Original interview can be found on this link.
In Korean E-sports history, Lee ‘Flash’ Youngho is a very special player. When Flash decided to retire, most of his fans were sad that they would never see him play in E-sport scene. A lot of people attended Flash’s retirement ceremony to be with ‘the Ultimate Weapon’s’ final stage.
After a short break, when Flash came back, many people still welcomed him with warm hearts. At his very first personal broadcasting on 21st in Afreeca TV, his broadcasting could finally be properly started after his channel exploded several times due to the overload of viewers. He had to block chatting to start his broadcasting. On this day, his channel brought a big wave of viewers that peaked at more than 70,000.
As much as he was spotlighted on that day, he told a lot of his stories until it seemed he had no more to say. But we still had the desire to hear more of his stories as a former pro-gamer and now as a personal broadcaster, so we interviewed him on the day after he finished his first broadcasting.
As a typical self-introduction in the beginning of the interview, Flash introduced himself with ‘I am Youngho Lee, a former pro-gamer and a broadcaster who just started my first personal broadcasting’. After a successful broadcast, Flash started to talk about his 9 years of his career and goals for his future.
This feature will be introduced in 2 episodes. The first one is an ordinary interview with him, the second one is about his future.
It seems this is the first interview after your retirement. What have you been doing after your retirement?
Nothing really (Laugh). I had a lot of time to think while taking a rest. Such as plans of what I should do from now on. After I decided to personally broadcast, I was considering how to conduct my broadcasting, and I also practiced Brood War to increase my performance.
Have you come across the thought of, ‘I should continue my career as a pro-gamer’?
Not yet. Sometimes I think of my past but it’s just reminiscing about my career. I have no regrets about retirement. I think it was a good choice. I had worked really hard until the last day of my career, and after retirement, I have not regretted it.
I think you would have received plenty of offers during your vacation, did you have a reason to choose Afreeca TV?
There were many offers to simply do something together. But Afreeca TV was the first one that suggested a detailed contract. They didn’t only suggest to broadcast, but they also prepared complete details of contents and the formula of broadcasting. I could see Afreeca TV’s passion. I also talked with the vice president Jeongwon Chae, I could feel passion from him as well. So I decided to broadcast on Afreeca TV.
But I started broadcasting a little earlier than I expected. I wanted to perfectly prepare in Brood War to show my performance, but because of some matters, I started it earlier. On the contrary I was going to announce the news even earlier that I would start personal broadcasting. It was planned, to announce the start of my personal broadcasting channel on the foundation day of Afreeca freecs team, but due to some issues, it is just publicized with a teaser after the final round of National Starcraft league.
"Brood War and Legacy of the Void are the same in Starcraft."
Do you have a reason to choose Brood War even though you have retired as a Starcraft 2 player?
I chose Brood War for now because I won’t limit myself to one game. Also, I have missed Brood War because I had to almost forcefully move to Starcraft 2. It’s probably not only me, other gamers who used to play Brood War would have the similar feeling. Even some of those who are successful in Starcraft 2 still have the similar feeling about Brood War. Because of that feeling, I started my broadcasting with Brood War. I am planning for my broadcasting to last long, I will also play other games in the broadcasting.
Then, what does Brood War and Starcraft 2 mean to you?
Both games mean the same to me. I have worked hard on both games. Even though I didn’t play well in Starcraft 2 so my record is not as good as Brood War, it doesn’t mean that I don’t like Starcraft 2. Both games are important to me.
But objectively, the amount of attention I used to get as a Brood War gamer is almost 10 times more than Starcraft 2. I am not sure if there would still be a lot of viewers even if I played Starcraft 2 in my first broadcasting. I think people remembered me in the Brood War era and visited my channel.
When I was playing Starcraft 2, there had been repeated bad situations that the final round could not be held outside. I tried to play well so that it can increase people’s attention toward Starcraft 2, but it was not easy. I want junior players to try hard so that Starcraft 2 can be successful. Brood War and Legacy of the Void are the same in Starcraft, I want fans to love both games instead of splitting themselves and shunning each other.
I would also be remembered if young players become successful. Every pro-gamer would have affection to the game they used to play. Maybe not everyone, but I do. It has been 4 years since I played Starcraft 2 as a pro-gamer and it has always been fun to me. Now young players need to lead the way.
You said you’ve played for 4 years in Starcraft 2, have you played Brood War during the period?
Not even one game. I have adjusted to Starcraft 2 with a convenient UI, so I couldn’t play well in Brood War. I need to change my whole gaming habit even in grouping units. My hands don’t move properly in Brood War with a totally different interface.
How did you practice Brood War before your broadcasting?
When I started playing it again, I was confused if this game is the one I used to play. At the beginning, I felt it was a different kind of game. Thinking that I was still playing Starcraft 2 so my hand would still move well, but it was not true. Furthermore, you can’t practice Brood War during daytime anymore due to low number of users. I sneaked in to play when other broadcasters play Brood War for their channel but I couldn’t even play 15 games a day. Even though the pace to increase my skill is fast, it can’t satisfy me with this rate. It could be faster but it is not easy. Also several other obstacles didn’t help me.
And I have never announced my new in-game name, everyone already knew it. Even though my skill is not like what I used to be, if you play a game, you know who your opponent is. I hid myself, Bosung (Sea[Shield]) noticed me saying ‘I’m 100% sure that this is Flash’.
I think you had to prepare for other things aside from gaming.
Because I need to start broadcasting by myself, I learned how to broadcast. But it was not easy. I didn’t have anyone to ask about it. I finished all of the preparation before the broadcasting and Afreeca TV staffs came to help me test everything on that day, we didn’t have a problem. But as soon as I turned on the broadcasting, too many people tried to join my channel and my channel exploded. After a couple times of explosion, I could finally start my broadcasting with the chatting function blocked.
