It is impossible to deny that, much unlike it's predecessor, the StarCraft 2 professional scene is a truly global movement. Just two years from the games release we have full time pro-gamers representing every corner of the earth. In the midst of all this though it is sometimes easy to focus on the big fish in the pond, the Koreans, North Americans and Europeans.

This interview gives us a chance to focus on a very skilled player who has not gotten very much recognition while managing to win some notable cash prizes and taking games off of world class players in the process. Thomas 'JazBas' Cho is a New Zealand based, Korean born Zerg player who is coming off of a big win for the Blizzard World Championship Series New Zealand, he gives us an inside look at the preparation for the tournament, the SEA SC2 scene and his personal life! Enjoy.





You are a University student and a pro-gamer, how do you manage to balance the two and do you ever think that being a student holds you back from reaching your top potential?

JazBas: Well for sure. Uni is a big commitment and it is really hard to practice as much as the ones who are full time pro-gamers. With regards to reaching my top potential, without Uni I am sure I will have enough time to reach it, but even if I have the time, utilizing it and trying my best might not come if I don't have the passion. I almost don't have time to play at all on weekdays but I try to squash in as much practice I can during weekends. For WCS NZ in particular, I finished all my assignments that were due like 4 weeks later in advance just so I could practice at least a week fully.

You said you study music, what type of music in particular, or what instrument(s) do you play?

JazBas: I'm studying for a Bachelor of Music, majoring in Jazz. My primary instrument is bass guitar, and as I'm studying jazz, I'm also practicing hard on upright bass as well. I used to play all kinds of instruments when I was a kid (never got to the very good level though lol) like piano, drums, guitar and sax, but bass was my favorite and the one I found myself most skilled in (maybe because it is my favorite)

I guess that makes a lot of sense given your name, lol. Do you feel your skills/practice regiment in music has helped your SC2 ability at all?

JazBas: Well for the start, music is something that takes a lot of dedication. People say it's something you're naturally born with, and I completely disagree with this. The VERY top level musicians spend hours and hours practicing, and this definitely helps me being able to be patient at getting good at this game, and not just this game only too, in every aspect of life. You just know that if you work hard, it's just matter of time that it's going to work out for you.

Absolutely, so what was it that got you involved in SC2 in the first place?

JazBas: Although i was born in New Zealand, I spent my childhood (from the time I can have my memory) in Korea and there, everyone played Brood War. it has TV channels and game shows. That's for the start, basically, I had Brood War in my background, and when sc2 came out, I was really excited and ended up with it.

I NEVER imagined myself getting this good (I'm still not a very good player, but just to be able to compete at this level is what I'm trying to say) as I never thought of doing competitive gaming. but what surprised me the most was that there was BIG RTS communities not just in Korea. So basically, I got involved in sc2 naturally from playing Brood War.

Were you a strong Brood War player ?

JazBas: Well I did train with some "trainee" Brood War pros. I could take a game off them after playing like 20 vs. them ha-ha I never knew a ladder system like iccup thou so, hm, not a very strong one but an alright one I guess ha-ha.

Image courtesy of Liquipedia, at TeamLiquid.net



You told me last night you attended your first Barcraft event in Auckland, NZ for MLG Anaheim, how was that for you? Are events like this becoming more common in New Zealand?

JazBas: Uhh actually.. I didn't end up going there..lol but with bar crafts, I think the one yesterday was actually either the 3rd one or the 4th which means that its becoming much more common in NZ. There is a university StarCraft club in Auckland Uni that I'm attending as well so the community here is growing rapidly, so are the players.

There aren't currently that many globally known players from New Zealand or to be honest even the SEA region, do you feel that the scene there is behind the rest of the world? In what ways?

JazBas: Definitely it's behind for sure. I think it's that the scene is not big enough, and with people, there are still a lot of them who stereotype gaming especially in the SEA region countries. Although there are many strong players, only players like Moonglade (SC2), Legioneire (Brood War),and Kowi(WC3) are the ones who are known but, it's a start. I think we're just behind a lot in sponsorship and the attention. We are definitely catching up thou both in the scale of the scene and the skill level of the players

Though you say you're behind in sponsorship and attention, if you're catching up in terms of skill, how do you think that the top SEA players currently stand up against the top NA/Europe players?

