Original Author: War3station_Emoji
Translator: GLH


In the W-league playoffs, TH000 won W-League with his powerful strength with defeating the king of the Orcs, Lyn, the great Undead player, 120, and the Legendary Night Elf player, Moon. He also proved that he is "the ceiling of Warcraft III." And now, we are having an interview with TH000, how is he thinking about this tournament, and switching the race? Let take a look.

Q: Hi, TH. You won Moon in the final once again. It seems that Moon is hard to win you in the Finals. Do you think so?

TH000: My chances will be bigger in the final. In the final, my preparation before the game, my mentality and physical condition will be better. In fact, my win rate in the finals is very high, no matter who my opponent is. Meanwhile, Moon has been in the finals many times as well, so the win rate looks good for me.



Q: How did you prepare for the W league playoffs?

TH000: I have recently made a lot of preparations for this patch. W League is the second major tournament and the first offline event for this patch. Basically, beside eat and sleep, I am streaming, playing on ladders, ask others to practice with me, watching all the replays. At the same time, I analyzed the meaningful games very carefully.

In this time, I was still focusing on NE vs ORC, when this patch just released, I was not particularly good when I played against Orcs, I was much worse than Infi and Moon. So I worked more in my own weaknesses.



Q: How did you feel when you knew you were in the upper half with eer0, Sok and Lyn? Do you think the position of Infi is better?
TH000: Actually it's almost the same. In this patch, 6S+Focus+Lawliet is still relatively strong. The win rate between us will be like 60%-40% or 50%-50%. It is not particularly important that you meet which player, the more important thing is who can perform with our own strength by the time.

Remark: 6S means 6 super players, which means Infi, TH000, Moon, Lyn, Fly100%, eer0.



Q: You chose Night Elf to play against Lyn when you met him in the First Round. However, before this game you said that Night Elf is the weaker side in NE vs ORC; and the players such as Infi, Chaemiko and HawK have won HU vs ORC many times. Why did't you choose Human, which may be having the higher win rate? Do you think Human is harder than Night Elf when they are playing against Orcs?
TH000: I think both races are almost the same, but for non-top players, Night Elf is more difficult to play now (when playing against Orcs).

And why I didn't choose Human to play, because I am more disadvantageous in this patch. First, I can't choose Fire Lord first. In my understanding, Fire Lord > Blade Master, Far Seer > Fire Lord, Archmage > Far Seer, and Blade Master > Archmage. This is the main reason why I now reject HU vs ORC. Night Elf more tactical details that can be developed, so I want to use Night Elf to play. If there is one day, I've developed all the Night Elf's strategies, and the winning rate is still lower than 50%, I might go to practice the Fire Lord's Tower Rush.



Q: Previously, 120 stopped your winning streak in NE vs UD, so do you have confidence to get the revenge before the game? How did you adjust your mentality and strategies to play against 120?
TH000: Before we played, I think it is a close game, the win rate would be like 50%-50%. In the last WGL qualifier, it was the first time that I played against 120 and his expanding strategies. So I had't made a specialized for it. The main adjustment I made is I sent 3 wisps to the Gold Mine and detonated on there, and stopped him to creep the Gold Mine. In fact, I wanted to try and see the effect only, my mentality was relatively relaxed.



Q: Previously, 120 stopped your winning streak in NE vs UD, so do you have confidence to get the revenge before the game? How did you adjust your mentality and strategies to play against 120?
TH000: Before we played, I think it is a close game, the win rate would be like 50%-50%. In the last WGL qualifier, it was the first time that I played against 120 and his expanding strategies. So I had't made a specialized for it. The main adjustment I made is I sent 3 wisps to the Gold Mine and detonated on there, and stopped him to creep the Gold Mine. In fact, I wanted to try and see the effect only, my mentality was relatively relaxed.



Q: Can you analyze for us about the Finals? How did you come back in the disadvantaged opening? Which game is the most impressive for you in this series? Why?
TH000: In the first set on NI, he didn't train Glaive Throwers, so I didn't have any disadvantages in the whole set. I even had an advantage when I pulled down the Ancient of Protector.

On TM, the most important thing is I expanded on the island. Then, I had 70 supply of high-quality troops and he had 70 supply of mass Dryads. Even though my heroes' levels is 3 levels lower than him, I still could win with the micro in the direct fight.

The game on EI is the most impressive game for me. There were countless chances for me to type out gg by the time, but I didn't take it. In the last fight, I used 80 supply of troops to fight against his 70 supply of mass Dryads, and I fell behind 3 levels in heroes' levels. But I won! I feel so amazing, it is still amazing after watching the replay after the game~



Q: Let's talk about this tournament. What do you think about the W league playoffs? Are you looking forward to the second season?
TH000: W-League offline tournament is very good, I am looking forward to the second season.



Q: Let's talk about some relaxed topics. What happen make you feel unforgettable in this time?
TH000: Every single victory is hard to forget~ but it is not easy at all. Can you give me a weaker opponent next time?



