yoonstar91 Profile Blog Joined October 2011 88 Posts Last Edited: 2011-12-08 22:37:14 #1 Interview with the new female member of oGs, JongMi







She used to be the best female pro-gamer. Now Seo “ ” Ji Soo (STX) is basically the only remaining female Starcraft 1 pro gamer, but there were times when even the almighty ToSsGirL could not beat her. She left the Starcraft 1 Pro-gaming in 2007, but have now returned as a Starcraft 2 Pro-gamer in the year 2012. Her name is Lee "JongMi" Jong Mi, also known as " ,” now a new member of the team oGs.



is not only beautiful, but have done a lot for e-sports. After leaving the Starcraft 1 pro-gaming life, she continued to support e-sports. She taught the subject “e-sports and games” in the university and have continued to study and support e-sports. She was also active with ongamenet. During all these activities, she also got married in 2011.



The news that MaRie will return to Starcraft 2 was a very exciting news for a lot of the fans. Also after an in-depth interview with her, we realize that she is very committed to her decision and has great potential in becoming successful. She is currently one of the best female Starcraft 2 player out there and have competed against the male pro-gamers in major tournaments in Starcraft 1. Her journey begins now. She is now part of one of the most respected Starcraft 2 team, oGs, and hopes to challenge herself and compete in GSL.



Hi, long time no see. My name is Lee Jong Mi.





It must have been a while since you did an interview. How have you been?



Haha, thanks for interviewing me. I have been teaching in a university and I am also finishing up my Graduate school, therefore I am currently busy studying and writing papers. I have also been doing four projects related to e-sports. I have been working closely with the Korean E-sport Organization and etc. I also try to play games as much as possible. And also, since I’m married, I do housework.



A while ago, you were a Starcraft 1 Pro-gamer. Should we start off the interview by talking about your highlights as a Starcraft 1 pro-gamer?



I have been very active with gaming between the age 24~27. I was also very active with broadcasting after that. After the Female League shut down, I wanted to continue to play. Unfortunately the Major League played by the male pro-gamers were too high of a goal to reach. Therefore I became very active with broadcasting. In 2006, I have won once and I was the runner-up in 2004 and 2005. I have also won a lot of small tournaments. If I remember correctly, I believe the Female League shut down after my victory. I really miss it.



What convinced you to become a Pro-gamer?



When I was a college student, I took a break after my sophomore year. During then, I went to the PC-Bang a lot with my guy-friends. At first, I just wanted to beat them so I practiced Starcraft and I got pretty good at it. At that time, the WCG had a Women’s League therefore I signed up for the qualifier, but could not make it. My first qualifier was the GameTV 4th League. At that qualifier, I lost unanimously to Lee Eun Kyung (Berry) haha. That's when I realized how good the female pro-gamers were and that’s when I started working hard.



During that time, The Female StarLeague was quite popular. How popular were you?



Actually, the Female StarLeague was broadcasted only to few areas. Therefore I don’t think I was that popular haha? Personally, I think I was most popular in 2008, when I got involved a lot with broadcasting. In fact, a lot of people didn’t even know I used to be a pro-gamer. Once I started broadcasting in ongamenet, I became better known. But recently I have been inactive and I think less people recognize me now.



During that time, the top female players were known to be as good as some of the male pro-gamers.



Of course, I was able to win sometimes. Out of the 10 games, I will sometimes win up to 2~3 games. I definitely had a higher chance of winning in a match against Zerg. But once Female Starleague became less popular, I began to lose the urge to practice. That’s when the skill difference became huge between the female and the male pro-gamers. Now with Starcraft 1, the skill level of the male pro-gamers is just incredibly amazing. I don’t think anyone can get better than that. Truthfully, Starcraft 2 is the same way where the Starcraft 2 players are also incredibly good. Therefore my goal is not to beat the male players in Starcraft 2. My goal is to do the best as I can.



You have tried out for StarLeague in the past. I believe ToSsGirL is still trying.