JazBas: In terms of skill, I think a lot of NA/EU communities underestimate the skill level of SEA. Although I agree on us being generally weaker than those regions, I think that difference is very minimal. For example, a lot of SEA top players are ranked high in NA Grand Master league, and we also take games off the top Korean pros on KR/TW servers as well on ladder. Sure ladder might not mean that much but it's still a great start to proving our regions skill.

JazBas absorbing knowledge from the #1 Zerg in the world, IMNestea!

You recently won the WCS New Zealand qualifiers, defeating LighT eSports Knight in the finals, taking down a nice cash prize as well as a paid trip to WCS Oceania. Going into the qualifiers how did you expect to do and was it a difficult tournament for you or no?

JazBas: Um well it was the MOST difficult NZ tournament I've been to. I wasn't expecting, but I was trying all my best to win it as I was spending time practicing rather than studying for my exams and crammed my time in finishing assignments early so I could win it. NZ tournaments in the past have been not very challenging, but recently(about a month or two), the skill level of the whole country has grew rapidly, with few players improving so fast, some players who are not known at all suddenly showing up out of nowhere etc.

Going into a tournament like WCS Oceania which has not only a large prize-pool but also entrance into the WCS World Championships, how are you preparing? Is there any players in particular that you are preparing for or worried to face?

JazBas: To be honest, I'm just happy to go to Australia and compete again. I had the privilege to go to Sydney twice for competitions, where both times I had GREAT time and met GREAT people. sure I won't take this WCS Oceania lightly, but for me, it's more like a fun and great experience for me and I'm really looking forward to meeting some of my favorite people living in Australia.

I'll maybe just practice a little more than I used to, but nothing too serious like I did with NZ WCS although it's going to be harder. I'm ALWAYS worried to play NvRossi. He's been someone who is just constantly beating me every time and someone who I always fear to play lol. but again, he's an awesome guy and I'm really looking forward to meet everyone again and have fun

Yeah I have read before that you consider him your rival, is that just based on you having had to play him a lot or is there more to it?

JazBas: I don't think there is anything more to it. I think that rivalry is more like a friendly one. I actually said in chat with my friend yesterday (I was joking but might be serious) that I'd want rossi to marry my sister so I can be brother in law with him lol. He's an awesome guy both online and offline, who just beats me all the time lol.

Ha-ha, fair enough. This WCS tournament series isn't the first Blizzard event you have participated and done well in, you also finished 2nd to Moonglade in the Blizzard SEA invitational last year which brought you to Blizzcon. How was this experience for you? Were you happy with your results?

JazBas: I was EXTREMELY happy with the results. I did not expect myself to come 2nd at all. More like I was worried I might just get knocked out without taking a single game off anyone especially when my first round was vs. Moonglade lol. it was an awesome experience, it was the time I met my Australian online friends for the first time and yea, I just had great time. Also I got really lucky in beating Major in Blizzcon 2011 making SEA maybe a little proud ha-ha.

Right now how do you think you compare to the rest of the top level players in the SEA region? Is there anyone in the region that you think is really underrated and deserves more recognition?

JazBas: Well I think I'm at the top level, but not at the very top level like iMMafia, Moonglade, Targa, Pig, Rossi, TGun etc(I cant name everyone too many!! don't be sad if your name wasn't called plz T_T). I think as I'm a New Zealander, I'll be biased a bit to kiwis and name some NZ guys who I think are very underrated which are: irisAnother theGoonSquad and irisKowi. They are great players, it's a shame that they didn't do as well as I expected them to do.

Even pro-gamers fan out! JazBas at Blizzcon with the BroodWar legend, Bisu.

In your SC2 career you have already been able to travel to Australia a couple times like you said as well as the USA, what do your parents think of you travelling the world to play SC? Are they supportive of your career in SC2?

JazBas: They r always supportive of everything I do not just in sc2. They love the fact that I'm travelling overseas by myself and learning to be really independent. they know that I don't take my music/study career lightly as well and they trust in me that I'll do well in my life not just in SC2 but my future careers. I'm really lucky to have parents like them

Do you see yourself having a long career with SC2 or is it currently more of a side project?

