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The Lost Interview
by FearlessMango · 2012-09-29
Months ago, I held weekly interviews with top Shakuras players through the Mango Tribune. Unfortunately, I only got to show off three of them. On the week of the My Little Pony ISL Grand Final, I released an interview mid-week with .iloveoov (back when he was relevant).
For that week I had planned to do a second interview: a dual interview with the finalists Blungy and Lightning . If everything had gone accordingly, I would've posted the interview just a few hours before the finals took place. However, if you might remember, the forums went down for several hours before the finals so I was unable to access my PM's to get the interview answers.
By the time the forums came back up, it was too late. I wouldn't have enough time to create (in paint) and post the interview so I just left it. It was supposed to be a pre-finals interview, so in my eyes, it would've been completely out of place to post it after the finals had finished.
It was a stroke of bad luck and bad timing, but that inevitably killed off my drive to continue with this little project of mine. Regardless, this interview has been sitting my PM inbox for months. With this new community section, I figure I may as well post it so everyone can see into the minds of the two competitors just moments before they faced off against each other. So, without further ado, enjoy the lost interview.
- - -
#Blungy
Me: Hello everyone! Welcome to the 4th edition of the Mango Tribune! This week, I dare not delay, because I'm eager to bring a double interview with the two My Little Pony ISL finalists: Blungy and Lightning . They meet in just a couple days to wage war against each other in the second TvT ISL finals. Right now, I'm here with one of the finalists, Blungy .
Hey Blungy , it's nice to finally meet you and I'm glad you're here with us. To start off the interview, I'd like to know how you felt when you you saw Ytherly type out GG for the final time last weekend, propelling you to the finals?
#
Blungy : It was obviously a great feeling to win another Bo5 and know that I made the finals of the ISL, and it was fantastic finally getting my revenge against Ytherly .
But it definitely wasn't all ups for me. More than a sense of relief, I was rather frustrated with myself for ever letting it get to game five. I've gotten as far as I have largely because I've gotten lucky (count up all the great players eliminated before the RO16 even started), but also because my coach has rested me from playing in league matches. This kills me, especially when my team loses. hiim14 and RevivaL have been doing their best to take over as aces while I'm tired, but it's hard to drop players into that role without them having the experience for it first. I was honestly pissed off at myself for losing those two games to Ytherly because I knew it meant one more game that I wouldn't be able to play for my team and one more game that StaRbouNd (Consonance) or Harmony (Harmony) was certainly going to win off of my team in league matches.
#
Me: Throughout your run in the fifth season of the ISL, you've defeated plenty of superb players, but the most notable would have to be BIRDMAN and Ytherly . The former because, well, he's arguably one of the strongest players in the entire game, and the latter because TvP has traditionally been your weakest match-up. Now, you will move on to face Lightning in a TvT. I'm sure you know that he managed to take down one of the best TvT players: StaRbouNd (Consonance); it will undoubtedly be a very close match because if I recall, TvT is also one of your better match-ups... With all of that being said, how are you preparing for the finals? Is your team the main source of practice or are you enlisting help from outside players? If so, any particular names you want to drop? And how do you feel about the maps?
#
Blungy : The interesting thing about both BIRDMAN and Ytherly is that they were in the same group as me two ISLs ago. I lost to both of them, and was sent home as a result. That was a pretty rough day for me. Even though I'm a big guy, 30 shots of vodka will take it's toll on you. Mix that up with cinnamon lasagna, peanut butter, a roasted pig smeared in pumpkin pie, and five gallons of ice cream and you have a recipe for disaster. I lost all over the place after my losses to those guys in the ISL, so I was especially motivated to settle the score with them this time around.
The win against BIRDMAN definitely meant a lot more. Beating the best player in the game 3-0 (first time he ever lost a BO5) just feels so good. My TvP is rather poor statistically, but I'm quite confident in it, and I definitely didn't feel as if I were proving I can play a matchup. I think that matchup more demonstrates how insanely good Ytherly is PvT. Scary good.
