nirvAnA

Major Achievements

• Singapore National Champion WCG 2000(Starcraft), 2001(Starcraft), 2004(Warcraft3)
• Top 10 in WCG Grand finals@seoul 2001
• #1 Starcraft 2 "Singapore Past WCG champions invite tournament" 2010 (gosubay/revenant/oxygen/ice/ravana/tagan etc)
• #1 on Blizzard's Top 200 weekly list four times during the first 2 months of Starcraft 2's release.

 

RGN exclusive interview:

 

RGN: You been a competitive e-Sports gamer for a long time! Tell us more of your entire career and why do you choose to compete in RTS games over other genres?

nirvAnA:

I like the strategical aspect of RTS games and the individual aspect of 1v1 where I am entirely responsible of the outcome. When I was younger I liked to play chess/scrabble over say snakesnladders so when I found out about computer games RTS was the natural transition.

I also don’t have much talent in FPS games so i guess they aren’t fun for me unless I play it casually like how a bunch of us (duckie/sheepy etc) had fun playing L4D2/CS at a LAN just today haha!.

 

RGN:  What are the key differences competing in Starcraft VS Starcraft2? How far does your obsession go for Starcraft2 currently? How much of your time is dedicated to Starcraft2?

nirvAnA:

In starcraft 2 there is less focus on mechanics (ability to perform basic routines more quickly than others etc) and more focus on strategy which is really good for older/slower players like me and also makes the game more fun and less repetitive. Its also faster paced and although there are a lot of similarities, there’s a lot of difference in the gameplay/gameflow.

I do like starcraft 2 a lot but at the moment i have more pressing priorities like my wife/job/website that I put before my gaming time.

I would say on average 1hour a day goes to playing starcraft 2 and 2 hours/day goes to managing my site/tournaments and the rest goes to my job/wife

 

RGN:  Would a pro Starcraft gamer be as good in Starcraft2 competitively? Who would you say is the best Starcraft2 player at the moment in South East Asia and why?

nirvAnA:

I feel starcraft skill is determined by a mixture of talent and dedication (training  and how effective it is).

A lot of the top starcraft/warcraft players have become the top starcraft 2 players simply because they already possess the natural talent that gives them that slight edge, together with an already well developed sense of dedication and effective training/learning methods.

With that being said, natural talent is always good and helps give certain players a headstart when a new game is first released and later on a slight edge over players who practice just as much as them.

However Starcraft 2 is not rocket science, and over time the training part is actually much much much more important and i believe anyone can be great at the game and deserves to be if they are passionate about it and willing to put in the hours to learn the game the right way.

Best player on the SEA server would be far and away the Australian and warcraft 3 legend moonglade.

He was someone who was already at the top when he did not have the time to play as much as some players.

Presently he’s moved to korea and gone pro with a crazy 10 hour/day training regime which is actually considered normal to a lot of korean pros who put in up to 16hrs!

As such he was telling me how he was quite depressed as he wasn’t used to this hard training and the game wasn’t fun for him anymore.

Still he went on to win $5k in the recent IEM world finals so I’m really happy his training paid off.

Why is he the best?

Well when you have the most talented player who has now also started to play more than anyone else, its a pretty impossible combination to beat :)

 

RGN:  Starcraft is the main reason for Korean’s pro gaming industry. Do you see Starcraft2 being that game for Korea and for any other countries?

nirvAnA:

I initially thought it would always just stay contained in Korea as an eSport. But recent developments in the USA like NASL's 200K and IGNS 150k pro league as well as some europe leagues have shown that things are going to get big and they are paving the way for some proper eSports infrastructure/system . I feel presently if there’s any game that could launch eSports globally it would be Starcraft 2.

 

RGN: You are married? Is your wife a gamer? What games does she play? Is she supportive of your passion for e-Sports?

nirvAnA:

Yes i have been married 2 years now. My wife is a complete non-gamer haha, well she plays some cooking mama and dinner dash but that’s about it.

She was initially extremely against any form of games which is ironic because she’s Korean but contrary to most peoples perception, a large portion of well educated koreans actually don’t think well of gamers, sigh!! :(

Over time however, she has come to accept its what i enjoy doing and it makes me happy so she’s supportive as long as I know my priorities and do not spend too much time on it.

 

RGN:  How is the Singapore team for the King of ‘SEA Nation War League’ coming along? Are you planning to join WCG Singapore this year if there is a qualifier for Starcraft2?

nirvAnA:

In season 1 Singapore put in a strong showing and finished #2 with moonglade being the key in Australia's victory. Season 2 is on hold until we find a good sponsorship and yes we have a really strong team at the moment and would definitely be champions if moonglade didnt play :) !

I’m not sure if I will join WCG this year but what I’m certain of is i won’t have the time to practice seriously for it so i don't expect to win anything haha.

If i go i guess it will be for fun and to catch up and support my friends/clan.

 

RGN: Finally, do you have anyone you want to shout out to?

nirvAnA:

http://www.sc2sea.com - A Starcraft 2 community/forums site built around players from the SEA server!

If you're from SEA/ANZ, don’t miss out on all the tournaments/replays/articles/events/tutorials and join our community today!