I actually won once in the StarLeague qualifier (haha)! I think I tried it out three times. I think a lot of the players there underestimated me and was taken by surprise. I really respect ToSsGirL for her ability to continually confront the challenge. It’s definitely going to be a challenge though. I am trying out a new path and I am somewhat happy to be trying new things. But I am also nervous because there’s going to be a lot of hard challenges ahead of me. I will always support ToSsGirL and will always respect her decisions.



You have not been able to play in an official ProLeague stage. I’m sure you wanted to play at least once on the ProLeague Stage.



I have never played in the Proleague, but I have been to the stage once for the MBC Game Team League. It was when I was part of the KOR. That was when the “Hatchery Bug” existed in Starcraft 1. Therefore I rallied to my front base and cancelled, but the game suddenly ended and we had to restart the game. I expanded first again in the new game and ended the game fast with an early Zergling play. After that, I never got to play on the stage again. I lacked in practice and I also did not have the urge to become the best during that time. I wasn’t even paid to play for the team (haha). I was also questioning myself whether I’ll be able to accomplish anything working hard as a pro-gamer. But if the team gave me salary, I think I would have worked really hard to improve and be competitive.







From my understanding, you continued to do a lot of stuff with e-sports even after leaving the pro-gaming life?



Even when I was a pro-gamer, I still went to my work. I had a degree with design, therefore I did other things too. After retiring from pro-gaming, I could have moved on with my life, but I loved gaming and e-sports too much. I decided that I should continue studying and that’s where I decided to study e-sports with Professor Lee. The Master program is about 2 ½ years and I am finally almost finished (haha). I want to continue with my PhD, but I really wanted to play games. Therefore I plan to concentrate myself into Starcraft 2 next year.



You also lectured in college on the topic of e-sports? What did you teach the students?



The class was more concentrated toward the gaming industry and creating games. In the beginning, I talked about e-sports a lot, but unfortunately e-sport is not as popular as it used to be. Therefore I ended up helping the students by lecturing them about the gaming industries. I think I am teaching around 10 hours per week.



I believe you were also continually active with the broadcasting. I thought you will continue to be active as a broadcaster.



Even when I was broadcasting, I never regarded it as my main job. If I become obsessed with broadcasting, I feel like I get disappointed a lot whenever things do not work out. Therefore I decided to concentrate on studying. In the future, I want to play games competitively more than broadcasting. But I still want to occasionally do broadcasts relating to Starcraft 2 as long as it does not interfere with my practice.



There’s beginning to be a lot of things one can do for e-sports other than being a pro-gamer.



To be truthful, I don’t think so. I have actually done a project recently about the “Job Analysis.” After the project, I realized that there are much more job opportunities in e-sports than I have expected. But there aren’t a lot that a pro-gamer can do other than playing games. I believe there should be more job opportunities related to e-sports for the retiring pro-gamers.



When returning to Starcraft 2, the most powerful supporter, “Husband”





You have decided to return to the pro-gaming life as a Starcraft 2 Pro-gamer. What convinced you to do so and I am very curious about your personal experience of becoming a Starcraft 2 Pro-gamer.



Originally, I just enjoyed playing the game. I played a lot of 2:2 matchups with my husband. I actually never had much desire to play Starcraft 2. But one day, my husband bought me the Starcraft 2 as a birthday gift and urged me to play. In September, I was invited to an event tournament in China and it was a 1:1 event. I was very nervous and also very excited to be on the stage again. I practice over 40 gamers a day to prepare for the event. I realized that my “urge to win” still existed! The event may not be so important to a lot of people, but that event in China was very important for me. After winning the event, I was very happy and wanted to play in more tournaments and live the life of a pro-gamer once again.



I actually went to the Starcraft 2 event in China with the oGs Team members and when we got back to Korea, Coach Park proposed to me an idea “If you’re going to continue gaming, why don’t you join oGs. I feel like it will really help you improve even more.” I told him I will think about it and it was definitely a hard decision. I am not very young anymore and I’m also married. I was afraid of announcing such news to the public. However, my husband supported me 100% and told me to play. I guess my husband does not like the idea of me being bored in the house (haha). oGs really helps me a lot and I am learning a lot right now.



When did you start playing Starcraft 2. And how did it feel to play it for the first time?



