Photo source: TeamLiquid.net
Operating as a pro-player, caster and coach, Andre "Gretorp" Hengchua is among the most familiar faces on the eSports scene. To share his experiences and visions for the future, Gretorp sat down with his new colleagues at Itsgosu to talk coaching, the NASL and the growth of StarCraft 2.
In early December 2011, Gretorp was contracted by Itsgosu to coach their quickly growing roster, harboring names such as Vibe, Gatored, dde, Ostojiy and Hwangsin. How does Hengchua view his job of tutoring such a diverse roster and what are his primary goals?
The number one thing is I need to join the players together and try to simulate a team house as much as possible. This is probably going to be the toughest thing. The communication factor is the hardest part with the time zones and different schedules, however I think it’s definitely possible.
As the coaching topic unfolds further, Gretorp shares his desire to emulate the principles entailed by coaches like oGsTheWind, how he intends to manage the team as a whole and not the individual players an how he thinks that the lack of a training house which he can call a base of operations will put him and the team in a rough spot. The conversation eventually leads to the point where the difference in Eastern and Western mentality, as far as coaching is concerned, comes to the fore. Gretorp's observation over the problem is the following:
The western scene doesn’t have an ego problem, they have a different understanding of respect. Westerners do not respect you if you talk down to them just because you are older/wiser. They respect you if you talk to them as equals.
Moving away of the question of his duties at Itsgosu, Gretorp assures that he will not cut his obligations as a caster at the North American StarLeague. In fact, Hengchua hints that there will be "some AMAZING stuff" coming and that the NASL will see changes to prize pool, player pool and format alike.
Near the end of the interview, Gretorp takes the time to comment on what he thinks the future holds for StarCraft 2. Both the growth rate of the scene and the possible transition of BroodWar players over to its successor are being examined.
The growth of the game will continue in 2012, although I do think the growth will be slower than 2011. That’s just the normal way of games and sports. We will see jumps right when major tournament begin, but overall we will see a decline in the growth. I don’t think it’ll stop growing in 2012, though, and I think HOTS will time out perfectly to continue the growth and water the seed of eSports even more.
I think Starcraft 1 pros won’t be nearly as strong as people think they will be. They will be amazing because their basics are superior to the world’s, but you won’t see the type of dominance they had in Starcraft 1 due to the skill ceiling of Starcraft II being much shorter.
Links
Itsgosu.com - Source