In terms of preparation for the finals, I've taken this as an opportunity to make friends with other teams. hiim14 and RedCrane (sepArates) have tried team-playing as terran against me, but they can't get past the lack of gateways and strategic depth in the mirror matchup. hiim14 put it nicely when he said, "It's like playing against zerg, except all the time!"
One of my closest friends outside my team, .iloveoov , has graciously accepted my request to practice with him. I can't say enough nice things about this guy. He practices as hard as anybody, despite the fact that he has two wifes and eight kids to take care of, and he never complains. Never. Never ever. It's amazing. I complained when I lost two games to Ytherly , thereby making the finals. It's pathetic comparing anyone to this guy. He's never the center of attention, he takes change in stride - - even if that change fucks him over - - and just improves as best he can. He's a team player. And he's a fucking monster. Record-wise, he's by far the best terran, and Top 3 overall. Lucky me, he's also a very insightful practice partner. To demonstrate my gratitude, I've promised him three personal favors to be named later by him if I win the finals. Hope he's kind to me.
Likewise, I'm also playing a few games against Sentinel . Boy does that kid ever have potential. I remember playing him last season in Winner's League and almost being massively upset by him. He's going to do something big one day.
Huss , FrOzean , and braQ have been helping me out recently as well. Honestly, I think they just got tired of dominating their league and wanted to know that this game isn't as easy as they've been making it seem.
I've been trying to contact Fools because we grew up together but he's been a bit hard to reach.
StaRbouNd (Consonance) actually reached out to me to help me practice against the guy who knocked him out of the ISL, but I turned him down. I just couldn't. Although I've won the only official game we've ever played, things against him can get a little depressing in practice. Also, I don't want to give away any of the top secret super-duper extra turbo plus builds that I might not use against Lightning , just in case I ever face him in our League 2.2 season. It's too bad we're not closing out the ISL together. If we were, then maybe he'd be out of gas, too, and then maybe I wouldn't be so jealous of him for doing so well in the league.
#
Me: Should you win in the finals, you will hand Lightning his second silver medal and essentially put him into the Kong line. Does this give you any extra motivation to win? Do you feel any added pressure as you're trying to deny Lightning 's redemption from ISL 2?
#
Blungy : Absolutely not. No, no. Getting silver sucks. Me getting the gold motivates me. That's it. The only person that would motivate me in that way would be Tester , and there would be added motivation for having lost to him in the previous ISL.
That's not to say I don't feel any pressure for the ISL finals. I do. But it comes from being considered the heavy favorite by many players and coaches, when in fact, I don't really think I am. At this highest level, if you're not .iloveoov , BIRDMAN , 1 , HidE , or Abadan , your chances to win against another very talented and developed player feels like it's basically 50%. I've been riding that 50% every matchup since the Ro16 and somehow stumbled into the finals. It's amazing. But it's not so great knowing you're expected to win, especially when there's no reason to have that expectation.
#
Me: So far, you have a 1-0 record against your opponent. What are you feelings about Lightning ?
#
Blungy : Lightning is a solid terran, and will be a force both in his league and in the ISL for at least a few more seasons. I don't know him personally, but I've heard stories that he's quite a character in the clubhouse. I'm told he dips his roommates' toothbrushes in salt, hides old cheese and fish under his teammates' beds, and replaces the cream filling in the morning donuts with onion dip (only twice a month at random). I also heard he once set inteRfaith 's shoes on fire and then scalded him with coffee, just for the hell of it. That's charisma. That's the kind of guy you wanna be friends with it.
#
Me: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say? Perhaps to your fans? Or to [Terran] Lightning[4K]? And what is your prediction of the final score?