It was very awkward at first. The drones were smaller and the game was kinda boring to me. But after a while, I began to really like the game. There’s a lot of things that a Zerg player has to do in that game. I really like that. The game is also much smoother with better graphics. It really feels weird to play Starcraft 1 after playing Starcraft 2.



Are you going to play Zerg as always? I can only think of Zerg whenever I hear your name.



Of course. I played zerg in Starcraft 1 and I plan to do the same in Starcraft 2. I tried the other races too, but I did not like them much. Zerg is really fun to play, but also very nerve-wrecking because you have to scout a lot. It’s definitely different from Starcraft 1. In Starcraft 1, you just have to get used to the timings, but in Starcraft 2, such is not the case with Zerg.



Zerg in Starcraft 1 is definitely different from Starcraft 2. Have you gotten used to the changes?



At first, Starcraft 2 by itself was very awkward to me. I also played mostly 2:2 Team battles and team games are a bit boring for me. My husband is really good at the game, but 1:1 is more fun for me. Therefore I decided to start playing more 1:1 and I loved it. That’s when I realized: This game is fun! I got used to the game in general after playing a lot of team games.



I believe you participated in the Starcraft 2 Event in China



It was a tournament indeed. The event was to promote the LG 3D Monitors. The event was huge! Moon, Lyn, , and were in the event. Representing China, there were Sky,



Are a lot of the female progamers playing SC2 like you right now?



Nope (haha). I’ve actually met Choi “ ” Ahn Nah recently. She’s just working. All the female pro-gamers are just living their normal life. They’re concentrating on their work than games. I think it’s rare to see someone like me still playing games at this age.



After the release of Starcraft 2, a lot of the retired pro-gamers have actually returned. Has that inspired you to return also?



I have actually waited a long time for Starcraft 2. And this is a new challenge that a lot of pro-gamers have been looking forward to. I’m sure the other pro-gamers feel the same way. The unforgettable feeling of playing on the stage? The feeling of heart beating like crazy. I really want to feel the same sensation I got in the event in China again.







How’s your life been as a member of the oGs team.



Because I have some Masters program to finish up, I haven’t been able to visit the team house a lot. Currently I am just practicing at home. But I do ask my teammates a lot about the strategies and also practice a lot with Coach Park (Coach of oGs team). I feel like I should start preparing myself for the qualifiers now. I’m sure it’s going to be challenging, but it never hurts to try.



How are you practicing? I’m sure it must be hard for you to practice all-day since you’re married.



Whenever I have time, I am practicing. But recently, because of the thesis I have to write, I've been very busy. If I didn’t have to write that paper, I can probably practice all day. My husband is always busy, so he always comes back home very late. Sometimes I wake up early just to practice Starcraft 2.



I believe you’re going to challenge yourself to the GSL. How confident are you?



I actually do not have much expectation of myself for the first qualifier. But my goal is to get into the Code A next year. I am determined to do so. I’m sure the first qualifier will be too much to ask myself, but I hope to win as many games as possible.



Currently in Starcraft 2, there are other female pro-gamers like Aphrodite (Startale) and EvE (SlayerS). Have you encountered them yet?



Nope. But it would be nice to compete with them. I’m not sure if the other players want to do that yet though.



Realistically speaking, how would you rate your skills.



Currently I am ranked 14~15 in the Masters League In Korea. But I still have a lot to learn. I don’t know how good the other female pro-gamers are. I have been in Master League consistently for the past 2 seasons, but my skills are nothing compared to the active pro-gamers. Right now, I am just practicing alone, therefore I have a lot to learn. Surprisingly, a lot of people are actually recognizing my id on the battlenet now.



GSL has been around for over a year now with a lot of star players. Who’s your favorite player? Any player you would like to learn from?



Ever since Starcraft 1, I have always liked ’s (Startale) playing style. Same for Starcraft 2. I actually watched one of July's replays yesterday. (FXO) is definitely good too. I am learning a lot from their replays. For some reason, ’s (IM) playing style does not match well with my playing style. I tend to be very offensive and I just love overwhelming my opponent with units. But recently I have realized that I cant play like that all the time. I have a lot to work on and improve.



It would be nice to have a Female Starcraft 2 League. What are your thoughts on that?



