WhiteRa: 'All tournaments should envy HDH'

Oleksei 'WhiteRa' Krupnyk needs little introduction as he is one of the most famous and accomplished StarCraft gamers of all time. GosuGamers had the chance to sit down with him and find out what the master of Protoss thinks about the recent tournaments that he took part in.

What were your own predictions about the HDH tournament? Did you believe right from the start that you will win it?
For all tournaments, I put in front of me the goal to reach at least the Top 3. HDH was not an exception.

Looking back, which of the matches was most exciting and which one was the hardest? And what is your opinion on the tournament as a whole?
In a tournament of such scale all games are difficult, but the victory against TLO proved to be the hardest after I was down 0-2. The tournament itself proved to be a huge entertainment and has drawn the greatest attention so far. All other tournaments should envy it.

Did you do any extra preparation for the Grand Final like studying your opponent and his playstyle?
I saw some games of Idra but it is necessary to be prepared for everything. An important part of my preparation is the fact that I played about 20 games against HayPro and Dimaga and I also studied ladder tactics a lot.

IdrA crushed some really good protosses like Orb and Nony in the tournament. Did that make you any anxious or just boosted your will to win?
For what it seemed, I think that their level of macro was not quite enough and that is why they lost.

A lot of people will be talking about this Forge cheese that you did on Kulas Ravine. Was that something you planned to do from the beginning or it was a decision on the moment?
I did not plan it in advance, I took that decision when I saw the 2nd Hatchery before Pool. If I have microed my units better and have put a third Cannon it all would have been successful.

Patch 13 gave a lot of buff to Zergs while nerfing Protoss a little. Did you change you game-plan according to it (for example we didn't see any Void Rays) or you just ignored it and decided to play as solid as ever?
Everyone knows very well that I like Void Rays a lot so at the end I decided not to use them at all.

Did your recent game against Sen help you in any way to defeat Idra?
The games against Sen helped me to get use to the delay on the US sever but it is unpleasant to play like that nonetheless. Also, the games against him helped me understand some errors of mine.

As a whole, how important to you is the effect of the moral boost/nerf throughout tournaments?
As a whole, such boosts or nerfs have little influence on my mood pre-game.

In conclusion, do you have any shoutouts to all your fans out there?
I know that I have many fans and I want to thank them for their support, it really helps. Soon I will have a fansite through which I will also express my gratitude.