Giacomo "Socke" Thüs is the subject of the 23rd episode of my 'Grilled' in-depth career interview series.
What was Socke's experience of BW like as a 15 year old at the WCG in 2002? How does he look back on his 3rd place finish at the first SC2 MLG? Is he happy with having been one of the most consistent European players for the first eight months of 2011? How does he weigh up winning events vs. consistently placing highly, in terms of mindset? Does Socke have a good mindset for facing players better than him? Why does he think Protoss has always been the weakest race in SC2? Do spells play too big a role in SC2?
Time line of topics:
00:09 Intro
00:19 Being a 15 year old BW player attending WCG in 2002
01:55 Do his meagre times in BW make his lifestyle in SC2, as a pro, more satisfying?
02:55 Thoughts on famous German names from BW: FiSheYe
04:12 Mondragon
05:57 Is there a player from the foreign BW scene he thinks would have had a chance of being successful if he'd gone to Korea?
07:58 Contrasting Protoss in BW to Protoss in SC2.
10:31 Where Protoss has been positioned as a race, relative to the other two, throughout SC2.
12:37 Were Blizzard too quick to patch when races hadn't fully tried out all the units of their race?
14:27 How objective are pro players about their own game?
15:55 Why do some of the top German pros seem more objective about the game, as opposed to complaining about the other races?
17:27 Finishing 3rd in the first MLG tournament in SC2.
19:56 Losing to KiWiKaKi early in his SC2 career, what were his strengths?
21:30 Perhaps being the most consistent European player over the first eight months of 2011.
22:49 Events which come to mind which Socke thinks he should have done better in.
25:04 Winning events rarely vs. placing highly consistently.
25:40 Going deep in tournies and being happy or feeling like they are wasted opportunities.
27:10 MaNa being his kryptonite.
28:05 Socke's competitive mindset.
29:55 The mindset of thinking you can win even if you know you're an underdog.
31:15 The perfect opponent for Socke.
32:29 Does he study the opponent and tailor his style to that, or does he consider his opponent's weakness but only use his standard strong builds?
34:07 Responding to the claims of other races that Protoss is too risky/gambling/cheesy.
36:16 Does Protoss have to be played all-in, in a sense?
39:09 Is Terran the best race if played perfectly?
40:00 Are the Zerg spells being so easy to use a problem?
41:45 How limited is SC2 during the course of a match? Are there a lot of options? Compared to BW.
44:38 Does SC2 play an expressive role in Socke's life, similar to his musical endeavours?
46:06 Socke picks foreign Protoss players to face the best Korean Protoss.
48:00 Who does he think will be the best foreign Protoss, in one year, out of: monchi, NaNiwa or MaNa?
Giacomo "Socke" Thüs is the subject of the 23rd episode of my 'Grilled' in-depth career interview series.
