The Go4SC2 series is run by ESL as an ongoing monthly tournament ladder for StarCraft2 players who are looking to challenge themselves by competing against some of the best players on the ladder. Every month the sixteen players who won the most Go4SC2 points are invited to the monthly €600 Go4SC2 Finals. You can count on most of those invites to go to established professional players, but here we would like to highlight the underdogs, the dark horse contestants who slip under the radar despite the epic play that qualified them to compete against Europe's best.



Matiz



Mateusz "Matiz" Kowalski may not be a name you recognize, unless you really are deeply engaged in the StarCraft2 scene. One of the most prolific players in online tournaments and a regular in both the Go4SC2 and Americas Open tournaments at ESL, Matiz has shown himself to be an absolute workhorse in StarCraft2 competition.



In fact, the dedication that Matiz showcased over the last year made him a standout candidate for this special edition of the Go4SC2 Spotlight. Looking back an almost a full year of Legacy of the Void and StarCraft2 competition, the Zerg player from Poland is a portrait of what hard work and dedication can accomplish.



Get ready to meet one of the hardest working players in all the RTS genre, a well-spoken fountain of knowledge and experience, and deferentially one of the best players you may have never heard of.



The Interview:

Hello Matiz! Those of us involved in the ESL StarCraft 2 community certainly recognize your name after this last year, but would you mind introducing yourself?



Hey! I'm Mateusz "Matiz" Kowalski, 24 years old Zerg from Poland. I play RTS games for a living, for almost 2 years already. I was one of the best players in the world in Supreme Commander, C&C Red Alert 3, Planetary Annihilation and GreyGoo.



I switched to Starcraft 2 in WoL and I played it with some significant breaks. I used to be a head coach in polish pro-house Ministry of Win, where among others I coached Snute. Then in 2014 I was a head coach of polish team Skill Forge. Once Legacy of the Void was released I decided to give playing Starcraft another try and I'm playing full time, while sustaining myself from private coaching.



Wow, now that is some impressive RTS lineage! You have been playing prolifically in online events, especially the Go4SC2 and America's Open events held here by ESL. Do you have any particular runs, matches or opponents that stick out for you from the past year?



Yeah, I've adopted the strategy of Nerchio, as he claims that playing as many online cups as possible is best way to improve. I've played so many of them that they are kind of one big blur, but I would say probably



I also remember decent run in Super then lost in semi-finals vs Soul, but it was pretty close. (



I was also pretty happy to take out Namshar in







Matiz eliminating Namshar in Go4SC2 Cup #611



You've qualified for the Go4SC2 Monthly Finals twice this year, in June and September, how was it taking part in those events?



It was nice experience, playing vs the best players, the prizes were only for top 4, so I knew that I had no chance of winning. I was happy that I took out Socke but then I got completely rolled by elazer.



It was great practice, but losing to pros can be also a bit tiresome, when it happens over and over again.



Obviously you've come up against a lot of Pro-Players from all over the globe; how do you prepare to play the best of the best, is mentality just as important as mechanics?



Yes, absolutely! Mindset has a massive influence, maybe even 60%, over the result of the game. If you think you are worse than someone else, you might play different strategies that normal, or you can undervalue your current position in the game. You are also more prone to panic moves.



That's why before games I always remind myself to just stick to my normal strategies and that I'm just playing human players and they are beatable. Then I focus on executing my macro builds, because then it's the best practice, even if I lose to someone good, he will highlight wrong assumptions that I have about the macro game, or he will expose my lack of mechanics or other mistakes. Unless I'm playing an actual game for money, then no holds barred with cheesing or mindgames!







Snute putting the pressure on his former coach Matiz in Go4SC2 Cup 602



We've been talking about what you've achieved, but how about a little on How you've achieved. Is there a particular style of Zerg you stick with, maybe some style between the range of Bly to Stephano (Micro vs Macro)?



Stephano is not enough! My favourite Zerg players of all time are Nestea, Idra and Ret. You clearly can see a pattern there. I like to rely on macro, building tons of drones, constructing well thought-out unit compositions and relying on defensive timings. When I hit, I hit once but I hit hard, with the composition that most likely will be very hard to beat.



Against Protoss I like to rush Broodlords and do timing attack with banelings, queens, broodlords and support units. Against Terran I play MutaLingBane into eventual Infestor broodlord viper queen composition. ZvZ is a bit more freestyle, but I feel more confident defending as well.