Q: This year is the year of Warcraft III Reforged edition, and it may be also the beginning of the revival of Warcraft III. There will be many offline games as well. In the first half of the year, are you confident to complete the epic of 6 consecutive championships (W League, NeXT, H&W, WCG Chinese qualifier, WCG Finals, WGL)?
TH000: Stop DUNAI on me again. I feel thankful if I can get another championship.

Remark: DUNAI: There is a situation when someone is confident and proclaim someone definitely win the game, but after his announcement, the situation reversed, the situation is considered as DUNAI in china.



Q: Last question, what is your opinion on the patch 1.31?
TH000: Undead is buffed too much, and Fire Orb is buffed too much. But I still expect that the official patch 1.31 will be more balanced than the PTR.


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Original Author: War3station
Translator: GLH



Since Blizzard announced a new PTR of patch 1.31, the debate about game balance has not stopped on all forum. Among them, the voice of Undead is IMBA is particularly loud. Is this really the case? Let's listen to the opinion of several Undead players.

120: All the changes are meaningless.

Q: What is your opinion about the coming back of Ancient Isles?
120: Will the map Ancient Isles be added to tournament? Or the ladder only? If they add it to the ladder only, it's meaningless! The current map pool makes the Undead in disadvantaged side, Ancient Isles can make the map pool a little more balanced.


Q: Which change in PTR of patch 1.31 makes you most concerned?
120: In my opinion, all the changes are meaningless. It is better to give the Ghouls +100 Hit Points, instead of adding this new item.



Q: What do you want to say about this new patch?
120: In fact, the patch is not that important, the map pool is more important.

Happy: These changes don't address current issues, still, it's better than nothing.

Q: Hi Happy, here is War3Station. Today 1.31 announced by Blizzard, how do you feel?
Happy: Hello! It's always nice to have a new patch with balance changes, although, these changes don't address current issues (like KOTG in every match up, etc). Still, it's better than nothing.


Q: Do you think Undead would change a lot in the future? I mean strategies.
Happy: Maybe, it's a test patch, new changes can be made, or current might be changed or removed altogether. If the patch won't change from PTR - I guess Undead might try adding Necromancers in certain match ups (especially vs orc).

Ritual blade looks promising too. New faster and cheaper Gargoyles might be good for harass.

Orb of fire change for Human looks potentially super strong vs Undead. No idea how Wind Walk change will affect Blade Master …


Q: Will you attend WGL Summer in Shanghai if you are qualified from WGL EU?

Happy: That's how its gonna work:
If I play and win qualifiers - certain people around my stream promised me certain sum of money, that they will give me once I am qualified.

If they won't fulfill their promise - then no, I won't be going.
Same applies to WGL organizers - if they wont provide me certain "essential" needs for my travel, like a normal flight, and a normal accommodation.

Apart from that, yeah, I will go (thought, can't say I am anyhow excited). I always keep my word.

Lucifer: Winter is coming!

Q: Lucifer Hello, Blizzard officially announced 1.31 today. What do you think of this?
Lucifer: The Winter for the Undead players is coming, Winter is coming!


Q: The Gargoyles look very strong now, what do you think?
Lucifer: Lucifer will rise again!


Q: Many people think that Undead is IMBA, what do you think?
Lucifer: The Undead is still not dead.

WFZ: The Undead players have more strategies when we are playing against the Orcs and the Night Elves.

Q: Hi, WFZ, what do you think about buff of the Ring of Protection?
WFZ: Currently, everyone understands the Ring more deeply, and players sell the ring less. After the buff of the Ring in the new patch, there are more situations that players will keep the Ring in Inventory.


Q: What do you think of this new patch?
WFZ: In the new patch, the Undead players have more strategies when we are playing against the Orcs and the Night Elves. Moreover, the Necromancers can be used now, and it seems to be more difficult for the Undead to fight against the Human.


Q: In 2018, you played worse than your peak moment. Fortunately, in 2019, your shape has rebounded, and you have a team, and we are even going to have patch 1.31. Do you have any wish for your future?
WFZ: Keep practicing, keep streaming, keep playing in tournaments.

Tbc_bm: I don't think the Undead is IMBA in new patch.

Q: Let me give you a message, Mass Skeleton has been buffed, what do you want to say?
Tbc_bm: This patch let the Undead have the ability to play against the Orcs with base running, before this patch, the Undead with Banshee is very passive, and now we have the initiative. For playing against Night Elf, the new Cripple may not be better than the current Unholy Frenzy. In short, I like this change very much, making up for the huge disadvantage in patch 1.30 when the Undead play against the Orcs with base running and Reinforced Defense Towers.


Q: Seems the Undead is very IMBA in the new patch. Are you confident to be the real "third Undead" with the Undead Mirror?
Tbc_bm: I don't think the Undead is IMBA in new patch, because most of the changes is for the Tier 2 units, the timing in the early game has not changed.

Moreover, when Undead are playing against the Orcs, this patch can offset the current disadvantage on map pool. However, with the current timing in the games, and it is still hard to see the Necromancers when Undead are playing against the Night Elf and Human.I think that the new item are a late game item under the current timing, so grasping the early game is the key to winning.

