[x5.Crescendo]

Behind the Username is an interview series where I ask some questions of regular players I meet in and around SC2SEA and our tournaments.

Today I have a chat with Eliz '[mGG] Nemesis', the enigmatic leader of metaGameGods and dedicated organiser of the GPD Opens

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Keeping with tradition, I'll start at the beginning: How long have you been playing Starcraft 2, and have you always played Protoss?

I got sc2 when it was first released and yes after campaign, I chose to be protoss right from the start.


How did you decide upon your username?

Long time ago there was a tv series called Hercules and subsequently Xena with beautiful NZ settings iirc. Nemesis is a greek goddess character in that series who was portrayed as someone who delivered fair judgement and represented balance in a way. So when I needed a handle, a game name, I choose Nemesis because it is a female name without being girly and obviously female.
Also because I was pretty impressed by what she was in that series.


One of the things I've come to appreciate about the Protoss race, and those who play protoss, is that there can be an incredible variety in styles of play and strategies. Are there any particular progamers and build orders you look to for inspiration as you prepare to shine bright like a diamond once more?

I think atm I really appreciate watching Rain's gameplay the most and hence his stream. Of course he is far better but I find I identify closer to his style of play. However I love watching Parting's games as well because his control is so good and wins impossible games. I also enjoy watching sOs because I think he is really smart and I appreciate that a lot as well.


I am a fan of sOs' cannon rushes. Please describe your playstyle in ten words or less.

"if u don't have detection, invisible units will kill you" ~Artosis


Sometimes Dark Templars invade my nightmares. A lot of us, whether in tournaments or on ladder, have games which stick in our memory as being more fun or entertaining than others. Do you have a war story or favourite match you'd like to brag about?

I enjoy a lot of games it's hard to pick one and I don't really brag. I don't think I'm so good that I would be brag level.

But if I were to pick a memorable game, I guess it would be one and only showmatch game
It was vs Djvillian on Cloud Kingdom.

It was in the early days of Hots and he played as Protoss against me. He double gas stole into msc harassment which was a huge pain. I had to long distance harvest from my nat just to get enough gas for warp gate and gas related units to chase him off etc
The replay is still on sc2sea under the replays archives


I didn't even realise we had a replay archives. I will have to check it out With all the games you've played, whether it be on ladder or in tournaments, who would you consider your greatest rival at the present time? (I considered using the obvious 'nemesis' pun here, btw, but thought of Phil0sopher and relented)

lol
This is a tough one
I don't think I actually view any one person as my nemesis but I do know I think apparently there are those who think I'm their nemesis lol

I do dislike playing people I actually know on ladder though, because most of the time they will just meta me and nothing makes me more sad than to be blind countered


If that makes me safe from your DTs, all the better Moving on from the game, and being meta'd, to your clan metaGameGods - would you give us a brief history of mGG? Something for those of us who see the name all over the place but don't know much about you fine folks. Is it true that Slayer steals everyone's popcorn so he can maintain a monopoly?

mGG was first founded by Thoth and Cwn aka Colin. Subsequently other leaders such as DrGoose, Alpha, Asrathiel, and Muex played an active role managing the clan. Eventually DrGoose and Alpha took over the reins from Thoth and Colin. Shortly after I joined mGG, I suddenly found myself added to this group of officers. Suddenly is actually close to that description because one day DrGoose just added me to the captains chat lol.

Back then they were really busy with moving houses and planning for the big tournament series, the SEANA. So I helped organise some in house activities and impromptu clanwars which was probably why I got added to this group. The group of leaders have changed much and it now includes Slayer Jieun Alon and now that Chase has graduated, Chase.

There is always a healthy demand for popcorn and we are pretty demanding about having the right type of popcorn so don't envy slayer's popcorn business. We expect only the best quality popcorn (and it has to include caramel) from him. Though lately I must say, we been having cravings of pizzas as well.

We are still uncertain about the dynamics of adding Chase though.
He does have thick folders of plans of world domination and domination of mGG.
So I guess we will just have to wait and see what this means for mGG in future.


Slayer needs to bring his A-game, it seems . And at least we know Chase is organised! =D As someone whose fortnightly highlight is the prospect of facing players much higher than myself in skill level during the GPD Open, could you share with us how that tournament came to be? Any thoughts on having passed the 100th GPD Open milestone?

Much credit is actually Eddie's. He actually did most of the GPDs up to early last year.
I took over only from GPD Open #93.

As someone who use to play in the BSGs then later the GPDs, I felt a close bond to these tournaments. So I felt that I can help contribute to sustain it and revive the competitive GPD scene.
So that's what I try to do now


Mental note to ask Eddie the same question when his turn comes =) Although it might be hard to pick, have there been any games from the GPD which have stood out in your memory as being exceptionally entertaining? Any shoutouts to give? (FYI: No need to applaud my consistent first round loss ratio in these events, I assure you )

Many shoutouts to many who have helped in one way or another... Metalcore for casting most of it and others who have stepped up here and then such as Pox once and Soundwave another and I'm sure others I missed. My admin team especially Alon who have stepped in more than once to take over the admin and Jazz. My other admins provide mostly a good listening ear and occasionally checks into profiles or obs games of these newer unknown players.
There are just so many >.< I'm thankful to all the little bits everywhere.

