Congratulations to our new King of the Hill! 4-0, was that even close to what you expected?
- Thanks! No not at all, I was expecting a close one. 4-3 to either one of us.
When describing his playstyle in an earlier interview, you said he was unpredictable. Looking at today's games, would you say he played predicatbly?
- Yeah, he played the standard HuK play which is the most common strategy for Protoss versus Terran currently. A little different timing on his expansion and units but the plan was the same: Gateway units and Colossi. He adapted the last game though and switched to a high templar opening since he was expecting bio opening again.
"It almost didn't affect me at all"
- SjoW about the new patch
- In Terran versus Protoss it almost didn't affect me at all. I rarely use reapers, only one or two for scouting and map control purposes. And I didn't use tanks pre patch either, except on maps like Steppes of War where the walking distance is close. With the patch change I feel like tanks are almost totally useless in TvP which is a shame since I really started to like the mech play against Protoss right before the patch.
Could you go through the games from your own perspective?
"I was so far ahead in army size I could just run him over even if he had the perfect counter to my army."
- The first game on Blistering Sands I started a very safe build against potential Void Ray and 4 Warpgate pushes since the game can end quickly on that map if youre not prepared for it. He opened a more standard opening, wanting to force the game into mid/lategame. I manage to sneak in some hellions into his probe lines and destroyed his economy. At that point I knew If I waited 2 minutes more my army size would be much greater than his and I would just run over him. - SjoW about game four
Game two on Metalopolis we spawned close position and I predicted a fast zealot pressure and managed to hold it off quite well. After that I made a counter attack and that forced him to pull probes. I kept the pressure and he tapped out after a while.
Game three on Steppes of War was a longer game. He started off with the same zealot pressure as previous game. And I did the same counter attack as the last one without any success. We both expanded and clashed in a big battle in the middle where I came out as the winner.
The last game, on Kulas Ravine was totally different. I opened with a bio exp while he opened gateway units and fast expansion. We were about in the same situation at mid game. But he made HTs rather than Collosus which was a great decision. I was forced to put pressure, so I attacked his front while I dropped his mineral lines. I lost the battle but he lost a lot of his economical advantage. I managed to hold off his counter attack and by that time I was so far ahead in army size I could just run him over even if he had the perfect counter to my army.
"Anyone have ups and down and you have to look at a players overrall result not at a single game"
- SjoW about HuK's performance
- He might have, since the plus five seconds on the zealot but I doubt it. Even if he was he will adapt. He's still the best Protoss I think. Anyone have ups and down and you have to look at a players overrall result not at a single game. And HuK is by far the most accomplished Protoss around.
What do you think of the balance changes all in all, not just for TvP?
- It's a start but zerg is still a little weak and there's some things like forcefield, medivacs thats really need a change. I saw someone who suggested to add hitpoints on the forcefield or make it as a slow instead of a wall which are great ideas. Right now forcefield gives the Zerg army like - 50% dps at least and can do even more if you do them properly. Same goes with Terran but less effective since Terran only have range units except SCVs. Medivacs heal should be nerfed, it really heals too fast to be honest.
IdrA commented that Blizzard patched the state the game was in several weeks ago, do you agree with his comment?
- In the reaper bunker case, yes. Zerg started to adapt to the reaper play so it wasn't that big of an issue as after IEM. But the reaper change is good anyway. I would rather see nitropack upgrade to 100/100 + longer buildtime or even more.
People have been having trouble with pronouncing your nickname. How do you pronounce it, and where does it come from?
- It's Show, and that's how you pronounce it. I wanted to to be original so I switched it to SjoW since it will be said the same in Swedish.
| NVIDIA GosuGamers King of the Hill #3: SjoW vs. HuK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
  SjoW | > |   HuK | @ Blistering Sands | |||||||||||||||||||||
| SjoW | > | HuK | @ Metalopolis | |||||||||||||||||||||
| SjoW | > | HuK | @ Steppes of War | |||||||||||||||||||||
| SjoW | > | HuK | @ Kulas Ravine | |||||||||||||||||||||