Actually I am very weak in Undead Mirror. The most important thing in Undead Mirror is timing, and I am weaker than the best Undead and the fourth Undead. My understanding is weaker than the best Undead, the second Undead and the fourth Undead. The reason is that the fifth Undead is too weak, so the people thought me can be very good in this patch.

Remark by GLH:
The best Undead: 120, second: Happy, fourth: WFZ, fifth: Lucifer, Tbc_bm considers himself as the third Undead.


Q: What do you think of the patch? Is there any new strategies?
Tbc_bm: The new patch weakens the effect of the luck on winning and losing, and they add some new elements, I think this is very good. However, some problems left over from the previous patch have not been solved: for example, the buff of Moon well let the Night Elf are too strong in the mid game, and Human can be upgraded the Flak Cannons in Tier 2, this makes the Undead so difficult to play against the Human with many units.

As for the new tactics, I think in the future, Necromancers+Crypt Fiends and Necromancers+Frost Wyrms may replace the Banshee+Crypt Fiends and the Banshee+Frost Wyrms, as the new strategies to play against the Orcs.

TeD: I feel that Blizzard is very creative.

Q: Hi, TeD, I think you already have won the championship of WCG2019, right?
TeD: Oh, I guess you got so many benefits from my opponent in my group. Tell me, how many MCD or KFC you need? I will give them to you and please stop DUNAI me ok? For WCG2019, there is no championship for me, I am just coming for fun, and try to not be taken away in the second round!

Remark by GLH: DUNAI: There is a situation when someone is confident and proclaim someone definitely win the game, but after his announcement, the situation reversed, the situation is considered as DUNAI(毒奶) in China.


Q: Do you have idea about the non-regular and funny strategies in patch 1.31 for Undead?
TeD: I feel that there are a lot of strategies can be play in Tier 2, such as Unholy Frenzy push, or double Ritual Dagger all in suppression. In the future, the game on Ladder will only begin when the Ghoul Frenzy is upgraded.


Q: What do you want to say about this new patch?
TeD: I feel that Blizzard is very creative, at least not like a patch that "fixes some known bugs, some animations cause bugs in the game". Now, when the designers are changing the balance, they will also write some reasons for the change, I think it is very professional and good. Moreover, there will be more discussion by new and old players with the release of a new patch.

According to the TeDTV convention, which race wins, which race is IMBA! As a non-professional player, the release of a new patch means we will have more non-regular and funny strategies. Compared to the unchanging game play, the new game plays will make this game more energetic. And I believe Blizzard will continue to make adjustment in the future, as far as possible to make Warcraft III tend to balance, or let the different race take turns to be the king.



Q: Finally, would you like to say that which player can show up themselves in patch 1.31?
TeD: I will not talk about the old players, they will keep themselves very powerful. For new players, I am looking forward to 15sui, HuG, Linguagua. The other young players are actually quite a lot as well, keep going, you guys will be stronger than PCG!

Xun: If you can't win us, join us!

Q: Hi, Xun, I heard that you are going to give up the commentary?
Xun: I didn't plan to do this, commentator is my main business.


Q: What do you think of this new patch?
Xun: Undead changes obviously, especially the buff of the Ghouls+Gargoyles system and the expansion system. Of course, I am a Ctypt Fiends super lover, I need sometimes to adapt it.


Q: Is there anything to say to other races?
Xun: If you can't win us, join us! Keep training your Undead Mirror, for the next championship!



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Original Author and Translator: GLH

This is our first original work, we hope you like it!



Keke, the CEO of Wargee and War3station, as Neo said, she is the queen of Chinese Warcraft III. It's our pleasure that we had Keke here, in this interview, we will love to let you know something behind the scene, like what is Wargee, and what are they doing, what kind of problem they are facing, please, enjoy the interview.

GLH: Hi, Keke, thank you for accepting our interview, please say hi to all the Warcraft III fans.

Keke: Hello everyone, I am Kekelove, a staff behind the scenes of Warcraft III, like all of you, I am just a very ordinary person who loves to support this game.



GLH: As the CEO of 沃之文化(Wargee), can you introduce us about company? (When was it founded? Why did you found this company? What does its name mean?)

Keke: 沃之文化(Wargee) was founded on May 1, 2018, and it will be one year old very soon. War3 is pronounced as "wo san" in Chinese, with the transliteration, we got 沃 ( pronouns as wo), after that, when we were registering the name of company, 之(pronouns as zhi) is the only choice for second word for us, and it is a good choice as well, so we chose it.
This company is working on the RPG maps and the tournaments implementation of Warcraft III.

Official website of Wargee: https://www.wargee.com/


GLH: In the current environment of Chinese Warcraft III, is there a way to maintain a company by Warcraft III only?

Keke: It's very difficult, unless you can get through from the stages to behind the scenes, for example, if you could get the copyright of the events, sign with the streamer as a manager, after that, you have to make money through Taobao, promote the streamers as a star, and sell the peripheral products of those streamers, but we are not able to do it now. So far, War3station is still working with deficit, and we even have to subsidize Warcraft III from other departments.



