This past weekend's Lone Star Clash 3 qualifier saw competitors such as Caliber, ZergZingZing, Aidan and TheoRy go head to head for the coveted collegiate seed into the tournament, but binski stood at the top of the hill by the end of the day. We took a few minutes to speak with him about the competition and what lies ahead in Austin, Texas.
By David Wise
@wiselingsc2
Sungbin ‘binski’ Lee tore through the Lone Star Clash 3 CSL
Qualifier this past weekend, dropping only a single map in the entire
tournament. Binski, a University of North Texas student, will receive
travel, housing, and a spot in the pro invitational at Lone Star Clash
for winning the qualifier.
Binski’s love for real-time-strategy games began with
WarCraft 3 custom games. He eventually transitioned into StarCraft II.
“I thought StarCraft II would be fun as well, so I bought it,” he
stated. Binski would go on to become one of the top contenders in the
CSL, acting as a player and a coach for the University of North Texas
StarCraft squad [Editor's note: UNT won season 5 of the CSL]. He would
also join the now defunct Light eSports. “I love hanging out with my CSL
friends,” he affirmed. “My parents think it’s a waste of time. I don’t
blame them, obviously. I love my family.” When he is not studying or
blasting opponents away in StarCraft, Binski enjoys reading The Sandman,
his favorite comic.
During the LSC CSL Qualifier, Binski seemed nigh
unstoppable. He detailed his mindset during the tournament. “Win, always
do what you practice, believe in yourself, etc. Luckily KawaiiRice
[Adrian Kwong] was there tell me to quit tilting when I lost that game. ”
he stated. Even though he only dropped a single map in the tournament,
Binski displays only humility about his performance. He explained, “[I
only dropped one map] only because hendralisk [Henry Zheng] and MaSa
[Maru Kim] both forfeited. I have seen them play before and both are
insanely good. I probably would have been destroyed. I feel that I
didn’t necessarily deserve my qualifier spot as the tournament didn’t
have all of the best CSL players trying to qualify.”
Binski playing on the MLG Raleigh stage in 2012. [photo by Ian O'Connor]
For the qualifier, Binski explained how he practiced. “My
training regimen is just watching VODs and ladder, really. Ladder gives
you a lot of different styles and builds to play against so you won’t
get into the habit of consciously or unconsciously meta-ing or
countering your practice partner,” said Binski. “It’s tough balancing
StarCraft II and life. I’m always regretful as I know that I could be
much better if I didn’t have school and other obligations at the same
time.”
Binski looks forward to Lone Star Clash with great
anticipation. He explained, “It will be a really fun experience for me
as I have a lot of friends up in Austin to visit and hang out with. As
for the competition, every single person who qualified or was invited
are all very good and better than I am, so no expectations here. I am
just going to have fun and play my best.”
Despite displaying great modesty about his skill, Binksi is
sure to provide rugged competition at Lone Star Clash as well as
entertaining, exciting games. When I asked Binski for any final words,
he answered, “Thank you to ForGG [Park Ji Soo] because I copy all his
builds and watch his stream. Thank you to friends, family, Patrick
‘Caliber’ Coury, KawaiiRice, and Xeris [Duran Parsi]. That’s it, no one
else.”
Watch the VODs from the LSC3 qualifiers:
Day 1
Day 2 (check out the post-win interview!)
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