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From PAX AUS: Andrew “mOONGLaDe” Pender on StarCraft 2 and Esports

As one of Australia’s most successful Esports players Andrew “mOOnGLaDe” Pender has represented the country a number of times in StarCraft 2. His most recent trips to the United States saw him compete in the 2013 World Championship Series America for Seasons 1 & 2. We spoke with mOOnGLaDe during PAX Australia 2013 where he was hosting a master class for StarCraft 2 at the Alienware booth.

Luke Lawrie, Stevivor: How did you get started playing professionally in StarCraft 2?

mOOnGLaDe: It actually eventuated from a series of RTS games; I grew playing a lot of them. StarCraft, Brood War, WarCraft 2, Dawn of War and World of Conflict – I just went up the tree of RTS games. When I got to WarCraft 3 I stumbled across the competitive scene and I loved that game, I played so much of it. So I started with competitive WarCraft 3 and was in that for about 5 years until I took a step back at around 2008. I was just waiting around for the next big competitive RTS game to come out which was going to be StarCraft 2. In the meantime for that I was playing the original StarCraft to get used to the kind of game it is, which I found it to be lot more full on than what WarCraft 3 was.  Then the moment the StarCraft 2 beta came out, I quit my job and completely focused on that. I wanted to have a real go at it, I was in my mid-20s, and I was getting older, so it was really my last chance to make a competitive shot at it. So I’ve been sticking with this game ever since.

Stevivor: What’s your routine like in terms of practicing? Are you playing with friends most the time or using the matchmaking system?

mOOnGLaDe: For StarCraft 2 the best thing about it is the ladder system and random matchmaking system, that’s pretty much the main way I practice. The practice itself lately has been fairly random because I’ve been over to the U.S. twice in the last few months, so it’s been quite hectic. It’s usually about 8 hours of ladder practice on the Korean server, which is probably my favourite way to practice. I also do custom games with specific players if I want to focus on a certain race or strategy.

Stevivor: We’re here at the Alienware booth at PAX Australia where every day they are running master classes for a few competitive games – StarCraft 2 being one of them. Have you had a chance to check out any of the hardware they’re showing off here at the show?

mOOnGLaDe: I had the privilege of playing on the Alienware 17 and got to fool around with that which was a lot of fun. It’s such a powerful laptop and I really like the finish on it – it’s like a stealth bomber finish which is amazing. I also like the feel of the keyboard on it; I just love touching it [laughs]. But yeah it’s a really powerful laptop and I had a great time playing on it.

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Stevivor: Recently Blizzard decided to remove the Oceanic region for the StarCraft 2 World Championship Series, which means that competitive players in Australia like yourself have to pick a different region to qualify in. What’s your opinion on that decision to remove this?

mOOnGLaDe: I wasn’t entirely shocked by it, we do have a very small region down here. A lot of other regions missed out too like Latin America and Taiwan, there were a lot of countries that ended up missing out. They picked the 3 biggest regions to go with and they do give us the option to play in any region we want. It’s hard for us for now but I think that it’s a good stepping stone for them to make it a more serious eSport. They are putting a lot more money into it these days, so I think it’s got a really good future, and one day I think that we will have our own WCS event.

Stevivor: 10 years ago you had all these big Esports companies talking about how in 10 years we would start to see video games being played professionally and broadcasted all over TV. We haven’t quite reached that stage yet but we’ve got games like League of Legends, StarCraft 2 and recently Dota 2 that are leading the charge, where do you see Esports in the future and how long do you think it’s going to take for it to really explode and be everywhere.

mOOnGLaDe: I think it’s slowly getting there. Everywhere it’s growing more and more, you don’t really see it dying out. Especially League of Legends is really leading the way with it being legitimised as a sport, and for them trying to push it to potentially be an Olympic sport. It’s the same thing for StarCraft 2, in Australia it’s growing slowly and has a promising future. It’s a slow process but I do think one day we will have that, I don’t know when, it’s hard to really say at this point.

Stevivor: What areas do you think they need to focus on to get to that stage? Do they need to concentrate more on the spectator side of making it more accessible to people that don’t understand it – looking towards things like the commentators to see how that area could be improved?

mOOnGLaDe: I think it’s a bit of a mixture. The way the present it and the way they portray to people that don’t know the game is very important, especially for a game like StarCraft. It is a very technical game with a lot of thought behind it. I do think that the casters have an important role in getting everyone involved, and also I it would be great to see more tournaments being setup to give the game more exposure, they need to find more ways of getting it out there. League of Legends is everywhere and they just throw it at you, they have such a huge following – they’ve done really well with that game.

Stevivor: Finally do you get time to play anything else or is it StarCraft all day for you?

mOOnGLaDe: I do dabble in other games every now and then. I’ve played a bit of League of Legends, and I’ve played a little of World of Tanks. Usually I’ll play like an RPG sometimes if I really need a break.

We thank mOONGLaDe and Alienware for the interview.

Body photo credit: Kevin Chang for Team Liquid


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About the author

Luke Lawrie

Writing and producing content about video games for over a decade. Host of Australia's longest running video game podcast The GAP found at TheGAPodcast.com. Find me on Twitter at @lukelawrie