Of course I would love that. Female League is very important to me. Female League is definitely the best way to increase the potentials of the female pro-gamers and help them improve. I believe that having a Female Starcraft 2 League will increase the number of girls playing the game and also increase female fans. That will eventually help GomTV and E-sports grow even larger, naturally.



If girls start playing games that have been dominated by guys, how big of an issue would that be? I sometimes think about how wonderful it will be to have female players participate in the GSTL. It would be nice to make e-sports more accessible for the females. Also I believe that there are beginning to be female league in other games too. If Starcraft 2 does the same, I believe that the game will be promoted even more and become more fun to watch.



Any last words? Your goal in the future?



I will try my best to achieve my goal next year. I am ready to learn and I hope to do well. I believe this is my last chance as a pro-gamer. Even before marriage, I have talked about becoming a Starcraft 2 Pro-gamer. I’m glad I kept that word and I am very happy with the way things are going right now. I hope to continue this good trend and do well. I hope the fans will support me, because fans mean a lot to me. I hope to do really well next year as a Starcraft 2 Pro-gamer.









Original Article

Original Article Written by MengDongWang

Translated by Kevin

Follow me @ She used to be the best female pro-gamer. Now Seo “ ToSsGirL ” Ji Soo (STX) is basically the only remaining female Starcraft 1 pro gamer, but there were times when even the almighty ToSsGirL could not beat her. She left the Starcraft 1 Pro-gaming in 2007, but have now returned as a Starcraft 2 Pro-gamer in the year 2012. Her name is Lee "JongMi" Jong Mi, also known as " maRie ,” now a new member of the team oGs. maRie is not only beautiful, but have done a lot for e-sports. After leaving the Starcraft 1 pro-gaming life, she continued to support e-sports. She taught the subject “e-sports and games” in the university and have continued to study and support e-sports. She was also active with ongamenet. During all these activities, she also got married in 2011.The news that MaRie will return to Starcraft 2 was a very exciting news for a lot of the fans. Also after an in-depth interview with her, we realize that she is very committed to her decision and has great potential in becoming successful. She is currently one of the best female Starcraft 2 player out there and have competed against the male pro-gamers in major tournaments in Starcraft 1. Her journey begins now. She is now part of one of the most respected Starcraft 2 team, oGs, and hopes to challenge herself and compete in GSL.Haha, thanks for interviewing me. I have been teaching in a university and I am also finishing up my Graduate school, therefore I am currently busy studying and writing papers. I have also been doing four projects related to e-sports. I have been working closely with the Korean E-sport Organization and etc. I also try to play games as much as possible. And also, since I’m married, I do housework.I have been very active with gaming between the age 24~27. I was also very active with broadcasting after that. After the Female League shut down, I wanted to continue to play. Unfortunately the Major League played by the male pro-gamers were too high of a goal to reach. Therefore I became very active with broadcasting. In 2006, I have won once and I was the runner-up in 2004 and 2005. I have also won a lot of small tournaments. If I remember correctly, I believe the Female League shut down after my victory. I really miss it.When I was a college student, I took a break after my sophomore year. During then, I went to the PC-Bang a lot with my guy-friends. At first, I just wanted to beat them so I practiced Starcraft and I got pretty good at it. At that time, the WCG had a Women’s League therefore I signed up for the qualifier, but could not make it. My first qualifier was the GameTV 4th League. At that qualifier, I lost unanimously to Lee Eun Kyung (Berry) haha. That's when I realized how good the female pro-gamers were and that’s when I started working hard.Actually, the Female StarLeague was broadcasted only to few areas. Therefore I don’t think I was that popular haha? Personally, I think I was most popular in 2008, when I got involved a lot with broadcasting. In fact, a lot of people didn’t even know I used to be a pro-gamer. Once I started broadcasting in ongamenet, I became better known. But recently I have been inactive and I think less people recognize me now.Of course, I was able to win sometimes. Out of the 10 games, I will sometimes win up to 2~3 games. I definitely had a higher chance of winning in a match against Zerg. But once Female Starleague became less popular, I began to lose the urge to practice. That’s when the skill difference became huge between the female and the male pro-gamers. Now with Starcraft 1, the skill level of the male