[Interview] Nyoken

Republished By Plato

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Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview.

Nyoken:

Thanks for asking :)

Let’s start off with how you got into gaming. I’m curious. What was your first game?

Nyoken:

I got into gaming when I was really young when my dad bought an NES. My first game was probably Mario, but back then my favorite types of games were RPGs like Final Fantasy.

So you started out on a console. When did your family get a PC?

Nyoken:

Yeah I started on console when I was about 3 years old. I would say we got a computer maybe when I was 8 or 9 years old, and probably the first games I played were games in school like Prince of Persia. At my house I liked playing Doom and Wolfenstein.

Haha, that is great. Those were also my first PC games.What about your first RTS?

Nyoken:

My first RTS was Warcraft II which I loved. Back then there wasn’t really multi-player so I just played single-player or later on I played through modem connection with my friend. That was my go-to game for a long time until Starcraft.

How did you find out about Starcraft? Where did you get your copy and how old were you back then? Did you immediately start playing BW or did you start off with vanilla, (Starcraft Original)?

Nyoken:

One day my friend invited me over to his house and I saw him playing Starcraft. Back then I didn’t know what game it was but I remember thinking it looked really cool. I actually liked it so much that I called my grandma to come pick me up from his house and take me to Best Buy to buy it. This happened in October and I remember her asking me: “Can’t you wait until Christmas?” and I said no. So I ended up buying it maybe 2 hours after going to my friend’s house and ever since then I’ve played it.

I started with vanilla but I never played the campaign. I went straight to multi-player. I played BGH and those types of maps for maybe a year, then I started playing 2v2, and then moved onto low money and 1v1 ladder maps like Lost Temple, Rivalry, etc.

I played Zerg at first, but they nerfed the cost of the spawning pool and the lurker upgrade. Back then the main build was like pool first, lings, lurkers, then guardians in ZvT at least. It felt unwinnable so I switched to Terran after that nerf.

Already playing 1v1 and switching your race, I would say you had the competitive spirit pretty much since the beginning.

Nyoken:

Hah, well no. Back then I didn’t even know there were tournaments or anything so I just played for fun. But as I got better at the game I learned about certain channels like Nohunters, x17, and tournaments like KBK and WCG. They also had a Korean ladder named Game-i which was amazing. You could play all the pros on there, so I would say around that time is when I became competitive. I think that was around maybe 2001-2002 or so. I went to my first WCG in 2003.

Isn’t that when you won? If I did my research correctly that is.

Nyoken:

I wish I won WCG, but I never did. I got 2nd twice, in 2007 and 2010. In 2003 I got eliminated in the group stage, which was sad for me because I thought back then my TvT was really good but I ended up losing to FroZ.

That is another American Terran?

Nyoken:

Yes, he was the best back then. He beat BoxeR at WCG that year.

Did you have practice partners to prepare for WCG? How did you prepare? Weren’t you in Media and later EG (Evil Geniuses)?

Nyoken:

Generally I just liked to play on Game-i or ICCup to practice. I’m not really big into being on teams or playing with friends, mainly because if you play the same opponent over and over and over you end up knowing their tendencies and just blind countering them in my opinion. I prefer just playing ladder because I don’t really know what the opponent is going to do so I can just adapt as the game plays out. I did join Media but Media is really just a group of friends more than a team that plays clan wars or anything. I would say my first real team was EG which was I think 2009.

Oh actually I was in By. Clan in 2005, so I did play with a lot of Korean pros before they became pros. I remember playing with Flash, Trap, TY and others.

You played in TSL 2009-2010, correct? So you were with EG back then?

Nyoken:

Yes, I played in TSL but again I got eliminated quickly. I never do well in tournaments. Haha.

The hunger stays there to compete however, I mean you’ve recently been playing in BSL for example.

Nyoken:

Yeah I enjoy BSL. I don’t think I have the skill to win it as there is a clear distinction between someone at my level of 2300-2400 and someone that is 2600+. But I enjoy playing and if I can get a good draw I think I can do decently well. Generally my goal is around top 8, I think after that I would need some real luck on my side.

What is your fondest memory playing BW? Any particular game? In a tournament perhaps? You also seem to always keep your cool, even in defeat. Has this always been the case?

Nyoken:

Beating FroZ at the first WCG US Open and then also winning in 2007 again versus him. I don’t mind losing but if there’s one person I never wanted to lose to it was him.

Was that before or after the first time you lost to him in WCG? And congrats on getting your revenge :)

Nyoken:

The games against Froz were after 2003 so yea I got revenge. Haha.

I do get mad when I lose, you can see it on my stream sometimes. But generally I’m not mad for more than maybe 2 minutes. It’s hard for me to watch streams when the streamer goes on mega tilt so I try to keep composure even if I’m actually pissed off. Off stream, yeah, I do get mad if I lose multiple times in a row to the same opponent. Then I really wanna kill them :)

What do you do after you lose and get tilted? Do you instantly queue up for another game?

