Without Scarlett and HuK at their best currently, Kane and MaSa are probably today the best ambassadors of the game in Canada. The loyal Terran player from ROOT Gaming managed to qualify for the fifth time in a row for WCS Challenger League. If the last season he had to fall 1-3 against one of the favorites, Hydra, his next opponent (Astrea) should give him a bit more chances.

This week we cross the Atlantic so we can know more about MaSa, a shadow player.

Multiple influences



[M] TinkeR : You said on an interview that StarCraft II was your first competitive game, what aspect seduced you specifically ? Did you play any another RTS before ?

ROOT.MaSa : First of all, being a fan of StarCraft got me into trying the game out when I heard about StarCraft II. Much like some other games I've played, for example bunch of Lord of The Rings game series as I was a big fan of Lord of The Rings. However, these games did not have competitive system as most of them were RPGs and so on.

Out of the games I played before, StarCraft II was the only game with ranking system. I liked playing StarCraft II and really enjoyed watching people play competitively in GSL and so on. Being a fan of the game, and on top of that, being at top of the league made me get into the game a lot deeper. I did play StarCraft before, but just Use Map Settings (UMS). I was really terrible at melee :)

And did you pick Terran from the very beginning ? What made you choose this race more than another ?

Yes! It's all influenced by BoxeR. BoxeR playing this race made me choose this more than another.

Talent to spare



You’re starting to make a name of yourself among the foreigners recently, being able to regularly take down players like Scarlett (even though she’s kind of retired) and HuK.

You’re surely one of the best Terran player in NA and you qualified again (fifth time in a row if I'm correct) for Challenger League. How do you feel about that ? You were even the last pick ?

As you mentioned I got into Challenger League five times in a row, but surely I struggled the most in this season. I always qualified early with not too many problems against my opponents. This time, I had to take the very last spot. I was really afraid that I could not qualify this season. This however removed the over confidence I had. I'm going to try harder than ever to try qualify for the Premier League.

So now we know that you'll face Astrea for this season, how confident are you against him? How does that usually go for you when you face him on ladder for example ?

I haven't seen Astrea play for a while, and I haven't faced him on ladder since last season so I don't know about going up against him, but my TvP is improving as I'm learning how to produce Ghosts!

I understood that you could get nervous when big matches come, is that something you managed to overcome or is that still an issue today ?

I still have issue with it, but I believe that experiences will make me overcome eventually.

This season's WCS finals will take place in Toronto. The last time you were in a big event here were for the IEM last year if I'm correct.

Even though you're not qualified for it yet, would it be an extra motivation or more like an additional pressure for you to play such a big tournament in your country ?

Yes! The last time I was there was during IEM Toronto. Unfortunately, I got 0-2'd twice to get knocked out of the group stage, only showing disappointment. This time, I really want to qualify to show how good I am, at the same place I failed to do so the last time.

Are you at the ROOT house at the moment ? How is it going ?



Yes. Having other players practice beside me forces me to play some games. If I were at home, I'd play about two games per day, so this is really helping me!

StarCraft II in general



We were talking about WCS earlier, what do you think about this new format, now that the season 1 is done?

It really benefits people who got good place previous season, as they can choose players who they think would be easier to go up against. I believe they deserve this kind of benefit.

Let's talk about StarCraft II more globally. There's some balance changes especially with the Swarmhost and all. What do you think of the current metagame/balance ?

I don't have much knowledge about ZvP, but TvZ wise, if Terran goes mech, they certainly have advantage as Terran's « deathball » cannot be stopped. Also, I see a lot of timing windows with mech during mid-late game because Zerg has nothing to stop the Terran army but Roaches and Hydras while transitioning into Hive tech.

If they produce too many Roaches/Hydras to defend, their Hive tech can be too late. I can't suggest anything to support that Zerg's mid-late game, but I believe that's the most crucial needs.

Did you manage to give Legacy of the Void a try ? What are your thoughts so far ?



I only played a few games, so not much thoughts about it other than that I'm against the half mineral patches with reduced resources. Mules will mine them out too quickly.

Thanks for still being awake :D [3AM in Canada] It looks like you're kind of looking up to Maru (I really don't know why!), but among the foreign Terrans, what would be your top 3 ?

That's because my real name is also Maru and he's an amazing Terran player xD Among the foreign Terran, Bunny is definitely top, and then I would say MajOr, but I can't think of a 3rd one XD.

And you?



What about your family and friends, what do they think about your progaming career ?

They don't care because I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just doing what I like for now, and they respect it very well.

Do you have time to have another hobby besides StarCraft II ?



Just some other video games :)

If you didn't manage to be a progamer, do you have an idea of what you would do today ?



I guess just trying my heart out not to get F on courses.

Do you think you'll still be around eSports in five years from now, or this question never really crossed your mind ?



That never really crossed my mind, however I think I won't be around eSports in five years from now. But who knows? ^^

Quick Q&A



Ok :) Now is time for a quick Q&A. I'll give you a word and you'll answer by one as well, ready?



OK

Country

Canada

Movie

Interstellar

Food

Korean Food !

Music

Good

Terran

Non-imba

That concludes the interview, thanks a lot for your time especially at this hour for you! If you have anything to add, or any shoutouts to make please do so !

:) Keep up to date with me with www.twitter.com/rootmasa !! Thanks, bye !