pro-gamers is just incredibly amazing. I don’t think anyone can get better than that. Truthfully, Starcraft 2 is the same way where the Starcraft 2 players are also incredibly good. Therefore my goal is not to beat the male players in Starcraft 2. My goal is to do the best as I can.I actually won once in the StarLeague qualifier (haha)! I think I tried it out three times. I think a lot of the players there underestimated me and was taken by surprise. I really respect ToSsGirL for her ability to continually confront the challenge. It’s definitely going to be a challenge though. I am trying out a new path and I am somewhat happy to be trying new things. But I am also nervous because there’s going to be a lot of hard challenges ahead of me. I will always support ToSsGirL and will always respect her decisions.I have never played in the Proleague, but I have been to the stage once for the MBC Game Team League. It was when I was part of the KOR. That was when the “Hatchery Bug” existed in Starcraft 1. Therefore I rallied to my front base and cancelled, but the game suddenly ended and we had to restart the game. I expanded first again in the new game and Shark ended the game fast with an early Zergling play. After that, I never got to play on the stage again. I lacked in practice and I also did not have the urge to become the best during that time. I wasn’t even paid to play for the team (haha). I was also questioning myself whether I’ll be able to accomplish anything working hard as a pro-gamer. But if the team gave me salary, I think I would have worked really hard to improve and be competitive.Even when I was a pro-gamer, I still went to my work. I had a degree with design, therefore I did other things too. After retiring from pro-gaming, I could have moved on with my life, but I loved gaming and e-sports too much. I decided that I should continue studying and that’s where I decided to study e-sports with Professor Lee. The Master program is about 2 ½ years and I am finally almost finished (haha). I want to continue with my PhD, but I really wanted to play games. Therefore I plan to concentrate myself into Starcraft 2 next year.The class was more concentrated toward the gaming industry and creating games. In the beginning, I talked about e-sports a lot, but unfortunately e-sport is not as popular as it used to be. Therefore I ended up helping the students by lecturing them about the gaming industries. I think I am teaching around 10 hours per week.Even when I was broadcasting, I never regarded it as my main job. If I become obsessed with broadcasting, I feel like I get disappointed a lot whenever things do not work out. Therefore I decided to concentrate on studying. In the future, I want to play games competitively more than broadcasting. But I still want to occasionally do broadcasts relating to Starcraft 2 as long as it does not interfere with my practice.To be truthful, I don’t think so. I have actually done a project recently about the “Job Analysis.” After the project, I realized that there are much more job opportunities in e-sports than I have expected. But there aren’t a lot that a pro-gamer can do other than playing games. I believe there should be more job opportunities related to e-sports for the retiring pro-gamers.Originally, I just enjoyed playing the game. I played a lot of 2:2 matchups with my husband. I actually never had much desire to play Starcraft 2. But one day, my husband bought me the Starcraft 2 as a birthday gift and urged me to play. In September, I was invited to an event tournament in China and it was a 1:1 event. I was very nervous and also very excited to be on the stage again. I practice over 40 gamers a day to prepare for the event. I realized that my “urge to win” still existed! The event may not be so important to a lot of people, but that event in China was very important for me. After winning the event, I was very happy and wanted to play in more tournaments and live the life of a pro-gamer once again.I actually went to the Starcraft 2 event in China with the oGs Team members and when we got back to Korea, Coach Park proposed to me an idea “If you’re going to continue gaming, why don’t you join oGs. I feel like it will really help you improve even more.” I told him I will think about it and it was definitely a hard decision. I am not very young anymore and I’m also married. I was afraid of announcing such news to the public. However, my husband supported me 100% and told me to play. I guess my husband does not like the idea of me being bored in the house (haha). oGs really helps me a lot and I am learning a lot right now.It was very awkward at first. The drones were smaller and the game was kinda boring to me. But after a while, I began to really like the game. There’s a lot of things that a Zerg player has to do in that game. I really like that. The game is also much smoother with better graphics. It really feels weird to play Starcraft 1 after playing Starcraft 2.Of course. I played zerg in Starcraft 1 and I plan to do the same in