An interview with Jonathan 'DarkForce' Belke

Recently taking third place in the Blizzard WCS German Nationals, the Zerg player Jonathan 'DarkForce' Belke is one of the Germany's most talented Starcraft 2 players. I had the opportunity to interview Jonathan and find out a little more about him and his Starcraft 2 career.

Image courtesy of Team Alternate

So you're relatively new to progaming?

Darkforce: I was decent at wc3 like 7-8 years ago and I have played competetively for a long time

 

What about now, do you play any other games alongside SC2?

Darkforce: Yes, I'm playing some diablo 3 right now but generally I don't play much other than sc2.

 

How often do you practice on a normal day? Run us through your routine.

Darkforce: I practise in a couple of sessions over the day, as I lose focus after playing 2-3 hours straight, sometimes earlier. Ideally I play one sessions in the morning, one in the afternoon and a bit more in the evening with breaks inbetween. Right now I mainly focus on my health and to fix issues with stress, so I'm not practising all too much.

 

Do you change anything about the way you practise just before a tournament? For instance, do you practice more or do anything else to get into the right mindset?

Darkforce: Before tournaments I like to practise specifically the maps and the matchup that I will have to play for that custom games are best. Hour wise I practise about the same as normally, sometimes maybe a bit more, but definitely not much more, because I dont want to get too exhausted.

 

Are those practice games often amongst your team-mates? Alternate has a very strong lineup, which must be useful to practice against.

Darkforce: Yes, often its with teammates, but if noone is around, I will just msg people I have in my friendlist on bnet.

 

You said you've been working on overcoming problems with stress. Could you go into that, explain how it affects your game etc?

Darkforce: Sometimes I just feel very exhausted and I lose focus quickly and things like that. I'm not sure what the effects are exactly to be honest, but I guess mainly that.

 

How important in general would you say the correct mindset is to success in pro gaming, compared to mechanics and practice for example?

Darkforce: I think a good minset is very important. I mean its hard to say you need x amount of good mindset etc. but good mindset is very important to be successful longterm.

 

How do you feel about each matchup in SC2 right now? Do you have a favourite/least favourite?

Darkforce: To play I'm fine with all of them but I like ZvT a bit better than ZvZ and zvz a bit better than zvp. To watch I think my favorite is ZvT

 

So do you watch tournaments for enjoyment, like for instance MLG this weekend?

Darkforce: Yes sometimes I watch just for fun but a good amount of time when im watching things I do it to learn and write down build orders. Oftentimes in GSL I dont watch it live but I will go back and watch vods of games where zerg won ^^

 

Do you have any favourite players to watch, maybe a fellow Zerg you respect in particular?

Darkforce: DRG and Nestea are the ones I learned the most from, oh and recently I really liked symbol.

 

Are you looking forward to heart of the swarm? Do you think it will shake up the pro scene to the extent that Broodwar did, or will top players etc stay mostly the same?

Darkforce: Hmm, thats very hard to say. but i think it will mostly stay the same. And yes im looking forward to it, altho right now im not so happy with what zerg gets in multiplayer, except for the viper that is! But there is still a long time till release ^^

 

DarkForce (left) and Socke (right) at WCS German Nationals - Image courtesy of Team Alternate

 

What is it about pro gaming that you enjoy the most?

Darkforce: Being able to do something that I am motivated for and that I'm good at is most important to me, and I really like that I get to travel to other countries. Also that I'm rather free in how to divide my time and when I work etc.

 

What are your goals for the rest of 2012?

Darkforce: I would like to win the EPS in germany, and - if there is sc2 included – I would like to qualify for WCG in China. Of course I would also like to get a good placement at an international event like dreamhack, assembly etc, but with the increasing amount of koreans participating there, that is not so likely.

Oh and I would like to qualify for as many IEM events as possible as their prize structure is not as topheavy as for example dreamhack, and I'd actually have a decent shot at getting to top4.

 

What about for the wider future? Do you see yourself playing SC2 for quite a while to come? Any big plans like a move to Korea etc?

Darkforce: I would like to play SC2 for as long as possible and even afterwards I would like to stay in eSports (be it playing a new game or do something else). I have no plans to move to korea, and that probably wont change any time soon either, as the German EPS is very important for my team and you have to live in germany to be allowed to play in it. Alternate is one of the few reliable teams, so I want to stay.

 

I think we're pretty much done, but I have to ask; what class do you play in Diablo 3?

Darkforce: I have a lvl 60 wizard, a lvl 50 demonhunter, a lvl 57 hardcore barbarian (that died a few hours ago) ^^ Most time I played the wizard, but it got boring.

 

My condolences! Well, any shoutouts/final words?

Darkforce: Thanks to Alternate for supporting me for 2 years already. also, you can follow me on facebook/sc2darkforce and on twitter @atndarkforce

 

Thanks to DarkForce and team Alternate for taking the time to speak with us!