GLH: So, War3station is just a part of Wargee. What other departments does it have?

Keke: The largest department of the company is the RPG department, they are responsible for the production and promotion of RPG maps. Laofen and Xun, who you are familiar with, they are the heads of this part.



GLH: I may say, RPG is the department which makes income for Wargee, am I right? Can you tell us more details about this department?

Keke: You are right. We have our own map production team, and we use our own promotion way to help the authors, let the authors have a better way to produce and promote their works. On the other hand, we have built the first media and a forum of RPG category, and we also have our own anchor union in Huya.

Remark: Huya(虎牙) is a streaming platform in China, such as Douyu.

天天RPG(RPG Everyday): https://www.mvprpg.com/


GLH: Let's come back to Warcraft! You just mentioned that War3station is still working with deficit, does it mean that War3station put all the sponsors into the prize pool?

Keke: Depends on the size of the tournament, a major tournament will charge a certain implementation fee, because it will need us to invest more labor forces and resources in short-term. Some of the tournaments are sponsored by enthusiastic audiences or fans, most of these tournaments we will get 0 fee, we treats this as daily work now.



GLH: In addition to the prizes, what are the costs of running a Warcraft III tournament?

Keke: Online tournament is relatively simple. Like XiaoY Cup, the configuration we need of this tournament is referees only, but in the early stage, there must be some labor forces and resources for planning, scheduling, and art design.

For Offline, in addition to the venue, we have to pay to fee of live broadcast, the fee for commentators, stage construction, players' travel, all of these need to be comprehensive. According to the current situation, running a 2-days offline tournament, without the costs of  prizes and venue, we will need at least 400,000 yuan for a 2-days offline tournament, and it is the lowest standard.



GLH: We can see that War3station spends so much money, will the other departments be unhappy?

Keke: Luckily, all of us really love Warcraft III, we hope Warcraft III can be better and better, this is our original intention.



GLH: According to our observations, Chinese Warcraft III environment is much better than other region, such as the number of tournaments, prize pool, etc. What do you think the reason is? What are the advantages of Chinese Warcraft have to created the current environment?

Keke: The main reason is the China has a relatively large audiences. Although it is still much worse than the other games like League of Legends, Hearthstone, but the good news is, our audiences is mainly between 20-35 years old, which is a group that can withstand their consumption.

Moreover, the Chinese streaming industry is very developed, with the excellent wages of streaming, the players can keep playing Warcraft III, without that, these players might need to switch to other games or industries.

As we can see, NetEase has been very strong in recent years as well. From the more professional WGL to the announcement of the 5 million prizes in last year.

GLH: What do you think are the current difficulties in China's Warcraft III environment?

Keke:
1. In recent years, there are not many newcomers. 120 and Life are also elder players, they have been playing for years. The "living fossils" like TH000, Infi, and Moon, they will be retired, who can become new blood of Warcraft III? It is the most important problem that needs us to think about.

2. The professional system is not standardized enough, such as the management of the players in the event, the management of the players in the club, the management of the fans, these specifications are very common on other E-sports projects, but they are still very hard for us to do.

3. A project that has not been commercialized will be so hard to keep running in the future. What I mean is, except for the enthusiastic audiences and fans, it is difficult to have some commercial brands to sponsor Warcraft III, indicating that this project is not so valuable for them. This makes me very annoyed and I am still trying to change this situation.



GLH: In the face of these problems, how should Chinese Warcraft III environment be improved?

Keke:
The CSL(College Star League) is an attempt. We will also actively interact with NetEase and the clubs to organize a youth camp.
As for commercialization, I have been already trying it. If there are no accidents, there will be a good solution in June.
And now the Shanghai government has subsidies for E-sports competitions. I am also trying my best to get it.



GLH: According to your observations, is there a way for the Warcraft III environment in Europe and South Korea to keep up with China's footsteps (the number of tournaments, prizes, etc.)? How do you think they should improve?

Keke: It still depends on the number of audiences and the degree of commercialization. I think with the release of the Reforged Edition, if the number of audiences in Europe has risen sharply, neo will have to come to me sooner or later, bravely go out, throw everything away, and go all out to fight for war3.

GLH: W League is a brand event of Wargee. Why is it named W League?

Keke: W=WC3, and our company's name is started with W as well.



GLH: The offline of the W League S1 will be held in May. After that, will we have the second season? If yes, what do you want to improve?

Keke: The second season is already under planning. We will have an event improvement. Before that, please let me keep it secret.



GLH: Before we finish, let's talk a little bit relaxed. Back2warcraft's Neo called you as "The Queen of Chinese Warcraft III" in the live broadcast. What do you think of this?

Keke: Hahaha, this is an overrated compliment. It is too great, I don't deserve it!. Neo and his partners have gone through a long and thorny journey, they did it from nothing to the current situation. China's environment is much better, it's relatively easy for me and my partners to do. Additionally, my own economic situation is not bad, and my husband (he is a fan of Fly) also gave me great support.



GLH: Thank you again for accepting our interview. Before we finish this interview, do you still have anything to say?

