'03 runner-up, GIGA Liga veteran and much more. Which achievement in your whole StarCraft career are you most proud of?
 - Thinking about the question I feel like typing having founded pG with Kambiz, Defender and other great characters...Also having gain so much from the game that I am proud of... but when it comes to success it is definitely the 2nd place at WCG 2003... With a better strategy on Korahl I might have even won it (or with the strat on Dahlia I came up with the year after).

Do you see yourself as one of the German participants in WCG Singapore later this fall?
- I will try my best to be on the top for this year's WCG slots but it also depends on contracts with Samsung... With 3 slots I have a very high chance to make it, while with 1 slot I might have a hard time making it.

Who do you think will win the WCG Germany if not you? Mondragon?
- As far as I heard from Mondragon, he won't attend WCG this year due to mature exams (I had them 1 day before Gigafinals..) So without Mondragon in the rooster my main respect goes out to Breakdown followed by Methos, Schnibl0r and Dashwriter, mainly because PvZ is really hard on those maps and I haven't practised the maps yet.

Top 5 Non-Koreans

Mondragon FiSheYe Testie
Breakdown Assem

Top 5 Nations

Korea Germany China Poland CanadaAnd how about WCG Singapore? Who do you think will win the Grand Final? Do you think it's more possible this year than previous years, that a non-korean will win WCG?
- Due to the lack of Koreans who are able to create good buildorders on new maps, foreigners might have a chance.. But for me as a Protoss Player it mainly depends on who makes it in Korea, any Protoss player in the world is playable for me and I see a good chance vs most Terrans but against top LvL Zerg it's all about deception cuz the matchup is too imbalanced on groundmaps. So if the "right" Koreans qualify, everything is possible. It also depends how much time they can exaggerate from the pro leagues to practise the wcg maps.

Could you put together a list of your Top 5 best non-koreans, Top 5 nations and Top 5 clans?
- Top 5 non-koreans is a hard one... I guess Mondragon and I (if I'm practising hard) are among them... But who else... Maybe Testie if he practises hard, even Breakdown if he is in very good shape.. and atm Assem... Top 5 Nations: Korea, Germany, China, Poland, Canada Top 5 Clans... Outside of Korea? My personal List: Due to the death of ToT, pG is right now the strongest non Korean clan... Then a long gap... If I will be able to build up a strong team Lehnitz can be equal to pG, but just concerning player skill in a small clanwar, not concerning player amount...
I guess Team.iD (iD.), Infernal Gamers (iG), Sons of Law (SoL), RSGaming (rS.) and others aren't that bad. But they are too far away from the top teams to put any of them in top5. It wouldn't matter.