As a player in the GPD, one memory that sticks the most was a more than 1 hour game vs ToR Luneth on Daybreak PvP. It was an amazing game that totally drained me. Ended with him trying to do a mass recall into my main which worked much in my favour and allowed me to counter finally (we literally split the map into half).
What was memorable was my next game was vs Lemminks and it was a quick death. I think my brain died by then.

As admin one game that stood out was the game Spook vs Ravenflames
That epic hold on King Sejong casted by pox is still very alive in my memory.
Spook lost at the end but the hold was really good vs the proxy voids from ravenflames.
Another would be Prozer vs Ravenflames in a base trade on frost.


I often find any games involving Ravenflames tend to wind up being entertaining =D And speaking of entertaining, I've read in envy about the old mGG Fundays and want to ask: will they ever return? What would it take for that to happen?

We just had one in December!
Basically a demand for it would see it return tbh
Organising fun stuff and events is something I enjoy doing but we do need people who want to play in the spirit of having fun


And I missed it?! I have so many regrets. Sign me up for the next one! I miss Funday Mondays (though JaKaTaK may fill that niche again with 'Challenge Accepted'), and love any excuse for some silly fun in SC2. On a different note, having been able to witness some of your casting - which was very entertaining - do you have any plans to cast more often in the future?

haha glad you enjoyed the casting.
At the moment I have been casting the semi/finals for the GPD opens when I am unable to find a caster as well as clanwars for mGG when I am unable to find a caster available or MirG if the main caster Nickyboy or others are unable to cast.
I see my role as if I am able to and as a last resort, the job has to be done and so I plan to step up in this aspect when needed


Is there a particular moment in your career which you consider particularly important or formative for who you are as a player and person now?

I didn't use to do play 1s until I met a really good group of sc2 friends
I wrote a blog on it as well ( http://www.sc2sea.com/blogs/showentr...tryuserid=6965 )

I think the moment was when one friend in that group decided to step in and force me to reconsider some of the things I was doing in game
He offered to on Skype while in a game vs AI
when I made an 8 pylon, said no
it has to be 9 pylon
remake
ended the game
and forced me to re do it with 9 pylon this time

I guess having that first group of friends who actually made me feel hey, this is a group of sc2 peoples who really wanted me to get better at 1s made me start doing more 1s and it had been a snowballing effect since there have been many who have at various point of sc2 career been that motivating someone: started with beneling, at one point; stormz, and even schnitzel
I have had many other 'mentors' and friends as well, people who cared enough to want to help me and push me out of my inertia

I'm grateful to each of them


As a bit of a tangent, I'd like to ask about the Singapore SC2 Scene. What can you tell us folks stuck down in Australia about SC2 there? Are there many local events?

Sadly none atm
There is still a small group of us playing but the player pool playing sc2 at least competitively has grown small

I do hope that somehow we can find most of the remaining active maybe, still more competitive sc2 players to perhaps do something that would #representSingapore


Here's hoping Legacy of the Void brings some new faces! For a bit of fun: if there was anyone in the world you could challenge to a Best of Five match, who would it be, and why?

hahahahaha and the answer is.... no :P
I'm known to be masters in dodging for a reason


Hahaha, soon to be GM? =) Finally, feel free to self-promote and drop some links here if you want folks to follow you on the various social media/streaming sites

Do participate in the twice a month GPD opens as we would love to see more people and new faces. Gotta keep the scene vibrant You can also follow me on twitter @SC2Nemesis or pop over my stream on www.twitch.tv/23Nemesis where I try to stream a variety of content from practice games to teams or ladder, clanwars or GPD opens etc.

If you would like to help sponsor part of the prizes whether cash, keys, paid coaching or items etc, in any the GPD Cups or any tournaments that I might organise, do feel free to contact me or just click on the paypal donate button found on my twitch profile.


Thank you for spending some time with me today Nemesis, and I look forward to the next GPD Open! I have a statistic for first-round consistency to uphold

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Bonus Content
When I asked Nemesis for a picture to showcase in the upcoming Who's Who list addition, I was given this:


While she later relented and provided another photo, you will just have to wait for the Who's Who article to pierce the personal cloaking of mGG's own dark templar.

GLHF!

[asdfSchnitzel]

#nem4gm asdf

[ToRDjvillian]

That double gas steal was fun GG

[eCKoa'coolbeans]

gogo Nem, coolest admin out

[Stallion]

nemesis is awesome, i love where your name is from