Keke: When I know Gornlan Harbor, I will remind the lighthouse (corresponding to harbor). Yang (Aragorn Wong) is a very nice person. You couldn't imagine that a Malaysian will come to Warcraft III. It was just like you were walking in a crowd, the people around you are bustling, meanwhile, all of them love CSGO, Dota2 or Hearthstone, and you were always alone. However, it doesn't matter, you would be the lighthouse, in sooner or later, like us, you will find the other lighthouses and all of you will come together to illuminate the way we are going.



Author:
Gornlan Harbor

Original Author and Translator: War3station, Emoji, Huahua
Translator: GLH


Sok's improving so much recently, and he has become one of the strongest Human player in the world after winning Fly100%, Moon and FoCuS and got the third place in Yule Cup. For Sok, I am afraid that we don't know him very well, so let us talking with him and try to know him.

Q: Hello Sok, thank you very much for accepting our interview. First of all, let's say hello to everyone!

Sok: Hello everyone, I am a Human player, Sok.



Q: Let's talk about your daily life. Because of your excellent dance performance, you have accumulated a lot of Chinese fans, so are you still teaching dance, or playing Warcraft III as full-time job?

Sok: Everyone seems to have misunderstood me. I am not a street dance teacher. I only taught primary school students how to stand upside down a long time ago... Nowadays I spend a lot of time for practicing Warcraft III.

Q: Recently, you won the third place in the Yule Cup, and this is your first time with excellent performance. How do you feel about this?

Sok: I am very happy to get into top three for the first time! I also did a lot of preparation and practice before the game, my effort gets paid!



Q: In fact, you were still struggling in the group stage a few months ago, and this time you reached into top three, how did you make such great progress?

Sok: As I mentioned above, the amount of practice and preparation for the game are more than usual, and I was lucky as well, the items were better than usual.



Q: You had used a few of special and interesting strategies to knocked down many famous players in this tournament. Are these tactics you think about yourself? Or is there a learning object?

Sok: In fact, LawLiet has helped me a lot, and I tried a lot of strategies when I was practicing with other race players, so I played better in this time. In addition, I also referred to the strategies and details of many other Human players, such as Infi, TH000, HawK, Chaemiko.



Q: Do you have any unique understanding of Blood Mage?

Sok: For Blood Mage, I saw Infi was using it, so I also tried to practice this hero, seems the effect is really good.



Q: Let's talk about the games. In this time, you won Moon with 3:1 in the BO5 series, but you lost to Foggy in the group stage with 0:2. There are many fans said that they were surprised about it. How do you think about them in Night vs Human? Are they having any difference? Or were you not perfect yet in the group stage?

Sok: I made some misjudgment when I was playing with Foggy, and the Foggy's offensive timing was particularly good, meanwhile, I think Foggy had the idea of ending the game in the early game, so I thought that the situation would be better after I held the attack, but in the end, I could not stop the attack. I will pay more attention to this when I play with him again in the future.



Q: Current, with the advent of the Reforged Edition, the professional e-sports system of Warcraft III has finally been established. How do you think of this? Are you considering to join a professional team?

Sok: I have been playing Warcraft III for ten years, and the news of releasing the remastered version is undoubtedly a great news, it also gave me the opportunity to play harder. For joining a team, definitely I want to join, but I just don't know if there is a chance for me.



Q: What do you think about the current balance? Do you think Human is weak? Which race do you think is the most IMBA?

Sok: I think Human is not weak, but their movement speed is slow, Human is weak in terms of operations. In addition to playing against the Orcs or Human, there are some restrictions on the strategies of fast tech and not expanding.



Q: With the outstanding performance in this time, many Chinese players and fans praise you as the future King of Human, may you talk to us about your future goals?

Sok: A King like Infi or TH000? I don't dare to be... I hope I can do my best to reach the highest standing I can be in the future.



Q: Finally, do you have anything to say to your fans?

Sok:  My shape has a lot of ups and downs. When I am in good shape, I feel that I am playing well. But when my shape is bad, I will lose very easy. But I will work hard., I hope that everyone will not be too disappointed with me. Thank you.



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Original Author: War3station_Emoji
Translator: GLH



In the Yule Cup final, 120 defeated Infi 4-3 to win the championship. In the last round, 120's acolyte scouting made a great achievements, but because of this, some people questioned about this scouting after the game. So what was in 120's mind at the time of the game?

Let's take a look at what 120 is saying.

Q: Hello, 120, first of all, thank you for accepting the interview of War3station, would you like to say hello to your fans first?

120: Hello.



Q: After a half-year low tide, you won the championship of Yule cup and returned to the throne like a formal king. What is your mood at this time?

120: Of course I am very happy for this, because I practiced a lot before the games, but still I had no confidence to win. After the game, I feel relieved.



Q: For this tournament, you said you had been practicing for 500 sets before the game. How did you do such a large amount of training for 1 week? Do you feel boring during the practice?

120: Originally, I had nothing to do at home recently, and I agreed to participate in an event which invited by NetEase, but I didn't go at last because of this tournament, and I wanted to study seriously the details in the game again, to see if I have the strength to win.

