Top foreigners Arew and Mondragon are getting ready to face the cream of the crop in Cologne this week. They spoke to MeetYourMakers about their preparations, their chances, and Korean dominance at the WCG, which kicks off its StarCraft matches tomorrow.
Both players are hitting the practice hard for the event. Arew reports spending some six to eight hours a day behind the computer to prepare for the event, which is quite a step up from his usual four hours. Mondragon's spreading his time over university, 1v1, 2v2, and the occasional 3v3 with his girlfriend."Since I am already familiar with the maps," he told MYM, "It is most important for me to just play the game in order to keep the feeling, the speed and just to stay in touch with everything." Above all, he spends time perfecting his preferred match-up, ZvP, as well as amping up on his ZvZ. He says he feels confident in all Zerg matchups, and is more than ready to go.
Koreans have dominated the event for a long time, now. Neither player is really convinced they'll steal the top spots from South Korea's three representatives, but Arew hopes to at least steal a game from them. Mondragon's main goal is to face a Korean in the semifinals and hence get a shot at third place. But the both of them do mention the friendliness of the Koreans, with Mondragon noting that it's just fun to play them and hang out.
Mondragon feels he's been doing well. The German WCG finals went without much of a hitch, and he feels he has the offline aspect of the tournament on his side: "I love to play offline, I love to play in front of an audience, it just gives me another motivation boost." But when it comes to the future of international StarCraft players from Germany, he isn't quite as optimistic. He doesn't think that Germany is going to produce any new contestants on that level, although there are a few established players who'll continue to do very well.
Arew is immensely looking forward to the competition. He mentions qualifying for the WCG as 'his biggest wish'. In comparison to Mondragon, he's in a different spot: Lithuania focuses mostly on WarCraft and Counter-Strike, leaving little interest for StarCraft gaming. He's even contemplating switching to WarCraft to garner some respect. Right now, though, he's focused on Cologne, and Cologne alone.
MYM asked Mondragon a few questions about his opinion on the WCG and the players lined up to kick off tomorrow. He remains positive about the event: when asked about the small amount of slots available to countries such as Poland and the United States, he answers that "[...] even one slot motivates people to play and practice for this event since this event is unique." He also notes that every player at the WCG has had to have performed very well in their own national finals, and so it can't be said that there are any 'bad players' at the event.
That does mean he's not ruling anything out. "It's not really sure I'm going to finish top 2 in this group," he continues, "I will try my best to finish top 2 of course though." A special mention goes to Carlo, a player who Mondragon feels is in very good shape, and who might have a shot at doing very well this tournament. When it comes down to it, though, he doesn't place any bets on the foreigners.
One thing's for sure: with players like Draco, NonY and Strelok around, nevermind the Koreans, it's going to be a matter of shape, mood, and a lot of good gaming to get to the top.
Links
myMYM.com - Mondragon interview
myMYM.com - Arew interview
