Local time (MSK): 21:26

Talent is an unlimited ability to work (c)


In the December 2009 nGt.Sonik was bombarded with the questions of users of GoodGame.ru. After he answered all of them, the answers were published at Good.Game.ru. Now, we've prepared the translation of the interview for foreign readers.

Depthy: Hello, Sonik, how long have you been playing Warcraft III? From what did your adour for the game start, and what leaded to you achieving high playing level in Europe?
Hello. I've been playing for not less than 7 years, for sure. My dedication began from me and my friends playing all together, about 5-7 men at once, at giant maps. The games were funny and were followed by a lot of funny comments. Don't know what you mean saying that I've achieved good level in Europe.

eQu.Spail: How many critical strikes did you arake before your hair turned grey?
I've got 2x317, and immediately left for barber's to color my hair.

Scorpii: When will you, eventually, win WCG Ukraine?
Never.

ESPN.ctv.Fairy48: Deadman and HoT. Which player do you find more interesting?
Demonhunter... I don't think we may compare them, and to find one more interesting.

S13.Caspenvaggio: Sonik, it's like fashion for Night Elf players to wear sunglasses. Why? Isn't that because DH has his eyes covered with bandage?
I don't like light, and also it's sometimes irritating when people begin to shoot you on the cameras.

ImmelstorN: Do you always play with your sunglasses on?
No way. Only if I'm about doing something suspicious :)

last_hope_of_NE: Don't you find that standard tactics do kill Warcraft as a strategic game? What's your attitude to unusual game strategies? Is a lot of practicing more important than your ability to use unusual strategies?
My coach says that talent is an unlimited ability to work, and it's up to you whether you're going to achieve your victories through an endless amount of games or just finding your own way.

Versus.XyMbl4: Hello. How do you spend money you earn playing?
First of all I'm to earn them. And then I may pay for education, or buy devices, or just have a good rest.

Niceitem: Have you ever been in our university, wearing something different from your official suit? May I play with you at LAN?
Well, just visit me at least once - we'll have a talk about that!

Areah: How often do you feel blue?
For sure, I do sometimes. And I recommend to fall in love if you don't want to be sad or unhappy.

nnwest: Which race will be the next imba?
There's no imba as such. It's the best, but not always the strongest player, who wins!

World: I've lost to you in 3 minutes at KerchNet Cup. How could it happen? I've never lost to anybody in such time.
It was either your computer reboot or just an unsuccessful tower-rush.

Netpain: Why do you usually ask to play your games without observers?
I just hate observers. According to my experience, observers in the games either laggers or just leave on purpose, or use Skype too much. But, still there remain quite many people just interested in watching the game.

sJoKo: Don't you want to left WC3 for playing SC2?
it's just the same as changing sweet strawberries to dumplings, cooked two days ago.

ГА)VooDoo_Sh: About 3 years ago there was such an account at the European server as "nGt.Terran". Was it yours? If yes, than I'd like to ask whether you could achieve 60+ level at Northrend?
Yeah, it was my account. But now Battle.net differs from what we had 3 years ago. Then you got excitement to win top players, and now there're not many of them, that's why my interest decreased.

Unmake: Hello, Sonik. I think that my question should be an interesting one. Which player from CIS may be regarded as a gosu-player?
Happy, no doubt.

HF_GL: Which of the following events will more probably happen in 2012: 1. The national team of Russia will participate in World Football Cup. 2. Apocalypse
I will get married )


SaTeN.: Sonik, how did you manage to get into the limelight? What was your first tournament? Were you afraid? How did you celebrate your win?
What limelight are you talking about? I'm a night elf, they always stay in shadow. Nevertheless, my first tournament took place in Donetsk, and I was the 3rd there. The games were so hard that I was totally exhausted, and got no ability to celebrate the victory. I simply enjoyed with the fact I was in top3.

mjjackson: Fly100% - Lyn, Sky - Infi, Happy - TeD, ReMinD - Moon. Who of these players plays better at the present moment? What are your impressions about playing versus them?
I will single out Fly, InFi, Happy and TeD. Fly's main advantage is that he always chooses best position in battle, and wins his games with that. Lyn's strong point is aggressive attacks. Playing versus Sky, it's very difficult to show good control when he's rushing you with towers. What about InFi, it should be mentioned that sometimes he makes just awful mistakes. Happy's micro control is perfect, while TeD prefers to use an incredible strats. Moon and ReMinD are just elves )

Space - what's your opinion about him as a player? I've been extremely impressed, when learned a bit about his real life.
Space - I bow down before him.

Could you achieve 45+ level at battle.net, playing not by Elves?
No doubt! I'm not the last guy to play random in BNet, though my stats are quite average.

Please, share some non-standard strategies, which you do like and which are effective against the players of 40+ level.
Let them remain my small secret )

What are your control options? Do you use standard hotkeys?
I use standard hotkey everywhere and every time.

What's your opinion about the game balance? Do Undead really have no prospect at the highest level, or is it just the almost complete absence of high skilled players what leaded to that fact that the race has been unsuccessful during the last year?
Happy will prove himself, no doubt.

How high is it possible to rise in the ladder, playing with ping about 300-350ms? Can you give any examples? What's your opinion about ping - does it affect the game much? What's your ping?
It was cool to have ping about 300ms about 5 years ago, and now I just can't bear lags. And you're to be a hero to achieve high places in the ladder, playing with such ping. My ping nowadays varies from 110 to 200, but I spend more time in Garena.

