CrunCher, a former WC3 player, moved on to play Starcraft 2 and with a couple months of playing he is able to demolish everybody that stood in his way. Luckily, I was able to grab some time with him and interview him. In the interview, we will discuss CrunCher’s performance and his view on e-Sports growing in the western scene and many other interesting topics.
CrunCher, you have been smashing players recently and have been performing absolutely amazing lately. How do you feel about your recent performances?
I feel good about it. I worked a lot on perfecting my builds, and expanding my strategies to those beyond the typical macro game, but I still have a lot to work on.
Now, we are seeing a lot of former WC3 players playing Starcraft 2. Generally, WC3 players excel in the micro part of the game. Do you feel like that experience gives you an upper hand than other players? And do you feel like former BW players have a slight upper hand to WC3 players?
I think when first coming into the game, BW players have an advantage over other gamers, but after some practice there is really no difference. The most important thing is having dedication and knowing how to practice, rather than just massing game after game.
Moving on to your performances, I want to cover up the most recent The V showmatch between EG.StrifeCro and yourself. You completely dominated the series going 4-0; what are your overall thoughts of the series?
You can find the games at compLexityINSIDER.
It was a good match. I love playing bo7/bo5. They really open mind games and promote having multiple strategies, rather than having a few different play styles or build orders.
You also participated in the FXOpen Invitational #2 where you placed 5th in the entire event. You had to go through some very well-known players like oGsInCa, CheckPrime.WE, and MarineKingPrime.WE. What was going on in your head when you had to face them? Do you feel like the latency issue played a huge role when you faced some of these top Korean players?
You can find the series with MarineKingPrime.WE at compLexityINSIDER.
Latency definitely had a role in it, and I also know most of their play styles, so I had an advantage there as well. However I wasn’t really worried about facing them, I love playing against Koreans, and see how I compare to someone who made 2 GSL finals.
Lately, it seems like EG.IdrA looks down upon you saying in his TSL interview you are nothing but a mere walk over. Do you know why he does?
I don’t know. It seems he underestimates every opponent he plays against.
Talking about TSL, in your TSL series against EG.IdrA, you were able to pull an upset and shock the world by winning 2-1. What were your thoughts throughout the series?
You can find the series against EG.IdrA at teamliquidnet.
I went into the match with a ton of preparation, and finding every flaw and counter I could, mostly in the first map. The map I was most worried about was Terminus Re, due to not having enough practice on it. And on the final map I hit a good timing attack followed by some perfect forcefields to end the game early.
“Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do?” – Homer Simpson
They defintely were some tasty forcefields I must say lol. Moving on, you were announced as one of the fifty exclusive members to participate in the first season of the NASL. What are your thoughts on the event and your group?
For more information regarding the NASL, check out their website.
The event looks like it has a lot of potential, and would be awesome if it became GSL in USA. My group is pretty interesting, and I hope to qualify to the offline finals.
MLG is around the corner at Dallas where you be making your debut appearance at a MLG LAN event. Are you excited and how do you think you will do at the event? Are there certain people you do not want to face going into this event?
For more information regarding MLG, check out their website.
I’m excited. It will be my first SC2 LAN event. I am not too worried about facing anyone. I hope to make it out of the open bracket, and of course to win the whole thing.
Yeah. The open bracket seems pretty brutal for how many matches you have to play. All of these events are just popping up left and right in the western scene. What are your views of e-Sports growing?
It’s awesome. It has just been blowing up the past few weeks, and it will be awesome to see it continue to grow.
Talking about the western scene, it seems like foreigners are pretty close if not equal to Korean players. Do you feel like Koreans had an advantage over the foreigners to begin with?
The gap is way smaller than it was in SC1 and WC3. I wouldn’t be surprised if foreigners began to have shots at taking down top Koreans at the finals of a lan event.
Going back to you for a quick bit, you have been dominating so much I can’t really tell if you have a bad matchup so I’ll ask this. What is your best and worst matchup and why?
My best is PvT. I have perfected a lot of different strategies against them. My worst is PvP, since it can be a coin flip matchup a lot of the time.
With the recent patch, do you think Protoss are up against the ropes? And what is your overall stand on the recent patch?
The patch helped Protoss a lot against Terran, even with the amulet nerf. Stim takes way longer to complete, which means less early game pressure. The infestor buff is interesting, but Protoss still have multiple strategies they can pull off.
Ever since you joined compLexity Gaming, your skills seem to improve tenfold from mechanics to builds. Do you practice a lot against your teammates? Do you have like a daily routine you go through?
Yeah, I play with everyone quite a bit, and it has been a lot of help. I don’t have a routine I go through. I play whenever I have free time, and work on whatever I need to.
Time is running short now as I know you have to fly out to Dallas tomorrow and practice for the event, so I’ll just end it here. Would you like to say anything to your fellow fans, the community, and to your team?
I’d like to thank all my fans for supporting me, and hope they keep on doing so. I would also like thank to Creative, Sound Blaster, PNY and QPAD for sponsoring me, and making this event possible.
“Awwwwwwwwww Shiiiiiiiiiitttt” – DJ Wheat