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deL · Tue, 31st-Jan-2012, 10:32 PM

Sequential Gaming: Player Spotlight
Mark "yang" Richardson

Continuing on from the last Sequential Gaming player feature, aimed at helping us learn a bit more about our local sponsored teams that slip under the radar, we will look at another ACL underdog who performed. He was crowd favourite after making it all the way from the open bracket, though I think the satisfaction that comes from saying his name does a lot to put him on side with the fans! Infeza is the manager of the SC2 division of SQL and is responsible for the selection of his charges who are doing so well to start 2012.

Mark "yang" Richardson has lurked in the shadows of the few Protoss SEA stars for a while now, but has finally come into his own and can claim a place among the best of them. His breakout tournament was probably his performance in the IEM Kiev qualifiers for the SEA region, where he took out more well known opposition to claim a place, which he unfortunately could not accept. After quietly practicing on ladder and with TA teammates, yang finally landed a position on the SQL pro-team. Seemingly motivated by this move yang took the LAN scene by storm - rare for a Western Australian - to qualify from the open brackets at ACL Gold Coast, and eventually taking a top 4 position.

Recent Achievements:

Fourth Place ACL Gold Coast
First Qualifier IEM Kiev SEA Qualifier

While he hasn't quite made it yet, yang has shown his potential and dedication to improving his StarCraft abilities and we may just find that this is the start of a lot of success to come. YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAANNNNNGGGGGGG!~

Mark "SQLTt.yang" Richardson

Age: 19
Location: Perth, AUS
Race: Protoss
Team: Sequential Gaming
Clan: Terror Australis

1) First of all congratulations on a successful run in ACL. You seemed to be a crowd favourite - did you know you had this kind of tournament in you, and what was your reaction to all of the support?
I knew I definately had it in me to win over every person who attended but I hadn't played for a couple weeks. So I was sure I was going to lose first round in the championship bracket. I didn't believe there was cheering for me when I was told so I jumped into stream chat and sure enough there was enough yaaaaaaaang to fill a room. I basically spent my time, while other people were playing, laddering to try to work out kinks so I wouldn't disappoint. It definately let me get as far as I did.

2) How did you go about preparing for the event? Do you think it helps that in SEA Protoss is usually underrepresented at the highest levels, meaning you had some element of surprise against opponents who have not had as much experience in the matchup? Or do you think laddering on Korea means this is not the case?
I didn't prepare at all for this event. Everybody plays on Korea so there being no Protoss really doesn't make a difference as I'm sure everybody works on their matchups equally. Though nobody prepares any builds for Protoss like Rossi does for Zerg for example, so there's that.

3) You've been representing SQL for a while now and seem to be a proud member of the team. What prompted you to join the team and how has your experience as part of SQL benefited you so far?
I was looking for a professional team and I was looking at joining vortex but then I was told by Mayo that 'Snake' was shifty and I should jump ship. He also told me SQL was looking for some people and got me into contact.

SQL has been amazing, for one they payed for the room at QLD so I could actually manage the trip. There's been a bit of a lul with HuT having no internet and Sensei working full-time but now that they're both rearing to go there should be a lot more coming from SQL in the future!

Last week's featured player SenSei shows his support for yang!

4) Will you get the opportunity to have a second attempt at an ACL event considering your success at the first? Does your success guarantee that your team will sponsor you to attend ACL Sydney or Melbourne or is that still up in the air at this point?
Money is a bit of an issue with sponsors obviously but I think Sydney is looking promising because everybody can attend but me without flights. Melbourne is a definite, I'll pay my own way there if necessary. Victoria is the place to be after all.

5) Interestingly you seem to be one of the few players who is unaffected by the LAN environment, playing to your potential most of the time despite not having much experience at live events or in competitive games. Do you have a secret to this or are you just good at hiding nerves? How would you classify your play style and does that help?
Truth be told this is the first time I haven't been super nervous. I've played a lot of games at quite a high level and have attended LANs before so this isn't a new thing. However I used to get really nervous and do things that weren't familiar to me (I think this is common) but now I just stick to what I know. The first game on Antiga against yaguz is a great example of this, just a cookie cutter game with a solid build I know.
I think for this event though, I came in with no expectations and was happy to get out of group stages so I just relaxed afterwards and was surprised with every win.

You Tube

SQLTtyang vs ToTJerry in Eddie's Masters Cup

6) You missed out on representing SEA in IEM Kiev despite qualifying as #1 seed against some very tough opposition. Was it just not feasible financially or do you think you weren't ready for an international event? Do you plan to go international any time in the future?
I straight up couldn't get the Visa to Ukraine before the event lol. If I did go I fully expected to go out without taking a game so I am happy TargA went instead. If it's possible I'd love to go international, i'm quite happy with the Australian scene for the time being though.

7) Being in the WA timezone obviously has it's drawbacks especially for offline events. Do you find yourself practicing with Southeast Asian players more, who share your timezone, or do you still mostly practice with your TA friends? How do you think your move to Melbourne will affect your gaming 'career'?
If you look at my SEA accounts I barely play on them. I practice exclusively on Korea as I think it's straight up the best use of my time. Being in WA basically only affects my offline participation. Once I move to Melbourne I'll be attending as much as I can. I'll probably end up doing a lot of road trips lol.

