Battle.net

Two of the world’s very best StarCraft II players, Dario “LiquidTLO” Wünsch and Fredrik “MaDFroG” Johansson faced each other live on stage in a StarCraft II showmatch during the 2010 European Warcraft Invitational that took place this weekend in Cologne, Germany. Before the showdown, we had a chat with LiquidTLO.

Blizzard:During the StarCraft II Beta, you participated in many tournaments and amazed the audience with your imaginative tactics. You are known as one of the most creative players around. How do you come up with your strategies?

TLO:Well, I do think about the game a lot in general. Sometimes, before I go to sleep, I think about StarCraft II and try to figure out where I went wrong in my games. But I don't specifically think about new strategies when I am not playing. I usually just have these spontaneous impulses where I can't resist trying something new. Some of the standard build orders I play nowadays were made up in one or two tournaments. So actually, I’m doing it the wrong way! I’m coming up with something new when it is important and then I work on perfecting them afterwards! :P

Blizzard:In the early beta you chose mainly “Random.” Later, it appeared that you preferred terran over zerg and both over protoss. Why did you decide to focus on those races instead of continuing the random option?

TLO: It’s not that I don't like playing protoss, but I had to face the fact that they are, by far, my worst race. I had terrible tournament statistics playing protoss so I decided to quit them for my own sake. Terran always was my favorite race; even back in Brood War. They have so many options and different styles you can play successfully. As for the zerg, you just have to love these cute zerglings running around the map  wreaking havoc in three different spots at once. Not to mention the Infestors, which are probably my favorite unit in the game right after the ghost, at least.

Blizzard: What do you like most about StarCraft II so far, and what do you expect for the future?

TLO:  Oh, there are so many things about StarCraft II I can't really pick one thing. It is so good! It has this perfect balance between macro, micro, multitasking and decision making. Hence many different styles can emerge. There is not one correct way to play it but tons of different paths that lead to victory.

I hope that StarCraft II will change eSports itself and I think it already has started doing so. We have huge tournaments, a gigantic community, regular streams and shows. Furthermore, even TV channels are starting to show interest in broadcasting StarCraft. So I expect a very bright future for gaming and StarCraft II.