Like many young Koreans, Choi played StarCraft: Brood War, albeit not on a professional level. Assuming his handle from one of his favorite games: The Legend of Heroes: Song of the Ocean; Polt began playing StarCraft II purely for fun. Reflecting on his actual start in the competitive world of StarCraft II, Choi stated, “I started competing when GSL was launched the first time. I didn’t think I would be playing this game for a long time at first.” Choi’s decision to compete did not sit well with his parents at first. “They didn’t like my decision to be a professional gamer, but they seem to be okay with it now,” Polt says.
Choi moved to the United States in 2013 after leaving Team SCV Life and began studying at the University of Texas in Austin. He explained his motivation for attending the flagship UT school saying, “I decided to come to America to experience American culture and learn English, not for graduate studies. I chose UT Austin because I have a few friends here. I’m taking an ESL (English as a Second Language) program.” The strain of competing professionally in StarCraft II coupled with English courses required a delicate balancing act. “It’s very difficult for me to handle both things at the same time,” says Polt. “I usually focus on gaming except the time I have exams or finals. Also, I always feel sleepy because I can’t sleep enough.” When asked if competing in WCS affected his grades in any way, Choi responded, “Maybe yes, but I don’t care. Important things are learning English and being fluent in English. Grades are not important.” Straddling two cultures, Polt also noted his observations on the Korean and American education systems, “I expected American schools to have different education policies from Korean ones, but it was almost the same.”
Choi’s comments on his adjustments to life in America are revealing. “There are so many things because Korean and American culture are really different. The most difficult thing is language contrast. I miss Korean food that is sold on a road so that people can eat easily.” Polt says. “It’s not easy to make friends because I and English-speaking people have distinct thinking, yet socializing is not that difficult.” After a while, Choi found living away from Korea much less burdensome, “Since I adjusted to living in the U.S., there are not many problems for now.”
In 2013, Choi won back-to-back WCS America titles. “I like and feel comfortable in warm places and the WCS America stage in the Red Bull offices is very warm. Maybe you think it’s not a big deal, but it’s really important for me,” Polt says. These championships clinched Choi a spot in the 2013 WCS Global Finals at BlizzCon, where he was tripped up in the quarterfinals by Kim “sOs” Yoo Jin, who would go on to win the WCS Championship. “[sOs] played very well. However, if I had any information about his play-style, I think I could beat him,” Polt says with confidence.
In the months since Polt’s WCS championships, the team at Blizzard has offered various balance adjustments to each of the three races in StarCraft II. Polt suggested a possible change in Terran unit design, “I’ll be glad if the Thor is changed. The Ultralisk and Colossus are very powerful but not the Thor.” Commenting on the changes he wished for the Thor, Choi offered, “I think it’s better to have a slow Thor, so maybe a ground damage buff? The anti-air is still strong.”
Polt showed his TvP strength with an exceptional performance at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne, where he defeated top Protoss contenders Grzegorz ‘MaNa’ Komincz, Son ‘StarDust’ Seok Hee, Kim ‘Classic’ Doh Woo, and Jung ‘Rain’ Yoon Jong before finally falling to Song ‘HerO’ Hyeon Deok in the finals. After defeating Rain in a close series, an exhausted Polt commented, “I don’t know what to say! I’m so, so happy right now… Protoss, actually, is so OP!” Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner singled out Polt’s dominating performance in the tournament as a counterpoint. “No, no, no, no! Protoss easy now!” Choi playfully retorted, “It’s easy just for me!” This speaks to Polt’s intense preparation for the tournament as well as his marvelous discipline. His incredible play and multitasking, such as his minute-long, quadruple Nexus snipe against HerO on Daedalus Point, elevated IEM-Cologne into one of the most exciting StarCraft II tournaments to date.
Polt touched on the non-Korean StarCraft scene, specifically whom he deemed as having the best chance of winning a premiere tournament, “its Scarlett if she isn’t injured. Her ZvP might be her weak point but her ZvZ and ZvT are so strong,” Polt says enthusiastically. Asked about his feelings relating to many American StarCraft fans anointing him the great American hope, Polt replies, “I’m so grateful to my fans for letting me have that name, and I’m trying to do my best as always. But, it would be nicer if they had a real American hope, like Scarlett? Maybe both she and I could be it?”
2014 brought numerous changes to the StarCraft landscape. Blizzard streamlined the WCS system, and implemented a partial-region lock in order to foster better competition from non-Korean StarCraft contenders. 2014 also saw Choi become the second StarCraft II pro-gamer to receive a P-1A visa, a status reserved for internationally recognized athletes. Polt explained that it was extremely laborious and costly to procure the visa. He even ceased his studies at UT Austin since receiving the P-1A in order to focus on his pro-gaming endeavors.
With regard to the changes to the WCS format and how it would affect him, Polt explained that since he is already in Premiere League and the top eight players are the same, there wouldn’t be much of a difference for him. “WCS America has always been favorable for me,” Polt says with full confidence. In terms of who represents the biggest challenge for him this year in WCS, Polt ponders and then offers, “it might be Jaedong.” We’ll have to wait until Season 2, perhaps, to see how that unfolds as Jaedong lost in the opening round of Premier League play in WCS America.
Polt will look to build on his recent success with a series of battles in Group G of WCS America Premiere League beginning at 3:00 p.m. PDT on March 11. His all-American group includes Alex ‘Neeb’ Sunderhaft, Chad ‘Minigun’ Jones, and Chris ‘Illusion’ Lee. Polt wants to win StarCraft titles as well as master the English language in 2014, and his work ethic and loving interaction with his fans have endeared him to American and non-American StarCraft II enthusiasts alike. Polt is off to a great start this year, with a second place finish in IEM-Cologne and a spot in the upcoming $100,000 winner-take-all IEM Katowice event.
David Wise (@wiselingsc2) is a writer for the Collegiate Starleague as well as the captain of Team QTLing (@TeamQTLing).
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