First Non-Korean Interview with Jung "Fantasy" Myung Hoon

Often called the Silver Terran, and the Crown Prince, Jung "Fantasy" Myung Hoon allowed me to interview him, his first ever foreign interview. Fantasy is a member of the SK Telecom T1 team, and is currently playing in Season 5 of the GSL.

 

You are referred as the genius, but yet unorthodox strategist, What is your mindset going into a tournament / match?

Fantasy: I look at the replays of the player I will be playing against and look for weaknesses. Then, I feel confident going into the game believing that I can defeat anyone.

 

There are some players that build and practice strategies until they are satisfied, then there are those who just go with a random untested build to see if it works. Which of those roles would you say fit you?

Fantasy: At the start of my debut, I used untested builds in tournaments but now I am using only tested builds. This has significantly improved my win rate.

 

How does having Boxer as a coach help you in your transition into StarCraft 2?

Fantasy: Boxer has taught me the differences in Terran between Brood War and SC2 and even the interfaces.

 

There are times where you show flashes of brilliance, and styles of plays similar to KT Rollsters Flash, would you say he is an influence? Sometimes you are even compared to Flash, does it make you nervous / lose focus in trying to become a better player or does it do the exact opposite ?

Fantasy: Since amateur times we have shared very similar strategies. However, our styles are very different from each other so its hard to compare.

 

Going into this GSL and the future OSL, what are your expectations?

Fantasy: I am preparing for the Code A Round 2 and reaching Code S is my current goal in GSL and the round of 8 is my next goal for the Star League.

 

There is a quote by one of your coaches, saying that you often practiced by yourself as to not bother any of your teammates, has that changed since then?

Fantasy: I don't think I would agree with that. I share strategies with my teammates and practice a lot. I even sometimes practice and share strategies with other team members.

 

With future expansions on the horizon, where do you see yourself in 1 - 2 years?

Fantasy: The Heart of the Swarm will change the general trend of the game. But I believe that people who were good in WoL will keep being good at it. Myself in 1-2 years? I hope I will still be a gamer and working hard to become better.

 

On a different topic, do you currently play the Heart of the Swarm beta? (Follow up question) What's your opinion of it?

Fantasy: I played some and realized that zerg and protoss are stronger than terran in many ways. I hope the further balance patches will fix that up.

 

If you were to recommend something to Blizzard what would it be?

Fantasy: I would wish to ask Blizzard to give constant attention and continuous support to make Starcraft 2 the best game ever.

 

Here are some community question please answer them!

From ...What: "Do you feel like your finals appearance in the last BW OSL delayed your skill growth at SC2 compared to the other KeSPA players?"

Fantasy: I do not believe so. It is true that I have started a little bit later, but I have worked harder to become better and now I think I am on par with everybody else.

 

From GhoSt[shield]: "After 5 appearances in the OSL Finals with 2 back-to-back appearances, how do you feel about career so far? Could you describe the feelings you went through as the played each OSL Final?" Follow up question: "Do you feel like not enough credit is given to you because of the 4 silvers. 5 OSL Finals is a big deal."

Fantasy: I am content but I do feel some regrets. It saddens me to see that I have lost many finals with the score of 3:2, where I could have worked a little harder to have been the winner. Because of that, I am trying to find forget the past matches and work harder in the future.

 

From lysergic: "Are you aware that MLG has been releasing POV VODs of many of the games played in MLG vs Proleague Invitational? This is essentially the same as releasing replays, how do you feel about this?"

Fantasy: I believe its a good thing. I am happy that the fans can see more of my games. I hope to do well in the future and get more views.

 

From Caihead: "Do you think SKT T1's legacy will persist into SC2?"

Fantasy: Yes I believe the legacy will continue. There is Rain and other members are all top level. We will continue our legacy as one of the best teams even in Starcraft 2.

 

From Archas: "In Brood War, the gap between a top-tier professional player and an average professional player was incredibly wide, to the point where it was nearly unheard of for an unknown to take sets (let alone individual games) off of the best players. That gap has lessened considerably in StarCraft II, where even the best players can have games taken off of them regularly by inferior opponents, due to cheese, maps, or other factors. Do you think that the narrowing of this gap is a good thing? Why or why not?"

Fantasy: Yes I do agree that the skill difference between the top and the average has decreased but I still believe that the top professional gamers can stay on top through continuous practice. I do not think its bad at all.

 

From -TGO-: "In Flash's interview, he stated that if he did leave KeSPA, he would consider joining Team Liquid or Evil Geniuses. What are your thoughts on this? Do you consider the same teams?"

Fantasy: In my personal opinion, I believe that T1 is the best e-Sports team and I am happy to be in this team. I have never really thought of joining any other foreign teams. I currently wish to become a legend within T1.

 

Thank you very much for your time, and I hope you found the interview fun

Is there anything you would like to say?

Fantasy: This is my first time ever actually having an interview that is toward the foreign communities. I greatly appreciate this and hope to see you guys again. I will pay back the support through better games.

I would like to thank again my KeSPA contact Seungyoun Lee, for without him I would have never gotten the chance to interview these amazing players. I would like to thank the Team Dignitas Translator Michael Hwang, and also I would like to thank Kevin "Mograine" Eun for both translating the questions and answers.

I would also like to take this time to apologize for my previous article as I made a name formatting error, using the Western formatting versus traditional Korean formatting. I would also like to say sorry for the delay, but it was unavoidable as I was one of many people affected by Hurricane Sandy that hit the North East. You can follow me on twitter @John_Perd

If you liked this interview, please show some support on Reddit aswell