So recently I played against Night Elf on the ladder every day, if the ladder became very few players, I researched the details with Life. I didn't feel boring in the process, because if there is a detail that can be developed, I will try it in the next set. If it succeeds, I will be very happy.



Q: In the previous interview, you said there is only one advantaged map for Undead in the current maps pool. What is your understanding of map balance for current maps pool? What is the balance map in your opinion?

120: After a lot of tournaments, I found that the two new maps, NI and CH are simply Undead nightmares. It is really impossible to win against Night Elves and Orcs, especially their Air Force.

In patch 1.29, the most advantaged maps for Undead are AI and TR when play against Night Elf, but those two maps has been taken away, so the current maps pool is really bad for Undead.

95% of Night Elves will start with KotG first, so, Undead can hold in the game to the late game on TM, compared with other maps, TM is easier to play for Undead.



Q: In the Grand Final, you had a hard series, but you won the RW.Infi with Night Elf with 4:3 at last. What do you think of Infi's Night Elf? How is he different from several professional Night Elves in NE vs UD? In your opinion, Infi and other professional Night Elves, who is more difficult for you?

120: In current patch, this race is really suitable for Infi, including Moon, TH000. In this patch, Night Elf have to focus on their operation of economy and resources, so I think Infi = Moon> TH000 = Lawliet.



Q: In fact, in the last match, your acolyte scouting is very quintessential. Can you talk about the scouting? Why did you scout with that route?

120: After the patches change, UD vs NE has completely changed. Undead used to suppress against the Night Elves. But now, we are forced to expand and play the late game, so sometimes, it is more free when you are scouting.

If I say it is a process, I don’t know if I will be misunderstood, because there are 80% chances that the Acolyte will go back and expand.

When I started the game, I was thinking the game that when I was playing LawLiet, he chose to expand very early, and he had gained an advantage, so I think that Infi is also likely to play this way, and nowadays, the Night Elves basically are not creeping the 5-3-3 or Mercenary camp first. When I didn't scout him at the first two location I scouted, I was still a little panicked, so I had to make a choice, if I still didn't scout him, I would go expanding at the direction 4 o'clock.

Q: What do you think about Sok? You said that Sok has 50% chances to win you in the game, is that true?

120: I am looking forward about Sok, because I always practiced with him a year ago. He is a very powerful player when he was practicing, although his result is not very good in tournaments, but usually this kind of players will stand out sooner or later.



Q: Let's talk about some topics beside this tournament. What is your opinion on the Gargoyles? How do you think about the strategy of mTw.Lucifer, Dread Lord first, fast expand and mass Gargoyles?

120: Recently, I didn't see that Lucifer was playing against Night Elves with mass Gargoyles, at least I didn't see it. There are too many defects in this strategy. It is not a question of how he chose in the late game, but this strategy make Undead doesn't have too much space of micro[1].

Remark[1] by GLH: Space of Micro: It's a word I heard from Chinese players, when you have a good enough micro, the units with bigger space of micro will beat the units with smaller space of micro, for example: Mass Dryads could beat Mass Footmen, because Dryads have Slow and range attack, Mass Raiders could beat Mass Grunts, because Raiders has Ensnare.



Q: In the coming April, Happy will participate in an European offline tournament. There are Lucifer, Check, Chaemiko and Foggy as well, so are you optimistic about Happy?

120: Yes. I think Happy is a very stable player. Basically, he will not lose to the players who are weaker than him.



Q: Let us talk something relax: What is your favorite food? What is your favorite beverage? What is your favorite animal? What is your favorite plant? Which player do you want to meet and beat him in the game?

120:
Food: Potatoes
Beverage: Cola
Animal: cat
Plant: Prickly Pear
Player: I heard that TH000 is very eager to meet me. Hey Tolkien, you know how to do right?



Q: Ok, thanks again to Newbee.eer0 for an interview with War3station. What else do you want to say to your fans?

120: I am very happy that my audiences always support me when I am in the game. No matter how difficult Undead is, I will stick to this race. I will let you like Undead because of me, but not because Undead likes me.



Click here to Source

Original Author and translator: War3station
Porter: GLH


Q: Hello Christopher, thanks to accept our War3station'interview, first do you have any words want to say to fans?

T: Hey there and thanks for having me! I am very excited and honored to receive this Interview request and see that there are still a few people left overseas that actually know me after all these years of absence of the scene  I am looking forward to a bright future of WC3, our beloved game!

Q: We all know the news that the legendary team in WC3L: mTw set up the WC3 department again. Could you tell us why mTw decides to set WC3 department again?

T: Some of the original founders of mTw have bought back the marketing and name rights of the brand mTw in order to have a fresh start in 2019. They have asked me to be part of it and after I gladly accepted the offer. I encouraged the leaders to have a WC3 team again as a first eSport division in the new mTw! There is a long and successful history with mTw in WC3 and I wanted to make sure that we play a role in the upcoming Reforged Hype.