From time to time I also develop some crazy all-ins, like 1 base ravager bust vs Terran or proxy hatch ravagers vs Protoss. I think certain dose of unpredictability is important, that's why I mixed in a couple of those.



You've been working very hard in competition this year, and as you said above you've already made StarCraft your profession which is incredibly impressive. But are there bigger StarCraft2 or eSports dreams fueling all that effort?



When I was 13 years old someone told me you could win 50$ when you play online RTS tournaments. I've read about it a bit more and then the 13 year old Matiz dreamed that he wanted to do this for living.



Well, here I am, 11 years later, doing it.



So I'm already very happy with it and this is and was my main goal. Obviously there are sub-goals that are connected with it, like eventually qualifying to WCS, and I'm practicing hard to make it happen. I'm not super attached to Starcraft 2 though. If there is going to be other RTS that offers similar career and e-sport possibilities I might switch. However, it seems like there is none and most likely won't be one for long time, that's why I'm investing all my time into StarCraft2.



So my current goal is to qualify to WCS event in 2017. It's going to be super hard, but nothing is impossible!



That's awesome, I'm sure 13 year old Matiz would be proud! Well you certainly seem to be from the right country for SC2 success at the moment. Poland has an amazing StarCraft2 scene right now, have your fellow countrymen been inspiring and/or helping you along the way?



Yes, I discuss a lot of strategies with Nerchio and he's really helpful. From time to time I ask Elazer about strategies as well. My main protoss practice partner is ArT who was highlighted some months ago in

Actually in the past, I was the one helping those up-and-coming players in Poland during WoL and HoTS era. I was coach of ArT for half a year, I used to help SouL tons and also I was giving some advice to Elazer.



Surprisingly, I would say that Poland is not such a great country for breaking out. For example for WESG, Poland received two spots. That was Elazer and Nerchio. Then in the finals of Europe qualifiers there were... Elazer and Nerchio. So I'd have to have skill of top2 Europe player to qualify for WESG europe, that's not easy.



Now we touched on this a bit earlier, but now is your chance to really Wax Lyrical: Are there any particular SC2 heroes you draw inspiration from, and why are they all Nestea?



Troy: OMG Nestea & Idra my all-time oldschool favourites!

Matiz: cool :D

Matiz: im such a fanboy of nestea

Matiz: like little girls in front of bieber

Troy: he was soooooo good, such a boss

Matiz: check this

(note that the speed of this link being posted leads me to assume that Matiz has a desktop full of Nestea GIFs, a essential part of playing Zerg at a professional level)

OMG Nestea & Idra my all-time oldschool favourites!cool :Dim such a fanboy of nestealike little girls in front of bieberhe was soooooo good, such a bosscheck this gif out haha! indeed a boss(note that the speed of this link being posted leads me to assume that Matiz has a desktop full of Nestea GIFs, a essential part of playing Zerg at a professional level)

Show/hide Non-Professional Gushing over Old School SC2 Pros



I like solid answers to problems that arise in starcraft 2. I always ask myself - "What if my opponent doesn't make a mistake”? When you watch many Zergs play - you see that they very often count that their opponent would make a mistake.



Let's say you watch recently Dark or Stephano doing 200/200 supply roach ravager all-in vs Terran. I look at that and I think, but if Terran sees it coming and builds 2-3 bunkers in front of mass tank line, he should hold it easily right? Then I practice it with SouL and he does this and he actually stops it. So I'm disappointed when I see that, supposedly the best Zerg on planet bases his build on the fact that Terrans don't know that you have to build 2-3 bunkers now to defend third and hold the attack.



And when you watched Nestea play, you saw none of that. When he did an attack my thinking was never "What if terran does this and this? This won't work then." It was usually "Shit, this is so smart, I don't think Terran has actually a counter to this unit composition" That's why he was so good! Ret and Idra also had that spark in their gameplay but to a lesser degree, Idra wasn't that adaptive as Nestea.



Troy: well said! Honestly i just loved idra for his bm back when he was still top notch

Matiz: haha yeah, me too

Troy: he was a hell of a show

Matiz: agreed. also he was very often right, just framing it in unpopular way

Matiz: or well, maybe popular actually

Matiz: rough way

Troy: to bad it wasn't an act after all



Show/hide More Non-Professional Gushing over Old School SC2 Pros



I'd like to thank you for a fantastic interview Matiz, and leave you with the last words to the fans!