Nyoken:

Yeah I insta-queue, haha. If I’ve taken a break for a while and I feel like I lost simply because I feel uncomfortable on the mouse or keyboard or whatever, then I might go play single-player for a while just to unrust. Single-player is actually really good for unrusting and just focusing on nailing a specific build. If I ever have a showmatch against an opponent that isn’t Protoss, I generally just play single-player for a few hours.

What’s wrong with Protoss? (Give us that spice)

Nyoken:

Nothing’s wrong with Protoss, but Protoss is 50% of the ladder so when I queue I know there’s a high chance I can get a Protoss opponent. So in that case I don’t need to play single-player :)

I was wondering who your favorite progamer was in the KeSPA era and did he influence the way you play?

Nyoken:

My favorite pro is FanTaSy . I think he plays Terran the way it should be played, which is good harassment, good micro, and good macro behind it. Even though Flash is obviously the best ever, if you watched the last games of BW before SC2 came out, my personal opinion is that Fantasy was better at that time. I also like Jaedong, because as I mentioned earlier I used to be a Zerg player and Jaedong back then was clearly the best Zerg.

Since I am from an older era obviously BoxeR influenced my play. No one really macro’d well back then, but I remember watching BoxeR with tank drops on Lost Temple, or just insane marine micro like splitting marines into a triangle to kill lurkers. I think being from an older era is one of the reasons my macro is so bad, I focus too much on micro. Haha.

The famous triangle marine micro

Did you ever lose interest in BW? Whether that may be playing or watching or both.

Nyoken:

Like anyone else my interest in BW fades over time, then it comes back later. When poker was a big thing in 2005 I played that for a couple years. I also played a game called Lineage 2 for a few years also. Whenever I decide to do something I generally focus exclusively on that one thing. Right now that thing is BW.

I actually don’t watch many games of BW, I never did. If I do end up watching BW it’s mostly Artosis’ stream, not pro matches. Pro matches are good to watch and learn obviously, but for me I like to learn things on my own. So generally I just play, but here and there I will watch pros play like Light, Rush, Royal but it’s really rare.

You’re saying you did not watch OSL and MSL religiously?

Nyoken:

Nope, I never watched OSL or MSL. Sure, I might watch some specific matches in the top 8, top 4, or the finals, but I just never really cared to watch pro games. I like to play the game, so I just play.

It’s the same with ASL. If I wasn’t casting ASL I would probably only watch matches that were especially interesting to me. For example, last season Light vs Bisu and Light vs Rain I would have watched because I know Light is beast mode TvP and I would be curious how he would play split map style versus these top tier Protoss players.

So the pro matches you watch will generally include a Terran because you play Terran?

Nyoken:

Yeah, mostly I just watch Terran games. If I felt like I needed to up my knowledge in ZvX or PvX when I cast then I might watch some other games and see what the meta is.

About casting. How did you first get into casting Starcraft?

Nyoken:

When the Starcraft Remastered tournament first got announced I thought well obviously I can’t go pro in this game, but maybe I could become a caster. So when I was at the tournament I asked Artosis and Tasteless what they thought of it and they thought I could do it. So I started to get into casting then and I asked Schamtoo to give me a chance to cast Have at You. Then I also asked ZZZero to cast BSL. Then I did some casts of ASL on my YouTube channel before they got taken down. Reception of my casts have been great even if I’m a little Terran biased :)

At one point Artosis told me he thought I could become a backup for him and Tasteless when either of them needed a replacement so I continued to do casts in hopes that one day they would actually need me in Korea.

You went to Korea. What made that decision final? Why did you go? Can you tell us more about your experience there?

Nyoken:

So I went to Korea in December 2019. LS (caster for LOL) told me that one of the casting positions for LCK were going to be available and he told me I should apply. I told him that I don’t play LOL so I will let someone else apply. A couple months go by and he asks me again to do it but I gave him the same response. A couple more months go by and he asks me again and at this point I’m like ok well I’ll just apply so that he stops asking me. Well they liked me enough that I was offered to be a backup caster for LCK so I ended up going to Korea and staying with LS. However, once I got there the whole LCK thing didn’t work out, but it wasn’t a big deal to me because now that meant I could focus on BW while I was in Korea. But as everyone knows, COVID hit, ASL in person events were canceled, and the English stream got canceled too so it was really bad timing for me to come to Korea and try to be a caster.

The first few months I was in Korea I was living with LS. He was housing a bunch of different LOL pros and since I wasn’t going to be doing LOL anymore I ended up moving out on my own. I lived in a place called Namguro for a while. It was fine but didn’t have much food that I liked so I ended up moving to Hongdae which is a popular area for foreigners. I would recommend that area to anyone that wants to live in Korea.

Compared to the USA I would say that a lot of things like rent and utilities are cheaper. Food is similar in price and pretty good. In Hongdae you can get all types of food, not just Korean, but also American, Mexican, Thai, etc.

When I came to Korea I didn’t have a visa and because I didn’t want to leave Korea due to COVID in America and also because I thought I would probably not come back to Korea later in my life I ended up taking Korean classes at a university so that I could stay in Korea on a student visa. I actually really enjoyed the classes and because of COVID I never went out so actually class was one of the highlights of my day just talking to people in broken Korean about games.