#
Blungy : First, thanks a bunch for letting me do this interview, Mango. I've had a lot of fun. If you have any other questions, let me know, I'd be more than happy to sport them. To my fans: thanks for your support; Lightning 's teammates have told me that he jacked off too much season 3 and 4, which is why he didn't make the finals. Maybe there's something to that, I dunno. Maybe he's stopped. In any event, I hope he's sexually frustrated enough for me on Saturday because I've taken my Viagra and intend to absolutely rape him 3-0. Chances of doing that? Probably slim to none, but I'll make the bold prediction anyway. If it's another fucking 3-2 for or against me, I'll cry. But I'll cry knowing you're by my side.
- - -
#Lightning
Me: Hello everyone! Welcome to the second interview of this week's Mango Tribune. Just a while ago, I sat down and spoke with the first finalist of the My Little Pony ISL: Blungy , and now I'm here with the second finalist: Lightning !
Hi Lightning , I'm glad to be able to meet you after so long and I'm excited to start this interview. So, to begin, I want to know what your emotions were like when you dominated Solo in your semi-final match last weekend and secured your spot in the grand finals?
#
Lightning :I was soooooo happy, I knew my time would come again. It was perfect - nothing more to say :D
#
Me: Just like Blungy , you've also had quite an amazing run through ISL 5, but surely the standout match for you was when you defeated StaRbouNd (Consonance). I mean he had just come off a win over 1 , who was certainly one of the favorites to win it all, and then the following weekend you manage to overthrow the TvT star quite handily by a score of 3-1. Now, you move on to face Blungy who is also good at TvT, so I'll ask you the same, how are you preparing for the finals? Will you be using your team to bounce ideas off of, or perhaps calling for some help from outsiders? And how do you feel about these maps?
#
Lightning : To answer the first question I will tell you a little story. Some time ago my only strength was in TvZ, sure it brought me a silver medal but that was at a time when the zergs were owning. But the times changed and the other races got stronger again so I got knocked out the next two ISL's pretty quickly.
That was the point where I decided that something had to be changed drastically - - in the last off-season I started to train hardcore TvT and yeah, it definitely paid off! I got the revenge kill against Huss in the Offline Preliminaries Round 2, the comeback against Gengar in the Ro64, and won against Xello in the Ro32. One of the deciding factors against the TvT Monster StaRbouNd (Consonance) was, in my opinion, that he sort of underestimated me so I got some opportunities and I used them :).
I will use this chance and give a shoutout to my trainer and my big buddy, inteRfaith who trained TvT with me, sometimes 15 hours in a row!
#
Me: Since you managed to make it back to an ISL finals, this is your chance to redeem yourself from the drubbing you received at the hands of Huss during the ISL 2 finals. At the same time, you also risk being shoved into the Kong line should you lose to Blungy . Does all of this immense pressure have any effect on you whatsoever?
#
Lightning : No, to be honest I don't care much about such things. I focus my mind on the next three to five games and don't think about the things after. If I start these games with the thought of the possibly losing in the back of my mind, I may as well just type GG after the 1st second and leave!
#
Me: I want you to remember back to ISL 4. During the Round of 32, you and Blungy were in the same group. It was group F if I remember, and to your dismay, he actually knocked you out of the ISL when he defeated you on Grand Line SE. Down 0-1 to him in your head-to-head record, what are you feelings toward Blungy ?
#
Lightning : That was actually one of the turning points that gave me the kick to start my TvT training, so I have to thank him! I know that he is the real favorite; we played some challenge games sometime ago where he kinda outplayed me, but my TvT continues to get better and better. It's not like I have no chance, I will take advantage of every tiny mistake that he makes and punish him.
#
Me: Finally, is there anything you would like to say to your fans? Would you like to say something to Blungy ? Also, what is your prediction of the final score?
#
Lightning : I want to thank all of my fans, the guys out there who never lost faith in me and especially all the people of the 2.1 league for their support - I will bring gold to 2.1!!!
As for Blungy , I will see you on the battlefield and may the best player win!