JazBas: Hmm.. This is something I'm not very sure. Because although I love SC2 and the community, my love for music is just way too great, and I'd be willing to quit gaming for good if I had to, to pursue my music career but in no way am I taking this gaming career lightly. So yeah, I'm not very sure on this question I'm sorry !

You are of Korean heritage but born in New Zealand, would you ever try to break into the Korean SC2 scene or move there to play SC2 in the future?

JazBas: Well I don't think I'll be doing that to have a career in it, but if i get a chance to do it for maybe a year or something, I'd be really keen and try my best in it for that period of time.

It's funny to me that there are people like you who are Korean but not born or raised in Korea or exposed to Korean ladder/practice environments, yet still rise to the top of SC2 in their area like you in the SEA region. Select is another name that comes to mind for me as being in a similar circumstance. What do you think it is that allows many Koreans to excel at StarCraft 2? Are there elements of Korean culture that set Koreans apart in the way they learn and practice something, or is it just random chance combined with the fact that many Koreans played BroodWar and now SC2?

JazBas: Hm.... I think Brood War comes into effect for sure, like plays a BIG part in it. Maybe Koreans have more of "I WANT TO BEAT YOU" mind than others from our cultural background..? lol I really disagree with Koreans naturally having fast APM though. Maybe I'm not sure.. like when you see games from Korea, they tend to NEVER GG at the time where it looks like game is already over, and carry on the game until it is REALLY game over and GG then, so maybe..not giving up until the very last moment more than other cultures..? This can sound really racist from me so I don't think I'll be adding on more ha-ha.

No I don't think it sounds racist at all, I have a lot of very close Korean friends and one thing I can say for sure is they are all very hard-working people and dedicated to whatever they are passionate about.

JazBas: Ha-ha yea for sure. I myself try to be like that too..ha-ha.

With the recent showings of Heart of the Swarm at MLG Anaheim, I'm obligated to ask you, how do you feel about HoTS from what you have seen so far?

JazBas: Well..I know that its going to take another few month after the release to make it balanced..lol I'm not THAT much looking forward to it as much as I used to. The campaign looks pretty cool though.

Does it worry you that you will have to relearn every matchup at a pro-level?

JazBas: Hmm.. not really because EVERY player who is at the top level would have to relearn everything. And I know that i have relatively stronger mechanics than others at least in SEA region so im not really worried, maybe more like excited to see how the pro players now will do in HoTS!

What are your thoughts on the games balance as it is right now?

JazBas: I think wings of liberty is very balanced to be honest, Terrans are having a hard time right now, but about a month ago Zergs were, and about 2~3month ago, Protoss were. It's just meta game shifting, I think it's really rude to say, especially after watching games from like GSL, to call one race imba which I think is very offensive to the winner.

It's like saying, you have less skill and put less dedication but you won cause of the race. It's completely not true they all practiced, and probably are still practicing right now to reach that level. So yeah, I think the balance is great (LADDER MAPS ARE TERRIBLE THOUGH).

Do you care to explain more about what ladder maps are terrible and why?

JazBas: It's just that without trying to be rude, Blizzard map makers never seem to give up on there "concept" of map making.. like taking away half expansions, putting golds in, never putting a depot under the ramp etc.

I notice you ladder on NA server a lot, and having lived in NZ I know how bad the internet can be there at times, is latency an issue playing from NZ to NA?

JazBas: Umm.. actually for some reason, (I'm like the most computer noob ever) I have better ping on NA than SEA or KR lol. I have terrible ping on KR/TW, but I can play with reasonable delay on NA or SEA, with NA being better.

That's interesting for sure, Can your fans expect to see you at any international events in the next year, maybe an MLG or IEM?

JazBas: If my sponsors fly me over there, for sure ha-ha. I guess that will be up to me to prove my skill level and prove that I'm worth investing in! Which is going pretty well so far!

Nice, so before we wrap it up where can people find your stream, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and who would you like to thank for supporting you?

JazBas They can follow "Xeria Gaming" on Facebook, I know we have team twitter which I think is the same lol. I'll be streaming as soon as my exams finish and upgrading my computer so ill maybe inform that on the team page too! Shout outs to my awesome sponsors, Xeria Gaming, Kingston, V energy drink, and City Hunter and all my friends family and fans for supporting me!