Special Talks: Future of SC2, Reddit Hate, & more… At Dreamhack Atlanta 2022

StarcraftHistorian: You qualified for GSL Super Tournament 2 correct? What are your expectations for that event?

Special: I play against Gumiho in the first round. I played him in the qualifiers and sometimes in the past and we always have close games, so I think I can beat him, and then from there I don’t know, but I can advance from the first round at least.

StarcraftHistorian: How do you feel about your TvT at the moment?

Special: I’m either very on or very off, I’m pretty good, or pretty awful.

StarcraftHistorian: So you were in Korea for a long time, then during COVID you went back to Mexico, how long ago did you get back to Korea?

Special: I’ve been there for about 4 months.

StarcraftHistorian: So, how have you felt as a foreigner in Korea? Any weird experiences?

Special: No, not anything strange. It can be a little lonely, if you don’t speak the language your experience may be different. But for me, since I speak some Korean, I get along pretty easily.

StarcraftHistorian: Has your Korean gotten really good now?

Special: Not really good, but it’s good enough to communicate, share some thoughts. I’m not fluent, but it’s not too bad.

StarcraftHistorian: Do you think you’re going to stay in Korea for a while longer?

Special: Yeah I think so, I like it there a lot, better than Mexico. I had to go back to Mexico for a long time, so I’m just enjoying my time there again.

StarcraftHistorian: How do you feel about the overall health of the Starcraft 2 scene right now?

Special: You know, sadly, with the whole Blizzard situation, I don’t really know what’s going to happen. I don’t feel so great, you know, you just start to go along with things, whatever is going to happen is going to happen with Starcraft 2. You can’t focus on what if, what if, what if, you’ll feel too bad.

StarcraftHistorian: Sometimes there’s a lot of negativity directed at you on Reddit Starcraft, do you read that stuff a lot?

Special: Actually I don’t read it a lot, but for example I posted on there about not getting paid from Nationwars, and I saw a couple very hateful comments. I just laughed, why would I lie about not getting paid $200. Like bro, it’s not like I got first place. I just shared it because I wanted to see if it was true with the other players as well, that they weren’t paid. But honestly, like, to each their own man, you can say whatever you want, it doesn’t affect me. I stopped caring about things like that.

StarcraftHistorian: Why do you think there’s a lot of hostility toward you in communities like r/Starcraft?

Special: I don’t even remember, I think people are still mad at me for things I did when I was a kid.

StarcraftHistorian: That’s what I’ve always thought as well, it seems like people have held onto stuff you may have done as a teen. You’re an adult now.

Special: Yeah it’s confusing I don’t know. There are also good people on there that support me though, you know, you can’t please everyone.

StarcraftHistorian: What are your thoughts on Frost Giant, and Stormgate?

Special: I have high expectations. I hope it’s great, I hope it goes well, I hope it’s a really good game. If it’s good, like that, I will really consider playing it, streaming it, all that stuff. It seems like a natural situation for Starcraft 2 players to move over to it, if it’s a good game.

StarcraftHistorian: Do you think there’s going to be a mass migration over to Stormgate?

Special: From Starcraft 2?

StarcraftHistorian: Yeah.

Special: I think so, If the game is good I think just about everyone will switch. IF the game is good.

StarcraftHistorian: I’ve seen that you’ve been playing some Starcraft 1 recently, at Tasteless LAN Party and stuff like that, how’ve you been enjoying that?

Special: Ah, I just played a couple games because Tasteless asked me to. I was really good at Brood War when I used to play a lot. I haven’t played a lot in a long time though. It’s a game I do enjoy a lot, it’s a very fun game.

StarcraftHistorian: Do you feel like it’s a better game, compared to Starcraft 2?

Special: For me personally, it’s a little biased because I played it (Brood War) for so long, but I really do feel it’s better. Starcraft 2 is also very good, but there’s something back in Brood War, when you lose, you really feel it’s because of you. Not because of a little strategy or something.

StarcraftHistorian: It seems like there’s a lot more mechanical control in Brood War.

Special: Exactly, the game is hard to understand. Just overall, the game is WAY too hard, just WAY too hard for the average person.

StarcraftHistorian: Do you go and spectate the ASL matches or anything like that?

Special: Na, I stopped doing stuff like that. I really enjoy Brood War, but I just try to stay focused on my Starcraft 2 skill.

StarcraftHistorian: Well thank you so much Special, it was great talking to you!

Special: Yeah of course.