TheViper on his opposition, the upcoming matches and the role of strategy in Arena.
Since you lost to Lojza in the upper- a lot of action happened in the lower bracket. Surprised by Edie or last years champ slam exiting early, anyone making it far?
TheViper: I think Edie reaching top 10 is a good and fairly expected achievement, but I am surprised that slam is "already" out. I was expecting to meet him in the losers bracket final. A lot of the up-and-coming are improving though, and with the map being Arena and the settings the way they are, there is always the chance for an upset.
Who do you feel is the biggest stumbling block between yourself and the revenge vs Lojza?
TheViper: I think Juan might be able to put up the best fight of the remaining players. They are all good players though, so one can't underestimate anyone, but I'll be very confident regardless of who I end up facing.
Quite a few people outwitted themselves with civilization choices. Did you follow some of the games in the lower bracket? Did any of that or your games vs Lojza change your approach to the pick/ban process?
TheViper: I haven't really seen much of other games besides the occasional tune-in on streams or clicking the threads to see the scores, but the settings make it very tricky due to the choices pretty much hard countering each other. You can argue it creates more mind games and preparation outside of the games themselves, but I find it too luck based with the civ choices as they are, because on the higher level the civ alone will most likely determine the outcome. If there were multiple civ choices where they are a little bit more evenly matched, it would have been more interesting to me.
I've picked what I've felt like there and then up until now, but I'll probably put more thought into it as it will be elimination matches for me from now on.
From the outside it looks like Arena allows more room for good strategy to win pure execution. Do you think that statement is fair? If so, do you think it helps or hinders your own game?
TheViper: I think strategy is the most important in Arena, so I agree with that statement. The thing is that once you choose a strategy on Arena, you're committed, and there is rarely a way of quickly switching it up, so it becomes vital to pick a good strategy. One strategy can hard counter another much more in Arena compared to other maps as well, so it becomes even more important.
It might actually be more beneficial to me than not, as I think my decision making is one of my strongest traits.
Any last words?
TheViper: Keep up the good work!
Since you lost to Lojza in the upper- a lot of action happened in the lower bracket. Surprised by Edie or last years champ slam exiting early, anyone making it far?
TheViper: I think Edie reaching top 10 is a good and fairly expected achievement, but I am surprised that slam is "already" out. I was expecting to meet him in the losers bracket final. A lot of the up-and-coming are improving though, and with the map being Arena and the settings the way they are, there is always the chance for an upset.
Who do you feel is the biggest stumbling block between yourself and the revenge vs Lojza?
TheViper: I think Juan might be able to put up the best fight of the remaining players. They are all good players though, so one can't underestimate anyone, but I'll be very confident regardless of who I end up facing.
Quite a few people outwitted themselves with civilization choices. Did you follow some of the games in the lower bracket? Did any of that or your games vs Lojza change your approach to the pick/ban process?
TheViper: I haven't really seen much of other games besides the occasional tune-in on streams or clicking the threads to see the scores, but the settings make it very tricky due to the choices pretty much hard countering each other. You can argue it creates more mind games and preparation outside of the games themselves, but I find it too luck based with the civ choices as they are, because on the higher level the civ alone will most likely determine the outcome. If there were multiple civ choices where they are a little bit more evenly matched, it would have been more interesting to me.
I've picked what I've felt like there and then up until now, but I'll probably put more thought into it as it will be elimination matches for me from now on.
From the outside it looks like Arena allows more room for good strategy to win pure execution. Do you think that statement is fair? If so, do you think it helps or hinders your own game?
TheViper: I think strategy is the most important in Arena, so I agree with that statement. The thing is that once you choose a strategy on Arena, you're committed, and there is rarely a way of quickly switching it up, so it becomes vital to pick a good strategy. One strategy can hard counter another much more in Arena compared to other maps as well, so it becomes even more important.
It might actually be more beneficial to me than not, as I think my decision making is one of my strongest traits.
Any last words?
TheViper: Keep up the good work!