(mTw had many great results on Warcraft III history)

Their LOGO

Their former LOGO

Q: Could you tell us why mTw choose HawK and Cash as first and second players?

T: We were looking for some players in Europe first because mTw is based there as well. I have met Hawk in the Blizzard Warcraft 3 Invitational about a year ago together with Foggy and thought they were both super nice guys! Unfortunately, Foggy was not available to join mTw as well, but with Cash we found another top notch European player who had some surprisingly good results at the last WGL. They both like each other a lot and represent some of the strongest players in Europe, making them the best fit for our team.


Q: After two EU players mTw choose KR players as third and fourth players and this decision makes mTw become the first EU club that have KR WC3 players. So, why choose KR players? Only for their game race or other reasons?

T: I always wanted to have a team with at least four players, ideally representing each race. This was because I knew clan leagues would come out and I wanted to keep the tradition of mTw participating in clan leagues up. I know both Check and Lucifer very well from my own active days as a pro Gamer and know that they are both great guys to have in the team. Check cannot commit 100% of his time to WC3 right now, but I think he is still a great player to have and I was especially happy that Lucifer decided to join as well, still being one of the best Undeads out there! For mTw as an organization, it can only be beneficial to have a presence in the most important WC3 market of the world, so we decided to invest in that area.


Q: Will mTw sign new players in the future?

T: The base setup of our team is now complete, having one player of each race. However, my goal is to sign perhaps two more up and coming young players (one in Asia and one from Europe) in order to train them up to get to the next level. This process might take a bit longer as we can take our time and observe the scene first.


Q: Does mTw has any plan to let players practice offline for some days?

T: Yes, we have very concrete plans for that! I hope that by next week we can announce an event in Berlin, Germany, which will include all of our four players. Should our Russians express the wish to live and play in China or South Korea for a while, mTw will also be able to support them with that and we could set up a pro Gaming house in Asia to represent mTw there. We will discuss this in Q3 this year once more news are out about the upcoming Chinese Team Leagues.


Q: Now we now there is a new online team league held by Warcraft3.info, what is the aim of mTw in that league?

T: Our aim is to win the league and provide fun and entertaining matches for the WC3 Community. The prize pool is not high in the W3iL, but the first season is more about pride and prestige and we want to make sure that mTw comes out as the winner of course! Competition is always about winning, you should never have the goal or aim to just become second  I am looking forward to the games already and can see that many good players have signed up already; perhaps in Season 2 we will also see some Chinese teams?


Q: One of the biggest news of WC3 in 2019 is that a high prize Primer team ProLeague will held in China, is there any plan to join that league? If yes, what is the aim? If no, why? Have you discussed with NetEase already?

T: I am very well aware of the NetEase plans for a team league and am already in touch with the organizers. No details can be shared yet, so I cannot give any information other than mTw will do anything we can in order to have our team represented in that league! As mentioned before, we are also open to move all of our players to Asia in order to have the best possible practice environment for the event.


Q: Could you share any future plans of mTwWC3 department with us?

T: We will participate in all major Tournaments hopefully and also set up a system to give new players a chance to become a pro. We want to give them the environment to grow and enrich their skills and perhaps even have some kind of program for it to support them on their way to the top. Having our current team of very experienced pro in mTw will certainly help for that!


Q: Let us discuss the manager: Tak3r. He was the best ORC in the past in age of ROC. We know he has left WC3 for a long time. This time why he comes back to lead Team mTw?

T: Ohh I think it is not true that I was the best Orc in Reign of Chaos! But thanks for saying that hehe. I stopped playing WC3 in 2006 after having some successful years, attending WCG in 2003 (so happy to see they added WC3 for their new 2019 event!) and the ACON4 Tournament in China in 2004. I decided to focus on a real life job at that time and became interested in other hobbies such as sports, guitar and most of all: traveling! I actually traveled the world for over three years in a row and managed to see 103 countries so far (List here: https://www.chrisontour84.de/travelreports/).

The reason I came back to mTw and WC3 is that it has been such a long time already and after Blizzard invited me to the Warcraft 3 Invitational with great oldschool and newschool players, I realized how much I missed being on eSport events and the special atmosphere there. mTw’s offer to be part of the team again came at the perfect timing, leading to my decision to devote some of my time for Gaming again and help them to grow mTw in the WC3 scene. My dream would be to be part of WCG 2019 as the Team captain for the German WC3 team, where can I apply for that please? ;)

(A part of Tak3r's list of global travel)

Q: Last question, how do you think about WC3:Reforged?

T: I think it helps a lot to bring back new life into the scene and I think it looks great zoomed in. I am a bit worried that the overall gameplay might suffer a bit with all the new graphics and bigger unit models etc. Blizzard also made news firing people, but I hope that this will not negatively impact the development of WC3:Reforged. Should they do a good job with it and the scene loves it, I would love to see WC3:R as one of the top games in 2020 and going forward!


Q: In the end, do you still have any words want to say to fans or us?

T: Thanks for everyone who is supporting us from China and I hope we can bring you many good games and great WC3 moments in the future! mTw fighting!


Thanks to accept our interview! Best wishes! GLHF!