- - -
And so, that concludes this interview. I had a blast conducting it, and I'm sure Blungy and Lightning did as well. Thank you for taking the time to read it.
For that week I had planned to do a second interview: a dual interview with the finalists Blungy and Lightning . If everything had gone accordingly, I would've posted the interview just a few hours before the finals took place. However, if you might remember, the forums went down for several hours before the finals so I was unable to access my PM's to get the interview answers.
By the time the forums came back up, it was too late. I wouldn't have enough time to create (in paint) and post the interview so I just left it. It was supposed to be a pre-finals interview, so in my eyes, it would've been completely out of place to post it after the finals had finished.
It was a stroke of bad luck and bad timing, but that inevitably killed off my drive to continue with this little project of mine. Regardless, this interview has been sitting my PM inbox for months. With this new community section, I figure I may as well post it so everyone can see into the minds of the two competitors just moments before they faced off against each other. So, without further ado, enjoy the lost interview.
- - -
#Blungy
Me: Hello everyone! Welcome to the 4th edition of the Mango Tribune! This week, I dare not delay, because I'm eager to bring a double interview with the two My Little Pony ISL finalists: Blungy and Lightning . They meet in just a couple days to wage war against each other in the second TvT ISL finals. Right now, I'm here with one of the finalists, Blungy .
Hey Blungy , it's nice to finally meet you and I'm glad you're here with us. To start off the interview, I'd like to know how you felt when you you saw Ytherly type out GG for the final time last weekend, propelling you to the finals?
#
Blungy : It was obviously a great feeling to win another Bo5 and know that I made the finals of the ISL, and it was fantastic finally getting my revenge against Ytherly .
But it definitely wasn't all ups for me. More than a sense of relief, I was rather frustrated with myself for ever letting it get to game five. I've gotten as far as I have largely because I've gotten lucky (count up all the great players eliminated before the RO16 even started), but also because my coach has rested me from playing in league matches. This kills me, especially when my team loses. hiim14 and RevivaL have been doing their best to take over as aces while I'm tired, but it's hard to drop players into that role without them having the experience for it first. I was honestly pissed off at myself for losing those two games to Ytherly because I knew it meant one more game that I wouldn't be able to play for my team and one more game that StaRbouNd (Consonance) or Harmony (Harmony) was certainly going to win off of my team in league matches.
#
Me: Throughout your run in the fifth season of the ISL, you've defeated plenty of superb players, but the most notable would have to be BIRDMAN and Ytherly . The former because, well, he's arguably one of the strongest players in the entire game, and the latter because TvP has traditionally been your weakest match-up. Now, you will move on to face Lightning in a TvT. I'm sure you know that he managed to take down one of the best TvT players: StaRbouNd (Consonance); it will undoubtedly be a very close match because if I recall, TvT is also one of your better match-ups... With all of that being said, how are you preparing for the finals? Is your team the main source of practice or are you enlisting help from outside players? If so, any particular names you want to drop? And how do you feel about the maps?
#
Blungy : The interesting thing about both BIRDMAN and Ytherly is that they were in the same group as me two ISLs ago. I lost to both of them, and was sent home as a result. That was a pretty rough day for me. Even though I'm a big guy, 30 shots of vodka will take it's toll on you. Mix that up with cinnamon lasagna, peanut butter, a roasted pig smeared in pumpkin pie, and five gallons of ice cream and you have a recipe for disaster. I lost all over the place after my losses to those guys in the ISL, so I was especially motivated to settle the score with them this time around.
The win against BIRDMAN definitely meant a lot more. Beating the best player in the game 3-0 (first time he ever lost a BO5) just feels so good. My TvP is rather poor statistically, but I'm quite confident in it, and I definitely didn't feel as if I were proving I can play a matchup. I think that matchup more demonstrates how insanely good Ytherly is PvT. Scary good.