Is it hard for you to go through the games lost?
It's like two sides of a coin. One persuades you to throw it all away, while the second says "C'mon, man, everything will be alright, the only thing you must do is to correct your mistakes"!

What opponent was most difficult for you to play with? If it's possible, name one representative for each race.
yaWs, HoT, Lyn, Happy.

saintnik: Are there wc3-players in your town Kramatorsk and in the district where you live, except of you, of course? And are there any LAN-tournaments held?
Well, even if there're any players, I don't know anything about them. I haven't seen any players for ages here. And the tournaments died out.

qwenhgisbguw: How did you got the idea of playing through Pitlord+Panda?
Can you give me a light, please, or let's make Big Bang, or, to be honest, it's a separate large story.

WoodsMan: When was Warcrat I released?
When I was young, and studied at school.

Pechkin?: Is that you in the right part of the Pokerstrategy banner?
Nope, it's a plagiarism, and I'll complain about that, 100%.

DarkZero: Hello, Sonik. What age you were when you played Warcraft 3 for first time, what were your emotions, and what did attract you in the game?
It happened years ago, and I think it was like the most beautiful and the funniest way of wasting my time )

xeno: What's your worst match-up, and which race is the hardest for you to play?
My worst match-up is versus orcs nowadays, and the hardest race to play for is Undead.

Kenanda: Could you give some lessons on live broadcast at GoodGame.ru?
No problem.

AllyNOob: Was the balance closer to the ideal when you'd just started playing?
It's difficult to say. The most important is that the game should remain interesting to play.

gra4|RagDoll.CosmosTV: Have you ever used map-hack?
Yes. And I regretted of doing that.

nrth3r: How many of your druids of the talon cast fairy fire automatically? Or do you always cast it manually?
No way for autocast, I do everything manually.

myth]Meyolophus: How long will you be playing Warcraft? What're your plans for the future?
I've been playing since my early days, and I'm to drop when I'm a father.


Describe your schedule, please. When do you get up, what're your usual plans for the day foreseen?
At the current period of my life, I do get up at 5:15 and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Then I go to the swimming-pool, where I stay till 6:45. On other days, except Monday, I get up at 6:00. After I have breakfast, study from 8:00 till 16:30 or, sometimes, 15:00, then goes a training. It is from 18:00 till 19:30. In the evening I come home and play from 20:30 till 23:00, like that. On Saturdays I usually go to disco at night. The schedule undergoes some changes sometimes, but the described before is my standard.

Widmen: Do you think cybersport is for all ages? And is it worth to start playing at the age above 18?
Everyone has his own way, the most important thing is your dreams. My Warcraft career started right from them, from my dreams.

fm: Are orcs imba?
No.

Sting: Why can you be beating your opponent during the whole game, and then lose the game after making a single silly mistake?
It's too difficult to answer, but, yes, I can do that, and I can't do anything with that... (( Don't be offended, happens.

MaSer: Why PORNOsonik? Do you like nude copulating hedgehogs?
Porn is one of a kind, but to be honest, it's just mockery.

RedBull: How will you comment on HoT's comeback?
I haven't even noticed him leaving for somewhere.

Muse.Cataclysm: How is it going on in real life? Tell about your relations with girls, and do you visit night clubs or prefer to study? What's your parents’ attitude to your gaming hobby?
Quite a debatable question, about virtual and real life. But everything goes under its own power. My relations with my girls are OK, and I visit night clubs on only Saturdays, I adore dancing there. When I'm to pass my exams, it logically that I begin to study intensively. My mother sometimes says the most important is that I do not smoke or drink alcohol, while the computer can either develop you or make you dumb, it depends on the way you use it.


Z04.7: Don't you want to change team? And what's your opinion about team ROX?
I don't think I need to change team. Old and familiar is better than something new and unknown. What about ROX - I think, success will attend them.

GG.RoX.KIS.Craftjwa: Why did you come to WCG UA Grand Final in a wedding suit?
A wedding one? Have you ever been to any wedding? It's just an usual intelligent suit.

myLifeForYou-: Do you try to fight against orcs in the ladder, or just leave in the first seconds of the game?
It's the most interesting to play versus orcs. Of course I play, usually I use 2 or 3 heroes.

IamRambo: Do you play for other races for fun? i played versus rather creative human with nickname "S0nik", was it you?
For sure, playing for fun will always stay all the rage. The human was me, 100% )

MaSer: Sonik, you often were stopped in one step before winning or a prize place at many tournaments of different importance. What gives you motivation to keep practicing, despite such misfortunes?
A good question, I see that you're looking after me, but I'd like to repeat words of Michael Jordan. He said something like "Practice, and practice once again, and only when you're through the sorrow of all the regrets, you'll enjoy the aim you persuaded". Something like that )

SG!D3xTer: How much money did you earn playing Warcraft at pro-level?
About 40000 thousand of hryvnas for all the years I've been playing, not less.

Would you like to say anything in conclusion?
I'd like to say thanks to nGt.PoVaL and NiKe, and wish you all good luck and having fun.

Article published by GG.nefanda
Translation by iAct|neverbackdown
Original article may be found here