Thank you for having me. I'd like to thank my fans for cheering and supporting me.



If you would like to support me, buy coaching from me! It's 12$/hour and I have 15 pages of A4 of builds and I'm pretty sure with my experience it's going to help you a lot :D



I'd also want to thank my team



It is no exaggeration to say that Matiz has played in hundreds of online events in 2016, making himself a staple figure in all of ESL's online community events. His play has improved, his mentality remains positive, and the hard climb up the ladder to professional StarCraft2 competitor will continue for the Polish RTS workhorse into 2017. He is proof that hard work and dedication can make your dreams come true, a great example for any player looking to make the leap into professional gaming.



2016 may have drawn to a close, but there is still one final Go4SC2 event that needs to be decided before the book can be closed on the year: The December Go4SC2 Monthly Finals, being held Tuesday, 10th January 2017 at 19:00 CET (10:00 PST).



Go4SC2 Europe December Finals



Qualified Players and Preview

Date: Tuesday, 10 January 2016

Start: 18:00 CET (10:00 PST)

Size: 16 Players

Structure: Single Elimination

Prizes: €600 Prize Pool

Coverage: ESL TV Poland - TaKeTV - Pomi - Wardi



GGs in 2016 Matiz, we can't wait to see what you can do this year and GL and HF in the future!