In terms of preparation for the finals, I've taken this as an opportunity to make friends with other teams. hiim14 and RedCrane (sepArates) have tried team-playing as terran against me, but they can't get past the lack of gateways and strategic depth in the mirror matchup. hiim14 put it nicely when he said, "It's like playing against zerg, except all the time!"
One of my closest friends outside my team, .iloveoov , has graciously accepted my request to practice with him. I can't say enough nice things about this guy. He practices as hard as anybody, despite the fact that he has two wifes and eight kids to take care of, and he never complains. Never. Never ever. It's amazing. I complained when I lost two games to Ytherly , thereby making the finals. It's pathetic comparing anyone to this guy. He's never the center of attention, he takes change in stride - - even if that change fucks him over - - and just improves as best he can. He's a team player. And he's a fucking monster. Record-wise, he's by far the best terran, and Top 3 overall. Lucky me, he's also a very insightful practice partner. To demonstrate my gratitude, I've promised him three personal favors to be named later by him if I win the finals. Hope he's kind to me.
Likewise, I'm also playing a few games against Sentinel . Boy does that kid ever have potential. I remember playing him last season in Winner's League and almost being massively upset by him. He's going to do something big one day.
Huss , FrOzean , and braQ have been helping me out recently as well. Honestly, I think they just got tired of dominating their league and wanted to know that this game isn't as easy as they've been making it seem.
I've been trying to contact Fools because we grew up together but he's been a bit hard to reach.
StaRbouNd (Consonance) actually reached out to me to help me practice against the guy who knocked him out of the ISL, but I turned him down. I just couldn't. Although I've won the only official game we've ever played, things against him can get a little depressing in practice. Also, I don't want to give away any of the top secret super-duper extra turbo plus builds that I might not use against Lightning , just in case I ever face him in our League 2.2 season. It's too bad we're not closing out the ISL together. If we were, then maybe he'd be out of gas, too, and then maybe I wouldn't be so jealous of him for doing so well in the league.
#
Me: Should you win in the finals, you will hand Lightning his second silver medal and essentially put him into the Kong line. Does this give you any extra motivation to win? Do you feel any added pressure as you're trying to deny Lightning 's redemption from ISL 2?
#
Blungy : Absolutely not. No, no. Getting silver sucks. Me getting the gold motivates me. That's it. The only person that would motivate me in that way would be Tester , and there would be added motivation for having lost to him in the previous ISL.
That's not to say I don't feel any pressure for the ISL finals. I do. But it comes from being considered the heavy favorite by many players and coaches, when in fact, I don't really think I am. At this highest level, if you're not .iloveoov , BIRDMAN , 1 , HidE , or Abadan , your chances to win against another very talented and developed player feels like it's basically 50%. I've been riding that 50% every matchup since the Ro16 and somehow stumbled into the finals. It's amazing. But it's not so great knowing you're expected to win, especially when there's no reason to have that expectation.
#
Me: So far, you have a 1-0 record against your opponent. What are you feelings about Lightning ?
#
Blungy : Lightning is a solid terran, and will be a force both in his league and in the ISL for at least a few more seasons. I don't know him personally, but I've heard stories that he's quite a character in the clubhouse. I'm told he dips his roommates' toothbrushes in salt, hides old cheese and fish under his teammates' beds, and replaces the cream filling in the morning donuts with onion dip (only twice a month at random). I also heard he once set inteRfaith 's shoes on fire and then scalded him with coffee, just for the hell of it. That's charisma. That's the kind of guy you wanna be friends with it.
#
Me: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say? Perhaps to your fans? Or to [Terran] Lightning[4K]? And what is your prediction of the final score?