During the broadcasting I was super nervous. I don’t usually drink sport drinks except when I’m nervous. I drank a lot yesterday. Every second felt like a tournament. I was exhausted after every game. But it had been a while to be that excited. The highest view record was more than 70,000, I was really grateful for the attention. I was thankful to the viewers.
Yesterday you have mentioned a lot that you wouldn’t compete in any tournament, any special reason?
Many people asked me if I would join Chulgu’s Starcraft 1 tournament. My answer was ‘No’. There’s nothing bad between him and me, just my skill is not good enough to compete in a tournament. I have received a message from him this morning, I politely rejected it. There is no other reason than that.
Whatever he has done, I’m not related to it. I don’t judge people with what they say. If he did something bad for me, I would think differently. He just asked me to join his tournament, I said no because my skill is not good enough. My micro control is not accurate yet, I don’t really like my early game strategy. I want to practice more in those aspects before I join an actual tournament. He might have wanted to make some money out of it, but if it could bring the Brood War boom and I like my skill, I would join a tournament. I would be able to join a tournament in 1 to 3 months.
If you’re preparing for more games, do you also plan to broadcast with League of Legends?
I am planning this in the long term, and I can play any game. I went up to Diamond 2 when I only played Evelyn. But recently I have been focusing on having fun instead of boosting my tier. Now I’m at Diamond 5. When I only played Evelyn, I used to win about 18 out of 20 games. There is a high and a low in games, I think that was my high season.
If you are at that level, would it be enough to challenge to be a pro-gamer?
My skill isn’t good enough for that. (Laugh) My wrist has had a problem as well. Once I become serious about a game, it still hurts a lot. But it is okay because it has been a while since I got a surgery so I know how to manage the pain. When I was a pro-gamer, it was really hard. My surgeon said there is no way except surgery. The surgery was not easy to deal with, and rehabilitation process was difficult as well. I gained a lot of weight so I had to work out 6 hours everyday for a month.
Yesterday I said I would take a rest because my wrist was actually causing a problem again. But there were some people who told me to keep playing games. So I told them that my real fans would tell me to take a rest when I have difficulty. I shouldn’t have reacted that way, but I was not feeling good when I saw people who forcibly told me to keep playing games, so I said so.
You have mentioned that the reason you started personal broadcasting is to communicate with your fans.
During my career as a pro-gamer, there was no rumors about me. I’m actually a very ordinary and not important person (Laugh). But my fans are curious about the stories I couldn’t tell while I was a pro player and now I can comfortably talk about it as well, I wanted to communicate that with my fans.
You are currently living by yourself out of team gaming house, how has it been?
Loneliness is the most difficult thing. It makes me call friends because I feel lonely. I often call Jaedong as well. We talk to each other a lot because Jaedong also lives by himself. Anyone would be the same. When you live alone, there’s nothing to do. You just play games. I don’t really like it, but I think it has its own fun part when living alone.
Flash does his own laundry? I cannot imagine it.
Recently I washed my own laundry for the first time. I have a drum washing machine so it was easier than I expected. Having meals everyday is actually more of a problem than laundry. I used to order food, but it’s difficult to clean after. If I cook on my own, I would simply be able to wash the dishes. Delivery food makes a mess after. So now I usually go out to eat. Or I call out friends in the KT team or Yunjong to eat together. I am as confident at washing dishes as I am at playing games because I did more than enough when I was a junior gamer in the team. At that time, I never imagined that I would have a moment like today. (Laugh)
How’s relations with Jeong ‘Rain’ Yunjong?
He is one of my best friends. I used to have an image that I am a difficult person to become friendly with. I am shy around people, it’s not easy for me to speak informally. So it takes time for me to make best friends. I felt comfortable when I first talk to Rain. He is a good guy.
"I had to decide what to do for my life after my retirement."
I heard that you stayed in KT gaming house for a while even after your retirement.
I had to decide what to do for my life after my retirement, and Seoul was the best place for it. I asked my team to let me stay in the team house for a month. At that time the head coach Dokyung Kang helped me a lot with his advice. He always told me the best way for me.
When I first announced my retirement, my teammates were also very surprised. But nothing special happened when I moved out of the team house. I think it’s because I’m not leaving them forever. There were only a few gamers who stayed with me for a long time anyway.
Kim ‘Stats’ Daeyup and Joo ‘Zest’ Sungwook are also your close friends who played games with you for a long time, right?
Yes, they’re good friends to me as well. When I moved into my new house, Stats, Zest, Rain, Taeyang (TY) came to visit my house for a housewarming party. Even though it was late at night after training, we stayed up late talking.
I can say this now, when I first saw Stats 8 years ago, he was the most ignorant person I had ever seen. I’m sure all the gamers at that time around him would totally agree to that (Laugh). All the teammates hated him. He was a high school student who had no clue about socialization. So he got kicked out of our team house once and he came back after a while. After that, he had totally changed. He must have learned something. Now we call him ‘Godlike Zest’ and he takes care of the teammates really well. Something absolutely changed him. It’s really great.
While I was staying in the hospital for my wrist surgery, Zest visited me. His first impression was scary. He has scary eyes (Laugh). I couldn’t talk to him comfortably. But we found common parts in us so we became good friends with each other. I had mentioned that I feel awkward around him on one of the broadcasts, but I shouldn’t have said that. Even though we are at the same age, I’m still senior in E-sport scene compared to him. I should have been friendly to him first. I am sorry to him.
I have known TY since he was an amateur. We used to be roommates for a long time and we are really good friends to each other. He has been working very hard for his career, I really want him to be successful. These four guys came to my house on my moving day. We didn’t do a lot of things on that day, but these guys are great people.
Images by Blizzard and Alex Gao.
