Last year, Lan "Neilyo" Tran was rather unknown to the SEA Hearthstone community but with Blizzcon points now on the line for GosuCup SEA, the Vietnamese has decided to show his skills. And they're to be reckoned with - a high legend player, Neilyo took the GosuCup #4 championship to go with his top four placement from Cup #2.
Today, we sit with him for a brief talk.
From the top - congratulations on becoming our fourth champion! Is this your first tournament victory in Hearthstone?
Thank you. Yes, this is my first tourney victory in Hearthstone. To be honest, I've always preferred ladder but after GosuGamers partnered with Blizzard to awards points, I decided to give it a try.
You did well in GosuCup #2, finishing top 4 if I recall correctly. That's quite a jump for a newcomer.
I'm not really a newcomer. I've been consistently high ranked on ladder with a lot of top 100 finishes. Last month I ended at rank 27 on NA.
Oh wow! So why didn't you try competing in other tournaments before GosuCup? You sound like quite the player!
Like I said, I was into ladder, not tourneys. And I was also busy with college and stuff. Fortunately, I already graduated now and have more time for competitive HS.
What are you studying?
I studied math and economics in the United States. Maybe math does help me a little in HS, who knows?
Does help you spot lethal, that's for sure.
Indeed. I think I play really fast because I can do math quickly.
"I've always preferred ladder but after GosuGamers partnered with Blizzard to awards points, I decided to give it a try."
Ya, those were some really fast semis and grand finals! Were all your games before that as fast? Wasn't there an opponent that gave you some trouble?
Most of my games were that fast. Believe it or not, the biggest trouble I got was my internet connection. At the moment, there is a huge issue with the internet in entire Vietnam. I lost a few games from round 2 to round 5 due to disconnection. Somehow, I made it to the end and won the whole tournament.
If I have to give a name, it should be my opponent in quarterfinals. He played really well and I only beat him after five intense games.
You said you're primarily a ladder player, but ladder strategies don't always work in tournaments. How did you adjust your decks and playstyle coming into GosuCup SEA?
All my decks were what I played on ladder. I just had to pick the right classes to beat everyone. Even if I dropped a game at some point, I still had favorable matchups most of the time.
I know many Southeast Asian players look to the big names from the west as a learning experience. Do you follow any particular player in order to improve your gameplay?
I really like Dog from Complexity Gaming. He plays really fast at highest levels, while explaining his thought process every single turn. I learned how to play druid from him. Another player I want to shout out is SuperJJ - the best rogue player in the world in my opinion.
So you're like a die-hard Complexity fan, eh? Because JJ is also with Complexity now.
Haha, that's a coincidence isn’t it?
Well they just recently picked him up, they're looking to make a strong team for sure.
Yeah, JJ deserves a decent team like Complexity. I've been following his stream for a long time and I'm really happy he finally gets some recognition.
"I'm still undecided on whether I should be a progamer or not."
Now that there's substantial growth in the SEA region for Hearthstone, is full-time progamer becoming something you want to pursue, even if you're still primarily a ladder player? I know many of the past champions said they really want to do it, but the scene was too small last year for this to be an option.
I'm still undecided on whether I should be a progamer or not. What I do know is that I really want to compete at Blizzcon 2015 and I'm working really hard on it. You can call me a points collector.
Do you like that the GosuCup's are SEA-only or would you rather they were open to other regions too so you can test your skill against a larger variety of players?
I don't mind if GosuCup is open to other regions too. I'm not scared of any specific region.
Do you think the SEA players are up to par with NA and EU?
We have a lot of good players like Chalk or zGGLeoz. They have proven themselves against Western players many times.
Well, I think we can wrap this up, man! Any final words to the camera?
I would like to thank GosuGamers for giving us a chance to play competitive HS every weekend. I know you guys have to work really hard to organize everything flawlessly. Keep up the good work!
