Tgun was kind enough to sit down with me for a chat: here's a little of what we spoke about.
Quote:
You made a comment that most people don't understand how players in Korea actually practice. How much did you understand about practice before you joined FXO, and what had changed by the time you left Seoul?
Before joining FXO, most of my practice was just spamming ladder games, getting angry when I lost, spamming more games, and stopping after a few hours (anywhere between 3-6 depending on the day), then proceeding to look at replays of games I didn't completely understand. When I went to Korea, we saw how the fOu team (which is now part of FXO) practiced, and their setup: it's completely different to western practice.
At most, if you want to observe a game in anywhere but Korea, you have to find one of your friends that are the same race as you, get into a custom game with them (or watch their stream) and ask them about whatever is troubling you: in Korea, you have teammates sitting next to you of the same race. If you're having an issue, you can simply look to your left or right and either watch them play, or talk to them about it. When at lunch, you talk about Starcraft. Same for dinner, same for breakfast. You live Starcraft over there, whereas here, you generally don't have the same atmosphere. It's disappointing, in my eyes.
Great interview, it was interesting to see that more time goes into replay analysis and observing others than actually playing.
Correct me if I'm wrong Flaunt, but in the interview he states
"Average day of practice varies anywhere from 2-5 hours of actual hands-on practice, which then leads into roughly the same amount of replay analysis, both of my games and any professional games I'm able to get my hands on. I'll then spend approximately 1-2 hours per day watching other players play, trying to understand their thought processes: that is, why they do, what they do. Also in those 1-2 hours I’ll attempt to improve my opening build-orders in the matchups which I think are my weakest."
So depending how much of the 1-2 hours is observing rather than practicing build orders would mean my previous statement is right, right? Because he spends 'roughly' the same amount of time with replay analysis as he does playing. I'm not saying this method is bad, jus sayin' it's interesting.
I must admit, I haven't had much to do with tgun in the past, haven't ever met or spoke to him, just seen him rolling around the forums occasionally stirring people up.
To read an interview like this really made me see the serious side of a guy that seems really talented. But not just the serious side, a guy with concerns and worries, but also someone that reflects on the game and his results. In essence it turned a name on a forum into a person, and a person is something I can support!
Best of luck tgun! thanks for doing this interview
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Volition - Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo
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