This week, our host country will be Germany again, not for its historic structure Mousesports, but for one of its players, GunGFuBanDa. Behind this nickname, borrowed to a DreamWorks movie pronounced by someone with a cold, hides a Protoss player, online cups lover, and with whom we managed to have some words.

First steps

[M] TinkeR : First of all, I'd like to know how did you fall into eSports ? For example, what was the first game you've ever played competitively and how did you end up choosing StarCraft II ?

[PlanetKey]GunGFuBanDa: Well, my first game was WarCraft III. I was around 13 when my brother showed it too me. Then, StarCraft II came out, he bought it and I bought it as well because of him.

Did you ever try Broodwar or was it straight up from WarCraft 3 to StarCraft II ?

It was straight up from WarCraft III to StarCraft II.

And just by curiosity, what race were you playing ?

I was playing Night-elf.

Were you playing Protoss from the very beginning ?

Well, at the beginning I played a game with every race, but I decided to take Protoss because of the mothership.

Yes I guess it does a pretty much good first impression :)

What was your first league placement and what was your reaction the first time you've reached Grandmaster ?

I can't remember correctly but I think it was Platinum. I've been high-Master for about two seasons, it was always my goal to reach Grandmaster. And when finally I got it, I was so happy at this moment :)

Were you following the eSport scene back when you started or not at all? Were you cheering for someone/some team in particular ?

In the beginning, I didn't follow the scene much, I just played for fun. But with the time I watched more streams, and so on. I always cheered for Tarrantius, he was my favourite player at the beginning :)

StarCraft II and the game more globally

And he was one of your teammates when Planetkey Dynamics opened his StarCraft II roster if I'm right. Eventually, he retired but you stayed there and you're still nowadays, how would you describe your practice ? Did it change when joining Planetkey or is it still the same ? How many hours on average you play a day for example ?

Yes he was on the same team as me. He just had problems with his hands but he'll come back I think. Most of the time I practice on ladder or sometimes on custom games. I'm practicing the same way at Planetkey :)

When I had school I had much more time to play but now I have a job so I don't have that much time anymore. Nowadays I'm playing like two or three hours but at weekend I play much more.

Did you ever think about going full-time for some time ? Or are you comfortable with the way you're dealing with your job/your progaming life ?

Yes, I thought about it many times but my parents told me that I should do my apprenticeship first, then maybe I can for one year :) At the moment it's not even close to full-time. I started apprenticeship this september.

Which field do you work in?

I work in IT.

You talked about your parents, how much are they supporting your career ? What about your friends ?

Well, everytime I play they wish me good luck. They support me. They tell their friends that I win money with eSport and I fly to Finland, or I go to Cologne, or something like that. They are kinda proud of me :) It feels good but my mom wants me to focus on school/work first, then on gaming.

OK ! I wanted to talk a bit about the German StarCraft II scene. It looks in a pretty good shape with the involvment of people like TaKe, Khaldor. EPS Germany still going on, etc. Do you feel this way as well ? How does the scene is evolving there ?

First of all, it's a big step for Germany that TaKe gets a new location. All German players are improving because of the Koreans like Golden/Patience and now YoDa/First/HyuN in EPS. I think German players improved a lot.

Definitely Germany is one of the countries where there's the most high level players in Europe. Where would you rank yourself among the other German players ?

I would say that I'm top 5 for sure at the moment, we're close to the same level I think.

OK, what are your expectations for the months to come ? What are your plans for the future ?

Next month, there'll be EPS group stage. I'll try to get to the offline finals, I really want to go there. And of course, it would be great if I go far in next WCS season in 2015! :)

Yes you came pretty close so far in WCS qualifiers, do you think with the upcoming region lock it will globally help or not at all ? Some says that having Koreans "among us" helps raising the level at least a bit, what do you think ?

I think it doesn't matter, well it might help a lot playing against Koreans but of course it is less fun if you always lose to them and that's why some people quit maybe.

Talking about Koreans, do you watch GSL or Proleague ?

When I can I watch it :)

Do you have a favorite team/player or just looking at some Protosses strategy that you may use ?

I don't have any favorite player at the moment, but if he plays a good strategy I maybe try to copy it and play it myself.

Who would you consider the best Protoss player in the world ? And among the "foreigners" ?

It's really hard to say who the best [Protoss] player in the world is, but I think herO is one of the best. Among the foreigners, I think Lilbow/ShoWTimE are the best Protosses at the moment.

Most probably, there'll be some announcements for Legacy of the Void to come at BlizzCon, what are your expectations for it?

I hope that it will be a great add-on, and that it'll be really balanced. And no more shit units like Swarmhost :D. I also expect more people to get back to StarCraft II.

Beside StarCraft II

There's also some rumors about a WarCraft III HD here and there, as a former player, what's your feeling about it?

Maybe I will play some games again then :) for fun

Where do you see yourself in 5 years ?

My apprenticeship will be finished, and I'll be working at my company, maybe my play will be better :)

Where does your nickname come from ? I mean, I understand the "Kung Fu Panda" behind this but why the G and B ?

My brother and I watched the film Kung Fu Panda. After that, I started to play and I wanted to take this as a nickname :D But my brother told me that it was too simple so he put a G instead of K, and a B instead of P.

Do you have any other hobby beside SC2 ?

Partying, ahah. Well, there's not much time left to do something else.

Bonus time !

A bootcamp with you is organized for a whole month, you have to pick one Zerg, one Terran and one Protoss with you, who would you choose and why?

I'd choose Harstem, KrasS and TLO. They aren't maybe the best players but I think it would be very fun, and I think we understand each other so it would be OK I think :D

Do you have any TV show/movie you love to watch?

I like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.

What's your favorite meal/food ?

Döner calzone.

What's your favorite country ?

United States.

Thank you very much for your time, it was a pleasure to know a bit more about you! Do you have any last words for the readers and any shoutout ?

I'd be happy if I get some more likes and followers. Thanks for all who cheer for me and thanks to my team :)

You can follow GunGFuBanDa on Twitter, Facebook and Twitch with the links provided in the presentation sheet, at the top.