The ToT Invite, which was launched on February 27th and in two months time has became the most skilled and the most exiting online event of this year, is slowly but surely coming to it’s enigmatic finale. Just two days ago the winner of the LB semi-finals has become known.
It was the oldschool Ukrainian protoss
3D.White-Ra. Getting there by a walk-over 
mYm.Advokate[S2] he has faced off the discovery of this event, and the most recent ToT add-on, the polish zerg 
ToT)HullahHatZu(. White.Ra3:0 HullahWhite.Ra>Hullah@R-Point White.Ra>Hullah@LunaWhite.Ra>Hullah@Arena |
After the match I caught up with the players I asked them a couple of questions.
Hullah turned out to be even more outgoing fellow, not shying away and telling me his most intimate secrets. Probably mistaking me for somebody else, he immediately revealed that he is wearing “red panties with tweety,” which are, according to him, pretty comfortable. From there on interview just took off.
About the games
- In the first game everything was decided by the psi-storms which landed nicely, exterminating all hydralisks in a blink. First two games I played through fast expansion. In the second one I saw his lings just in time, and put up second cannon just in time. And then I intercepted his drop with my observer, and from there on the advantage was on my side. In the third game I decided to finish this game early with zealots only, but he managed to fend my forces off with his last morphed sunken with 3 hp:). I thought that going reaver would give me an advantage, and I was correct, since he went mass ling and some lurkers.
Hullah is a newcomer to the scene, where you anxious that he might play completely unexpected?
I'm always concerned when playing zergs. You never know what to expect from them.
Where you preparing for this match before hand, or did you just go "veni vidi vici"?
- No, I wasn’t preparing at all, haven’t even looked at any of his replays. Just played a lot vs Koreans.
You’re the first non-korean to claim the top spot of PGT this late in the season. How did you manage that?
- Just played against good opponents, and won with my strats before anything else. It is almost impossible to compete with Koreans in a micro game (of course you have to be comfortable with microing no matter what style of play you choose).
Do you think you can hold on to the spot for much longer, or will the Koreans soon reclaim their throne?
- I think it would be quite a challenge, because there are so many progamers playing! But it already can be seen that the Koreans are not as invincible as it seemed before!
Your next opponent is mYm.Draco, which many consider to be the best non-korean, and almost certainly the best non-korean protoss.
- We have already met this tourney, and after a couple of very close games he sent me to the loser brackets. Draco is very good player, and is without a doubt a favorite in this match, but I wont give up that easily and I promise you a couple of exiting games!
About WCG Ukraine 2006.
- I’m very disappointed that there will be only one spot for Brood War this year! Organizers spent the money on organizing this event and monetary shows instead of spending them on the trip, despite the fact that it is such a short trip from Ukraine to Italy (and the plane tickets are much cheaper then last year). Yan and I tried to send a complaint to Samsung representatives in Ukraine, but were not provided with any kind of contact information.
When it comes to favorites, the man going to Monza would be one of this batch:
Topick, Strelok, Perchik, Enemy, Yan, and yours truly.
About Work
- I work in a magazine about computer gaming, correctly titled Luchshie Kompjuternie Igri(hence the tag LKI I used on ASUS), or Best Computer Games in English. It is one of the best magazines of its kind, and pretty popular as well- over sixty thousand copies hit stores each month. I have my own column there about StarCraft, for which I write articles bi-monthly. Hireling[S2] who went to WCG Grand Final in 2002 is also working here.
On this lovely note, we wrapped the interview up. Hullah moved on to play Slider, and I went my way as well.
About the panties.
- I didn't wear them yesterday and as far as I remember I had blue pants with elephants. This could be a reason [I lost]. Today at 17:00CET I will be playing PG24 ShowMatch vs Slider and I look forward to having some luck with my red ones [He won that match]. I have 3 pairs of them and I always wear all of them, when I play offline tourneys. When somebody manages to steal one or two pairs, I still have chance to win. In my home, they are safe, because of my socks hanging on my front door. I'm not sure, if it works vs Blackman though. I lost one of my reserve pairs during WCG2005 online preliminaries. I think it is clear now how he managed to win.
About the games.
- I played bad, he played well, that pretty much sums it up. I was afraid of his zealot rushes and tried to play pretty safe. He played fast expo two times and it damaged me a lot. In each game I made many serious mistakes and he used it to own me. I played without a plan in mind, and I sucked. In the first game he made only one cannon, so I tried to hide my mass ling and amass him. He found them with a probe and I couldn't even try. 2 cannons + nice wall + zealots between gateways and pylons = imba hax. In game 3 I forgot to make ling speed and burrow. I was a bit dejected after 2 lost games and I started to think about my lovely panties.
Do you think you would be more comfortable if your opponent was Advokate instead?
- Yes, I expected Advokate to win and I wanted to play with him. But I can’t be lucky all the time.
Anything else you would like to add?
- I would like to add that Sergei is the best.
After confidently winning this BO5,
3D.White-Ra moves on to the Loser Bracket Finals, where he will meet mYm.Draco. The loser of this match will be eliminated of this tourney, placing a respectable 3rd, and the winner will move on to the grand finals, where 
ToT)Sen( is already waiting. 
Links
Templars of Twilight - Original news
WGTour - The Brackets
Luchshie Komputernie Igri - White.Ra's Employers
