In a post-retirement interview done by TL.net user Marou, the former Terran and now a League of Legends player MarineKing talks about his career, the switch to LoL and if a return to StarCraft 2 is possible.
Known for one of the most innovative micro Terrans in the early days of StarCraft 2 and among the strongest greedy players midway into WoL, MarineKing is one of the legendary figures of the game. Initially a regular runner-up in premier tournaments and, later, a back-to-back MLG champion in 2012, MKP became the strongest weapon of his team for a long time worked towards innovating how Terran was played.
"I was trying to find my own way to play the game, I didn't watched any other player, I was focusing solely only my play," says MarineKing when referred to the first instance of marine splitting against banelings in SC2 history, a match against KyrixZenith. "At that time I was practicing a lot and trying very hard and eventually I managed to control marines better and better."
It was a year and a half between MarineKing's appearance on the scene and his first gold medal at MLG Winter Arena in early 2012. When asked about his international appearances, MarineKing sheds light on why he was able to do better there.
"The foreign leagues just takes two or three days and I felt this style was very good for me. [...] I don't like to prepare everything before the game and take a week to get ready. I prefer to just play the game and feel the flow."
As the interview moves farther down the history lane, MarineKing reveals an interesting fact about getting bored with his race shortly before Heart of the Swarm's release, a race that by the end of 2012 had won him two gold, three silver and three bronze medals.
"I started to lose interest in Terran before HotS release. So I started to practice Protoss for around 3 months. But then HotS was released, the changes to Terran were really good so I had to switch again. The thing is I was not enjoying that style of play anymore [fast and aggressive], I was actually practicing Protoss because i wanted to play a more relaxed and defensive style."
Having announced his retirement earlier this October and his switch to League of Legends MarineKing show a few questions on that either. He explains that his back-to-back GSL losses which kept him down in Challenger League for the last two WCS Korea seasons made him lose his pride and the confidence he could win again. With that, the switch to League of Legends - a game he had been practicing for a few months - was a logical step, especially considering LoL's appeal.
"I don't think LoL is better than Starcraft, they just have different good aspects. Since LoL is a team game, it makes me feel more relaxed to play with friends, it cheers me up to not play alone. Always being alone in Starcraft made me lonely and pressured. I still think that Starcraft is the better game though."
The full interview is available here.