#
Blungy : First, thanks a bunch for letting me do this interview, Mango. I've had a lot of fun. If you have any other questions, let me know, I'd be more than happy to sport them. To my fans: thanks for your support; Lightning 's teammates have told me that he jacked off too much season 3 and 4, which is why he didn't make the finals. Maybe there's something to that, I dunno. Maybe he's stopped. In any event, I hope he's sexually frustrated enough for me on Saturday because I've taken my Viagra and intend to absolutely rape him 3-0. Chances of doing that? Probably slim to none, but I'll make the bold prediction anyway. If it's another fucking 3-2 for or against me, I'll cry. But I'll cry knowing you're by my side.
- - -
#Lightning
Me: Hello everyone! Welcome to the second interview of this week's Mango Tribune. Just a while ago, I sat down and spoke with the first finalist of the My Little Pony ISL: Blungy , and now I'm here with the second finalist: Lightning !
Hi Lightning , I'm glad to be able to meet you after so long and I'm excited to start this interview. So, to begin, I want to know what your emotions were like when you dominated Solo in your semi-final match last weekend and secured your spot in the grand finals?
#
Lightning :I was soooooo happy, I knew my time would come again. It was perfect - nothing more to say :D
#
Me: Just like Blungy , you've also had quite an amazing run through ISL 5, but surely the standout match for you was when you defeated StaRbouNd (Consonance). I mean he had just come off a win over 1 , who was certainly one of the favorites to win it all, and then the following weekend you manage to overthrow the TvT star quite handily by a score of 3-1. Now, you move on to face Blungy who is also good at TvT, so I'll ask you the same, how are you preparing for the finals? Will you be using your team to bounce ideas off of, or perhaps calling for some help from outsiders? And how do you feel about these maps?
#
Lightning : To answer the first question I will tell you a little story. Some time ago my only strength was in TvZ, sure it brought me a silver medal but that was at a time when the zergs were owning. But the times changed and the other races got stronger again so I got knocked out the next two ISL's pretty quickly.
That was the point where I decided that something had to be changed drastically - - in the last off-season I started to train hardcore TvT and yeah, it definitely paid off! I got the revenge kill against Huss in the Offline Preliminaries Round 2, the comeback against Gengar in the Ro64, and won against Xello in the Ro32. One of the deciding factors against the TvT Monster StaRbouNd (Consonance) was, in my opinion, that he sort of underestimated me so I got some opportunities and I used them :).
I will use this chance and give a shoutout to my trainer and my big buddy, inteRfaith who trained TvT with me, sometimes 15 hours in a row!
#
Me: Since you managed to make it back to an ISL finals, this is your chance to redeem yourself from the drubbing you received at the hands of Huss during the ISL 2 finals. At the same time, you also risk being shoved into the Kong line should you lose to Blungy . Does all of this immense pressure have any effect on you whatsoever?
#
Lightning : No, to be honest I don't care much about such things. I focus my mind on the next three to five games and don't think about the things after. If I start these games with the thought of the possibly losing in the back of my mind, I may as well just type GG after the 1st second and leave!
#
Me: I want you to remember back to ISL 4. During the Round of 32, you and Blungy were in the same group. It was group F if I remember, and to your dismay, he actually knocked you out of the ISL when he defeated you on Grand Line SE. Down 0-1 to him in your head-to-head record, what are you feelings toward Blungy ?
#
Lightning : That was actually one of the turning points that gave me the kick to start my TvT training, so I have to thank him! I know that he is the real favorite; we played some challenge games sometime ago where he kinda outplayed me, but my TvT continues to get better and better. It's not like I have no chance, I will take advantage of every tiny mistake that he makes and punish him.
#
Me: Finally, is there anything you would like to say to your fans? Would you like to say something to Blungy ? Also, what is your prediction of the final score?
#
Lightning : I want to thank all of my fans, the guys out there who never lost faith in me and especially all the people of the 2.1 league for their support - I will bring gold to 2.1!!!
As for Blungy , I will see you on the battlefield and may the best player win!
- - -
And so, that concludes this interview. I had a blast conducting it, and I'm sure Blungy and Lightning did as well. Thank you for taking the time to read it.