8) Finally, what can the fans expect from yang and Sequential Gaming in 2012? Do you have anything planned?
2012 should be amazing, a tonne of offline performances. I'll qualify for this Blizzard tournament coming up and get to take out Mopglade, hopefully at least. With all of our players playing full time SQL should make some waves. Look out for Sensei especially, he's better than me and he works full time. Wouldn't be surprised if he starts winning everything, dude is amazing!

Phil "SQLTt.inFeZa" Bertino

Age: 21
Location: Melbourne, AUS
Race: Protoss
Team: Sequential Gaming
Clan: Terror Australis

1) While you are designated as a manager for Sequential Gaming, you seem to put a lot of effort in to developing your own SC2 skills as well. Is this because you see yourself as a future player for the team or will your role be predominantly managerial and you use practice to help you keep on top of the scene?
I used to play a lot more seriously before i took a bit of a hiatus, i broke top 200 on SEA before Masters was even out, and now i really want to get back into practicing intensely again, but i have a full time job, and it's kind of hard to practice as much as the other top tier players.

I'm currently High masters on SEA and i'm happy with that. I know i can't compete with the really top top SEA Players but i know i have the potential to take games off of some GM and High masters.

I won't be a full time player for Sequential, but i will always play my best to represent the team as much as i can, and i want people to think that "Hey, the manager actually knows some things bout this game".

2) On the topic of your position in SQL, how did that come about? Did you apply, were you approached, why did you want to manage a team and what was your reaction when you got the position?
I used to play a lot with Ninja after hitting him on the ladder in the past we became friends and practiced together a lot. He told me that Sequential picked him up for a team, and Glock (the head of SQL) knows very little about Starcraft 2 and the SEA Scene.

I felt like I wanted to do more within the SC2 Community because I love the game so much and being in my position I just went ahead and asked him to manage the team and pick out the rest of the players.

I was pretty happy, and nervous because I have had managing experience (part of my job) but not within the eSports world, and i didn't know what Sequential could offer or if I would get the right players, but now I am more confident as I have a strong team to support and look after, and I feel much more comfortable making decisions.

inFeZa wasn't just at ACL to manage and support the players - he had a crack himself!

3) What are your roles in SQL, and can you give us an idea of the direction you or the higher ups are heading with the SC2 team? Will the roster expand, will you focus on local LAN events or international ones, will you enter team leagues?
My main role is to keep my players happy, I'll do everything I can to keep them motivated and looking forward to playing their next game or attending a LAN and arriving feeling fit and ready to play.

I also try to schedule practice, but it's hard on SEA so laddering is the most practice that our team can really get apart from some in house stuff.

There's also the Practice show which I organise (which hasn't had a show in a few weeks, mind you) and a bunch of random miscellaneous things that are more behind the scenes - such as getting our name and sponsors names recognised within the community.

The SQL Roster is always open for applications, I've been looking to take on some more lesser known players to have a bigger roster and create some in-team competition and motivation to practice hard and earn their sponsored flight or whatnot.

We don't have plans to send any player international, but online events they are more than welcome to participate and represent the team. I know some of our members have played against top ranking NA/EU and KR GM notables so I have confidence we can make an impact in the future on the international stage.

4) The direction SQL seems to be taking is a bit different from conventional "pro teams" out there, in that they picked up relative unknowns and a lot of young players, and you're happy to associate closely with the social clans that your players are from, such as aLt and TA. How do you compare SQL to what other pro teams in SEA or internationally are doing?
When I was asked to pick a team for Sequential I had to choose very carefully and studied everyone in Australia's playstyles and how they perform, and most of the super high top players are already sponsored or unavailable.

From what was on the table, I beleive that I chose a very strong team. As I know these players may be young and lack some experience I think they will gain the confidence and mature into a successful player as they practice and get hungry to win and be #1.

The Clan aspect of the team is huge, it is where our players enjoy, practice and communicate about the game, and if I took them away from their respective clans I'd feel as if I would take some of the Starcraft out of the players. I'm glad our team is playing for their clans this season, but next season Sequential will hopefully have our own very strong team.

I would say that Xeria is the closest to us in terms of similarity. We have a good friendship and healthy rivalry between the teams, as for international it's a bit harder for Australian teams to compete because we're so far away and can't afford to send our players to events such as MLG or Korea, etc. But who knows what the future holds for us.

Shoutouts? Everyone loves shoutouts! - Follow me on twitter @inFeZa, follow Sequential Gaming and our sponsors on Twitter & Facebook (linked below). Thanks to our sponsors USAFoods and Tt eSports. Shoutout to TA & Thanks to deL for this interview.

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This is part 2 of a three-part series covering the SQL players.

Part 1: SenSei - Part 2: yang, inFeZa - Part 3: HuT, Ninja
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External links

Sequential Gaming - Twitter @markr155 - Stream

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