We caught up with Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen just before he hopped on a plane to attend DreamHack Winter 2011. We get to hear what he thinks of Protoss versus Zerg, his opponents and his thoughts on the year 2011.
Grubby, you've been to DreamHack a couple of times before, with your history in WC3, What are your thoughts entering this winter's DreamHack tournament?
- Possibly going to be the most challenging Dreamhack Winter yet. I don't think I've ever craved a personal stellar DreamHack performance as much as I do now, a performance that would truly make all my fans proud.
Have you had the time to look at your group? What are your thoughts on your opponents SEn, DeathAngel and DeViL?
I saw my group last night. I'm with 3 zergs, and it seems to be like "hard - harder - hardest". Can't underestimate anybody, least of all SEn.
You seemed to have a lot of success versus Zergs in ESWC. What are your thoughts in general on the Protoss versus Zerg matchup?
I feel there is a great pressure for Protoss to end the game before a critical time when there is a lot of money in the bank for Zerg and he has the Broodlord/Infestor combination out. This sometimes leads a Protoss to attack at seemingly stupid junctions (one or two base timing attacks), because of the pressure. But there are also a lot of timing attacks which can catch the Zerg off-guard. Hiding your intentions is very importans as a Protoss in that match-up, whereas Zerg can play more or less the same every game. That's always the case with RTS match-ups, however - one pro-active, one reactive.
How do you feel your shape is right now? Any special matchups you're struggling with or that you feel you've made a breakthrough in?
- Overall I feel good about the progress I've made so far ever since I switched games in January.
This event will sort of "sum up" the European StarCraft 2 year. How do you feel this year has been for you? What will you take with you in 2012?
- It's been a year of ups & downs. My first nice performance was taking 3rd at Copenhagen Games with top European attendance. Then there was winning the €1500 GosuCup and the €1200 GSS. I also got 2nd at IeSF, 4th at ESWC and won a number of online cups. It's pretty nice because switching from WC3 to SC2 wasn't easy for me since the games are so different. I'm still holding out for my first major tournament victory, I won't be satisfied (for a while :P) until I reach that goal... I will enter 2012 as a fully-fledged SC2 pro-gamer who doesn't need to avoid or fear any challenges that come my way.
Any last words from you to your fans or upcoming opponents?
- FOR AIURRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