I made a presentation for my class about Starcraft and even the teachers knew who BoxeR and YellOw were. Haha.

For people that want to go to Korea I would say take some Korean classes, they’re fun and will get you a student visa for 6 months. It’s moderately expensive so keep that in mind but you’ll be able to meet friends in class and meet up with them to do activities together, like hiking, or going to visit some historic places if you have interest in that. If you are going to travel to Korea for just a short trip, I would say you should plan all the places you want to see. They have a good subway system but some places may be far to get to. Also if you don’t speak or know Korean it might be a little difficult to get around but I was surprised to find out that a lot of Koreans know English and I never had a bad experience asking them for help.

Since I came to Korea when COVID hit I didn’t go out much so actually I didn’t experience much in Korea but I still enjoyed my time staying in and playing TR24 on the ladder, which is amazing. You can snipe pros consistently if you are around the 2400 range.

Your timing of going to and living in Korea was indeed rather unfortunate. Great anecdote of your Korean classes and on behalf of the community thank you for the recommendations and insights. I was meaning to ask you about TR24 actually. Would you say that the ladder experience in Korea has made you a better player? Or did it just make you a better player in playing TR24? Like are you now forever ruined because you have tasted that sweet sweet LAN latency? That must be something bittersweet now that you are back in the US?

Nyoken:

I don’t really know how to answer if TR24 makes you better. I can tell you after playing in TR24 for 2 years that even TR16 feels laggy. It’s a completely different game to play in TR24. For example, if you watch my stream I play valkyrie openers in TvZ almost every game. In Korea when I had TR24 players were constantly sniping my valkyries with muta and scourge. Ever since I’ve been back in the US it’s rare for my valkyries to get sniped by scourge. Also Zergs don’t deal as much damage with their mutas in TR16. There’s just some things you flat out can’t do in TR16 compared to TR24.

I might be a little ruined by TR24 simply because a lot of pros will just all-in you as soon as they see it lagging. It’s hard to not think that they wouldn’t play like that if it was TR24.

Now that you mention that difference I think that’s what makes watching Korean tournaments extra impressive and sometimes also a big head scratcher. At LAN latency it is just a complete different game.

Nyoken:

Yeah, the muta micro in particular is unreal in Korea. Players like 9drone or ZeLoT or really any good Zerg can out right kill you with pure muta micro sometimes. I can’t even remember a game recently where that happened to me in TR16. I’m looking forward to see how Artosis will fare in Canada defending TR16 muta micro. Haha.

I heard Artosis tested out the internet connection there before making the decision to move to Canada final. Perhaps he had a good time not getting roflstomped by mutas? Heheh.

Nyoken:

Hah, we’ll find out soon!

So earlier you mentioned you were in Korea for 2 years. Did your stay in Korea end because your visa expired?

Nyoken:

Yes, you can only stay on a student visa for 2 years so I had to leave.

Now post-Korea. You’re still competitively playing. And you’re still casting as well. You’re also streaming regularly. Actually you have quite some followers. Whether you’re casting or playing (streaming), what do you think is the reason people tune in?

Nyoken:

Hmm, I think people watch me because of my analysis and energy I bring to my casts. BW is an old game so I try to make it as knowledgeable and hype as possible so if there are actual new viewers to ASL or BSL they will continue to watch. IRL I don’t talk much so in my own personal stream I just focus on playing and interacting with chat a little bit. So I think viewers of my personal stream probably just tune in for gameplay and weekends to flashbang and mess with me a bit. Haha.

The BSL15 finals are closing in and ASL is also about to start again. You’re casting for BSL. Will you also be casting for ASL14?

Nyoken:

Yeah, BSL finals should be this weekend. All the Terrans have been knocked out so I’m a bit sad about that but my pick to win it all for the past 10 seasons is still in it. So this time around I’m really hoping Dewalt wins. His PvZ looks unstoppable and I think if he can avoid Bonyth he can definitely win.

Yes I should be casting ASL with Scan again in the next few weeks. Looking forward to the games and the return of some old crazy maps like Arkanoid. In the past I would have not been happy to see a weird map like Arkanoid but Terran players (Light in particular) have pulled out wins with wraith + marine medic play even versus Protoss so I’m looking forward to see some weird strategies.

I’m excited to see that in the ASL! Let’s hope we get to see that! I recently caught Bonyth saying on his stream he doesn’t like the current BSL format too much because it means he could be facing the same player 3 times (i.e. Dewalt). Hahaha. And ZZZero was hiding in his chat! That was quite funny.

Nyoken:

I can agree with that. I played BoA 3 times also I think? I can’t remember, but I remember thinking man I just can’t avoid this guy. Haha. Regardless though, BSL has been really long this time so I’m excited we are at the end and finally going to have a champion. 3 of the remaining 4 players have never won so it’s likely we get a new champ!

Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else you would like to say?

Nyoken:

I don’t have any final words other than thanks for the interview and go Dewalt!

You can find Nyoken at:

And please tune in for his next BSL cast this Saturday in

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Interviewer: Peeano

Proofreader: FlaShFTW

Graphics: v1

Time Stamp: July 30, 2022July 30, 2022