(The following part translated by GLH)

War3station: In the future, it is too difficult to support and make a reconstruction of the Warcraft III professional e-sports system, if we are relying only on Chinese Warcraft, an internationalized Warcraft III environment is indispensable. And in the case of the overall situation of the European Warcraft III environment is not good, MTW has become a team to explore, it is a courage to take the lead in establishing a true professional team, establishing a base in China and South Korea, and to train new players as their future goals. We wish them to go further on the road ahead! The revival of Warcraft, China, Europe, Korea, and the United States are indispensable!


mTw official website: http://www.mymtw.com

Tak3r's Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/towertak3r

Author

Original Author: 178电竞(178 esports)_Bloom
Translator: GLH



NeXT'2018 Winter Warcraft entered the Grand Final. Before the games, our reporter interviewed the game's commentator, the Warcraft legend, MagicYang. In the interview, Magic Yang mentioned several key points that Warcraft III will return in this year, let's take a look!


Q: How did you feel about returning to the familiar interpretation stage during the NeXT2018 winter?

M: I recently returned to the commentary, and I participated in the Super WGL Finals and NeXT's game commentary. The reason why I came back is because I still love Warcraft. At the same time, I also hope to come back to meet old and new friends. First, I want to see if everyone still likes my casting style, and I hope that I can do my own little power for this game.


Q: You are now working behind the scenes, have you considered any Warcraft III related business in the future?

M: Two years ago, I just turned into a behind-the-scenes work. At that time, we held a Nostalgic Battlefield in Harbin and invited some very famous players to participate, such as Moon, Grubby, Infi, TH000 and so on.

Now that we are considering the direction of the Reforged Edition, we hope to start with periodic small events and RPG-type maps. At the beginning we had a game called Dragon Wing Chronicles(龙翼编年史), we are considering whether to transfer it to Warcraft III: Reforged.

Q: What do you think about the upcoming Warcraft: Reforged Edition? Do you think it will make Warcraft III popular again?

M: In fact, this still depends on the cooperation of the electric competition. At present, NetEase has announced the WAR3 event plan for 2019, including 5 million yuan of special prizes for the event. I am more optimistic about whether it can be popular again.

For new players, the Reforged Edition is a brand new game, and the game has a high prizes. In addition, Warcraft III does not have as many professional players as other games that are mature now.

So it is more attractive for new players to choose Warcraft III: Reforged as a new eSports project.
For the old players, I think the screen upgrade of these old RPG maps, melee games will attract them to return. From the situation I understand, the Netease official battle platform has had a significant increase in traffic for the past two months, so I think Warcraft III will definitely be popular again.


Q: In NeXT'2018 winter Warcraft III, there are only four Chinese players, but there are many Korean players. In terms of the overall professional level of Warcraft III, China and Korea, which one do you think is stronger?

M: In fact, from the top players, the level of China and Korea is still very close. As for the offline events, we are more concerned about the players themselves.


Q: Warcraft III has been in development for many years, but there are only few new players have appeared in recent years. What are your views and methods for cultivating a new generation of players?

M: At the current stage of e-sports, new players are not like ours, we are only going to play with a passion. Nowadays, it is more formalized. In fact, it is a good opportunity for recruiting new players in this year. With the launch of Reforged Edition, many large professional clubs in China have established Warcraft department, such as RW, Newbee. For the young players, the recruitment of these regular clubs is not only guaranteed, but also less worrying.

The second is that this year's event has a high bonus, which will attract many new players, and more people will choose to strive for the standing of the top players. In fact, the current professional players grew up slowly under the pressure of the older players.

In this year, Warcraft III will have a lot of new players. Maybe these young players can't beat the top players in a short time, but the young players will cause a lot of troubles for these top players in the game. They must be able to intensify the competition.

Q: Do you think that Warcraft III can open up new development space in the game mode, such as FFA, 5v5, 2v2v2, etc. Can these format bring a fresh feeling to the game?

M: In fact, these formats have been tried in previous games, but from the results, these formats are more suitable for RPG. Because the existing 1v1 and 2v2games, they have formed a system that is very standard and the audience has become accustomed to. If you add more formats, first of all, the game duration will be lengthened, second, the game viewing will be limited. For example, the FFA of 8 players, where should the caster go? The attention of the audience will also be dispersed.

But these formats are quite promising in RPG, as the previous Dota did. For the Warcraft III tournaments, in addition to considering the competitive nature of professional players, we must also consider the feelings of the audiences. For the new format, it is difficult to find a solution that satisfies both parties in a short time.


Q: What do you think of the atmosphere and venue of NeXT winter in this time? If you have a chance to come again next time, would you like to come here again?

M: This competition is very good, the area, stage and lighting of the venue are very good. Additionally, I really enjoy the atmosphere of here, the seats in the venue were full, especially this event was a comprehensive project.

In fact, many fans and audiences are not coming for Warcraft III, but they may be attracted to watch Warcraft III. So I am very willing to come to the next competition.





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Original Author: NeXT official
Translator(subtitles on Youtube): GLH

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