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Good luck, have fun,

Your ESL Staff

Follow @Troy_SC2 Today's spotlight is on:Mateusz "" Kowalski may not be a name you recognize, unless you really are deeply engaged in the StarCraft2 scene. One of the most prolific players in online tournaments and a regular in both the Go4SC2 and Americas Open tournaments at ESL, Matiz has shown himself to be an absolute workhorse in StarCraft2 competition.In fact, the dedication thatshowcased over the last year made him a standout candidate for this special edition of the Go4SC2 Spotlight. Looking back an almost a full year of Legacy of the Void and StarCraft2 competition, the Zerg player from Poland is a portrait of what hard work and dedication can accomplish.Get ready to meet one of the hardest working players in all the RTS genre, a well-spoken fountain of knowledge and experience, and deferentially one of the best players you may have never heard of.Hey! I'm Mateusz "Matiz" Kowalski, 24 years old Zerg from Poland. I play RTS games for a living, for almost 2 years already. I was one of the best players in the world in Supreme Commander, C&C Red Alert 3, Planetary Annihilation and GreyGoo.I switched to Starcraft 2 in WoL and I played it with some significant breaks. I used to be a head coach in polish pro-house Ministry of Win, where among others I coached. Then in 2014 I was a head coach of polish team Skill Forge. Once Legacy of the Void was released I decided to give playing Starcraft another try and I'm playing full time, while sustaining myself from private coaching.Yeah, I've adopted the strategy of, as he claims that playing as many online cups as possible is best way to improve. I've played so many of them that they are kind of one big blur, but I would say probably The Series vs Pox when I was in finals of Americas Open when I was closest to winning it ( Full VoD here! ).I also remember decent run in Go4SC2 Cup Europe #623 when I eliminatedthen lost in semi-finals vs, but it was pretty close. ( Russian/Polish VoD English VoD ).I was also pretty happy to take outin Go4SC2 611 . Other than that, It's always the same stuff - running into a Korean or WCS pro at some point, losing and learning valuable lessons!It was nice experience, playing vs the best players, the prizes were only for top 4, so I knew that I had no chance of winning. I was happy that I took outbut then I got completely rolled byIt was great practice, but losing to pros can be also a bit tiresome, when it happens over and over again.Yes, absolutely! Mindset has a massive influence, maybe even 60%, over the result of the game. If you think you are worse than someone else, you might play different strategies that normal, or you can undervalue your current position in the game. You are also more prone to panic moves.That's why before games I always remind myself to just stick to my normal strategies and that I'm just playing human players and they are beatable. Then I focus on executing my macro builds, because then it's the best practice, even if I lose to someone good, he will highlight wrong assumptions that I have about the macro game, or he will expose my lack of mechanics or other mistakes. Unless I'm playing an actual game for money, then no holds barred with cheesing or mindgames!Stephano is not enough! My favourite Zerg players of all time areand. You clearly can see a pattern there. I like to rely on macro, building tons of drones, constructing well thought-out unit compositions and relying on defensive timings. When I hit, I hit once but I hit hard, with the composition that most likely will be very hard to beat.Against Protoss I like to rush Broodlords and do timing attack with banelings, queens, broodlords and support units. Against Terran I play MutaLingBane into eventual Infestor broodlord viper queen composition. ZvZ is a bit more freestyle, but I feel more confident defending as well.From time to time I also develop some crazy all-ins, like 1 base ravager bust vs Terran or proxy hatch ravagers vs Protoss. I think certain dose of unpredictability is important, that's why I mixed in a couple of those.When I was 13 years old someone told me you could win 50$ when you play online RTS tournaments. I've read about it a bit more and then the 13 year old Matiz dreamed that he wanted to do this for living.Well, here I am, 11 years later, doing it.So I'm already very happy with it and this is and was my main goal. Obviously there are sub-goals that are connected with it, like eventually qualifying to WCS, and I'm practicing hard to make it happen. I'm not super attached to Starcraft 2 though. If there is going to be other RTS that offers similar career and e-sport possibilities I might switch. However, it seems like there is none and most likely won't be one for long time, that's why I'm investing all my time into StarCraft2.So my current goal is to qualify to WCS event in 2017. It's going to be super hard, but nothing is impossible!Yes, I discuss a lot of strategies withand he's really helpful. From time to time I askabout strategies as well. My main protoss practice partner iswho was highlighted some months ago in ESL interview as well.Actually in the past, I was the one helping those up-and-coming players in Poland during WoL and HoTS era. I was coach of ArT for half a year, I used to help SouL tons and also I was giving some advice to Elazer.Surprisingly, I would say that Poland is not such a great country for breaking out. For example for WESG, Poland received two spots. That was Elazer and Nerchio. Then in the finals of Europe qualifiers there were... Elazer and Nerchio. So I'd have to have skill of top2 Europe player to qualify for WESG europe, that's not easy.I like solid answers to problems that arise in starcraft 2. I always ask myself - "What if my opponent doesn't make a mistake”? When you watch many Zergs play - you see that they very often count that their opponent would make a mistake.Let's say you watch recently Dark or Stephano doing 200/200 supply roach ravager all-in vs Terran. I look at that and I think, but if Terran sees it coming and builds 2-3 bunkers in front of mass tank line, he should hold it easily right? Then I practice it with SouL and he does this and he actually stops it. So I'm disappointed when I see that, supposedly the best Zerg on planet bases his build on the fact that Terrans don't know that you have to build 2-3 bunkers now to defend third and hold the attack.And when you watched Nestea play, you saw none of that. When he did an attack my thinking was never "What if terran does this and this? This won't work then." It was usually "Shit, this is so smart, I don't think Terran has actually a counter to this unit composition" That's why he was so good! Ret and Idra also had that spark in their gameplay but to a lesser degree, Idra wasn't that adaptive as Nestea.Thank you for having me. I'd like to thank my fans for cheering and supporting me.If you would like to support me, buy coaching from me! It's 12$/hour and I have 15 pages of A4 of builds and I'm pretty sure with my experience it's going to help you a lot :DI'd also want to thank my team Dust Gaming for supporting me and I'll do my best to bring you the best games in future. I also plan to start some Zerg strategy guides in January, so follow me on @MatizSejong and on Facebook to get info about it. Cheers!It is no exaggeration to say that Matiz has played inof online events in 2016, making himself a staple figure in all of ESL's online community events. His play has improved, his mentality remains positive, and the hard climb up the ladder to professional StarCraft2 competitor will continue for the Polish RTS workhorse into 2017. He is proof that hard work and dedication can make your dreams come true, a great example for any player looking to make the leap into professional gaming.2016 may have drawn to a close, but there is still one final Go4SC2 event that needs to be decided before the book can be closed on the year: The December Go4SC2 Monthly Finals, being held GGs in 2016, we can't wait to see what you can do this year and GL and HF in the future!If you have any feedback - bad or good - about anything we are doing in StarCraft II then please let us know in the forum Good luck, have fun,Your ESL Staff Troy , Wednesday, 04/01/17 06:28