Interview with Kim “SaSe” Hammar @MLG Orlando
I’m here with Kim “SaSe” Hammar of Quantic Gaming after his monumental win over the previously undefeated in this tournament STBomber in pool play. He’s a previous Warcraft 3 Pro as well as a professional poker player, and switched to Startcraft 2 just after release of the game. He graciously agreed to take a few moments with me despite being very tired, so thanks for that! Also, a big thank you to Mark, CEO of Quantic Gaming, who helped me set up this interview.
Dustin Steiner: First off, great match against Bomber, just have a few questions for you. How do you feel Quantic Gaming sets itself apart from previous teams you’ve been on?
SaSe: Much more professional, everything happens quickly, and they take really good care of me. I don’t need to worry about anything – like, if I need food or Red Bull or whatever they always make sure I get it.
DS: Did competing in professional poker help you with tournament nerves coming into competing in eSports?
SaSe: Not really. Even though I played both Warcraft and Poker, coming into my first couple of Starcraft 2 tournaments I was still nervous. The first events I played in I didn’t care about my results I just tried to work on not being nervous. That’s the most important part for me is just remaining relaxed and everything.
DS: How well do you feel the skills you developed playing Warcraft 3 professionally transfer over to Starcraft 2?
SaSe: Not really about the skills – maybe micro. The decision making and everything is totally different. I could say long hours, but that’s from Poker as well.
DS: Do you have any plans to go back to Korea to compete in the GSL?
SaSe: I’m not sure if I will compete in the GSL – if I qualify, of course, I will. But I will stay in Korea because it’s the best place to practice.
DS: With the recent buff to immortal range, do you feel that Protoss are in a better place than they were before the patch, balance wise? Why?
SaSe: I don’t think it matters that much – a little bit better. Immortals are good in PvP, but if you were skilled in PvP last patch you were much more skiled than it is now, it feels more random after the patch for sure.
DS: What was it like living in China to compete in Warcraft 3?
SaSe: It was nice – China is the place to be for Warcraft 3, similar to how Korea is great for Starcraft 2.
DS: What’s with the pillow, anyway? Are the seats here really that hard?
SaSe: *laughs* The seats here are fairly low, so it’s to boost me up so I can be up higher.
DS: So far in this tournament, you’ve come through the open brackers, you 2-0’d InControl, you took down Kiwikaki 2-1, you even defeated Bomber who had been undefeated, until you. How you feel your chances are in this tournament going into championship play? Who do you feel your biggest obstacle is?
SaSe: I never predict, I came to play. If I wanted to predict I would stay home and watch the games online. I don’t know, there’s 10-20 good players here, any one of them could beat me.
DS: Any closing words for your fans, and my readers here at GameZone?
SaSe: Thank you to everyone who supports me, it’s really nice to see all of the fans here at MLG.
DS: Good luck to you sir, we hope to see much more from you tomorrow in Championship Play.
So there you have it, that was my interview with SaSe of Quantic Gaming, which you can check out at www.quanticgaming.com. You can also follow SaSe on Twitter @HelloSaSe and Quantic at @QuanticGaming. For now, this is Dustin Steiner, signing off.
Dustin Steiner is GameZone’s eSports correspondent! Follow him on Twitter @SteinerDustin
