IAHGames

At last, we meet the WINNER of the recent StarCraft II SEA/ANZ Invitational Tournament. Preeeeesenting… the exclusive interview of Thanapol Kuachat, a.k.a. RedArchon, who pwned the competition! A man of few words and big actions, he will be going to Blizzcon® 2010 to take on the world’s best players.

For this interview format, we’ll just let RedArchon tell you his story in his own words…

Hello, my name’s Thanapol Kuachat from Thailand. When not glued to the screen playing StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™, I’m not far from the action. How close? I run an internet café in Nakon Sri Tummarat, southern Thailand. It’s been operational for 3 years now.

I started my ‘relationship’ with StarCraft® 7 years ago, playing the first installment. (all good players started off with StarCraft I) I like strategy games very much, and naturally, the game drew me into competitive multiplayer. PvP is more fun than single-player after all. With the computer, you can spot its playing patterns, but with a human opponent anything can happen!

What I like about StarCraft II is how fun and balanced it is. Apart from this, I have also played Defense of the Ancients (DOTA). Other games? No, that’s it. I like strategy games and I like balanced games. These 2 games can more than fulfill my needs.

To get my skills to this level, I train 6 hours a day. Yup, 6. Guess my advantage of having my own internet café makes this possible!

To become a competitive gamer, one needs 2 enduring qualities: training and creativity.

Train often, play more. When you play, take on stronger opponents and actually LOSE more games. You learn faster this way because stronger opponents expose your weaknesses and you’ll learn why you lost. Learn from your mistakes, and make sure you improve on them in your next game.

Why is creativity important? Understanding your units and employing unusual tactics can bring you many victories. Don’t just follow the ‘normal’ way of using your army; there are many creative ways all those special abilities can be used!

And never, never give up, even when you appear to be overwhelmed. If you watch the match replays, the best players always fight back very fiercely, and find creative ways to overcome the opponent’s larger army.

I am very happy to have won the invitational. I didn’t think I would emerge as champion.

Skilled gamers and professional gamers don’t get special treatment in Thailand. No, we don’t become celebrities overnight or famous like singers. Any fame we have is on cyberspace. 

We hereby conclude our feature on the tournament winners. Here's a little treat -- the first game of the grand final in the tournament. Go to Youtube to see more matches between the awesome players in the tournament.