Starcraft 2. I tried the other races too, but I did not like them much. Zerg is really fun to play, but also very nerve-wrecking because you have to scout a lot. It’s definitely different from Starcraft 1. In Starcraft 1, you just have to get used to the timings, but in Starcraft 2, such is not the case with Zerg.At first, Starcraft 2 by itself was very awkward to me. I also played mostly 2:2 Team battles and team games are a bit boring for me. My husband is really good at the game, but 1:1 is more fun for me. Therefore I decided to start playing more 1:1 and I loved it. That’s when I realized: This game is fun! I got used to the game in general after playing a lot of team games.It was a tournament indeed. The event was to promote the LG 3D Monitors. The event was huge! NaDa , and MC were in the event. Representing China, there were inFi , and Fly. On the male side, one of the Chinese player won the event. On the female side, I won. There were prize money too. I was so happy to win and that’s when I was inspired to practice even harder.Nope (haha). I’ve actually met Choi “ anna ” Ahn Nah recently. She’s just working. All the female pro-gamers are just living their normal life. They’re concentrating on their work than games. I think it’s rare to see someone like me still playing games at this age.I have actually waited a long time for Starcraft 2. And this is a new challenge that a lot of pro-gamers have been looking forward to. I’m sure the other pro-gamers feel the same way. The unforgettable feeling of playing on the stage? The feeling of heart beating like crazy. I really want to feel the same sensation I got in the event in China again.Because I have some Masters program to finish up, I haven’t been able to visit the team house a lot. Currently I am just practicing at home. But I do ask my teammates a lot about the strategies and also practice a lot with Coach Park (Coach of oGs team). I feel like I should start preparing myself for the qualifiers now. I’m sure it’s going to be challenging, but it never hurts to try.Whenever I have time, I am practicing. But recently, because of the thesis I have to write, I've been very busy. If I didn’t have to write that paper, I can probably practice all day. My husband is always busy, so he always comes back home very late. Sometimes I wake up early just to practice Starcraft 2.I actually do not have much expectation of myself for the first qualifier. But my goal is to get into the Code A next year. I am determined to do so. I’m sure the first qualifier will be too much to ask myself, but I hope to win as many games as possible.Nope. But it would be nice to compete with them. I’m not sure if the other players want to do that yet though.Currently I am ranked 14~15 in the Masters League In Korea. But I still have a lot to learn. I don’t know how good the other female pro-gamers are. I have been in Master League consistently for the past 2 seasons, but my skills are nothing compared to the active pro-gamers. Right now, I am just practicing alone, therefore I have a lot to learn. Surprisingly, a lot of people are actually recognizing my id on the battlenet now.Ever since Starcraft 1, I have always liked July ’s (Startale) playing style. Same for Starcraft 2. I actually watched one of July's replays yesterday. Leenock (FXO) is definitely good too. I am learning a lot from their replays. For some reason, NesTea ’s (IM) playing style does not match well with my playing style. I tend to be very offensive and I just love overwhelming my opponent with units. But recently I have realized that I cant play like that all the time. I have a lot to work on and improve.Of course I would love that. Female League is very important to me. Female League is definitely the best way to increase the potentials of the female pro-gamers and help them improve. I believe that having a Female Starcraft 2 League will increase the number of girls playing the game and also increase female fans. That will eventually help GomTV and E-sports grow even larger, naturally.If girls start playing games that have been dominated by guys, how big of an issue would that be? I sometimes think about how wonderful it will be to have female players participate in the GSTL. It would be nice to make e-sports more accessible for the females. Also I believe that there are beginning to be female league in other games too. If Starcraft 2 does the same, I believe that the game will be promoted even more and become more fun to watch.I will try my best to achieve my goal next year. I am ready to learn and I hope to do well. I believe this is my last chance as a pro-gamer. Even before marriage, I have talked about becoming a Starcraft 2 Pro-gamer. I’m glad I kept that word and I am very happy with the way things are going right now. I hope to continue this good trend and do well. I hope the fans will support me, because fans mean a lot to me. I hope to do really well next year as a Starcraft 2 Pro-gamer.Original Article Written by MengDongWangTranslated by KevinFollow me @ yoonstar91