MaNa 'Grilled': "don't think [I'll] be able to beat Stephano for a third time" (Episode #16)

Grzegorz "MaNa" Komincz is the star of the 16th edition of my 'Grilled' in-depth career interview series. The Polish Protoss is the second highest foreigner on the all-time prize money list, with over 89,000 USD in winnings, and was the champion of Dreamhack Summer and ESWC in 2012.

Also available as an audio podcast:
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/en/podcast/t...
rss - http://feeds.feedburner.com/acer-grilled

Time line of topics:

00:09 intro

00:23 The significance of Dreamhack Winter 2010

01:28 Losing to Naama in the final 2:3

02:23 What was his mindset like making the final?

02:55 Losing to DIMAGA in the Assembly Summer final 2:3, after being up 2:0

03:52 Beating DIMAGA in the final of Dreamhack Summer to win his first big title.

04:38 What changed for MaNa to finally win a title?

05:32 ESWC 2011

06:42 Being a practice partner of Stephano prior to the ESWC 2011 final.

07:13 Beating Stephano in two semi-finals since their ESWC final.

07:54 How has MaNa's PvZ changed to allow him to beat Stephano?

08:36 What changed in his overall PvZ, which was famously terrible?

09:42 Is it easier to play against good players as opposed to bad players, due to their strategical decisions?

10:43 Where should MaNa be ranked? Who are around his level?

12:11 Other foreign Protoss players suffering from lack of PvT opportunities and having to play lots of PvZ.

13:19 Zergs complaining about immortal all-in, Protoss complaining about late-game PvZ.

15:37 Problems with changing PvZ balance.

16:51 The two schools of balancing: nerf or buff

17:33 Comparing fungal to the other spells in SC2.

18:08 Is it an issue rarely getting to play his favoured PvT?

19:09 What are Korean Terrans like in TvP in comparison to European Terrans?

20:31 Which was the best period of balance in SC2?

21:31 Why are there almost no foreign Terrans who can perform at the level of Korean Terrans?

22:33 Why don't Zergs dominate as much in Korea?

23:27 Did he secretly believe he'd do well in GSL Code S immediately?

24:48 Is it a goal to go back to Korean and do a sustained period of months trying to compete in GSL?

26:07 How well would Stephano do in GSL Code S?

27:07 Foreigners he thinks would be good at the series-planning aspect of playing in GSL.

28:11 Why Nerchio claims to be weak at ZvP yet beats MaNa all the time.

28:51 How strong is Poland at SC2?

29:43 Relationship with Nerchio.

30:04 Why doesn't he like Nerchio?

30:33 Stephano's comment after his game vs. Bly.

31:05 Losses to Bly, what is strange about him?

32:03 Talking about the styles/strengths of Korean Protosses:

32:15 Rain

32:47 Are there other KeSPA Protosses who are going to be really good?

33:06 PartinG

33:29 Squirtle

34:07 Creator

34:38 HerO

35:13 HuK

36:01 How has PvP changed?

36:55 Really good PvP players.

37:23 How much further can he go and where does he see himself in a year?

38:27 Does he have the winning mindset nailed down?

38:49 NaNiwa

39:27 Is NaNiwa unique amongst foreigners due to being willing to stay in Korea and practice non-stop?

40:07 The econominic situation of living in Poland, is he balling out of control?

41:03 Will MaNa keep playing as an SC2 pro, due to the money, even if he falls out of love with Starcraft?

41:42 Final words/outro.