Tom Webb is an avid Starcraft II fan. He's been playing seriously for over two years, and is currently in Masters - the second-highest league (Click here for a breakdown of the league system).
Tom has recently agreed to come on board and become MCMP's esports expert. Over the coming months he'll be contributing regular articles, focused mainly on Starcraft. To introduce him to the site we conducted a short interview with Tom about his journey in Starcraft so far.
MCMP: How long have you been playing Starcraft II?
Tom Webb: I've been playing for about 2 years now. I started in January 2012, but I only played on and off at that time. It didn't grab me straight away as I was rubbish, mostly because I couldn't be bothered to do the tutorials. My previous RTS experience was mainly Company of Heroes and Supreme Commander 2, but Starcraft is far better!
MCMP: What drew you to Starcraft?
TW: What originally drew me to Starcraft was my competitive streak. I sucked when I first started. I only really got into it when a friend I knew at school said he had it too, and that I should play with him. It was good fun to begin with, then I realised I wanted to be the better player out of the two of us. I decided to start taking it more seriously and get better and better. At the time I had no idea how good I would become, I just wanted to be better then my friend.
MCMP: How long did it take you to progress through the leagues?
TW: Well I was in Bronze (the lowest league) for nearly a year. I was playing Terran at the time, and although I find them fun to play, I couldn't quite get it to work. When I got to Silver I started playing Zerg, and around this time I started taking note of the pro scene. I managed to start memorising build orders, and I progressed through Silver really quickly and got to Gold league, which I went through even quicker.
I was starting to really build momentum and got into Platinum. I beganto think in the back of my mind that I could make Masters! Platinum took a while to get through, however. It took 3 seasons (roughly 20 weeks) to get to Diamond. I hung around Diamond for a while - it took a long time to even push towards the top of the league, and it was hugely frustrating. I just kept pushing though, really trying to get Masters (top 2.5% in the world) and eventually I pulled it off.
I'm not going to lie, tears were shed that day, I was so happy that I managed to get from Bronze to Masters. Admittedly a lot of hours were put into this effort, but it was totally worth it!!
The Starcraft II League Symbols (Grandmaster-Bronze)
TW: My peak was probably around March 2013. I had Insomnia 48 coming up, and my mates [Team Liquid players] TLO and Ret were coming to play too, so I really wanted to play well and impress them! I put in as close to 8 hours as I could each day.
Nowadays, with my studies at university, I do still try to play, but nowhere near as much - about 2 hours if I can.
MCMP: Have you played through the singleplayer campaign, or do you only play multiplayer?
TW: I went straight into the multiplayer, once of the reasons why I sucked to start with. The singleplayer is a great story, and really fun to play for chilled gamers. I still remember every part of the story line! I found it tedious at some points, however. In my eyes one playthrough is enough.
MCMP: Who is your favourite Starcraft player?
TW: Bomber [currently without a team] - that guy has swag. He plays Terran, which is the race I love to watch, and he is so damn good. He always interacts with his fans and is one of the best Starcraft players out there. I actually managed to play him twice on the North American ladder, and although I got destroyed both times they were some of my best Starcraft moments - unbelievable.
I also have a favourite Foreign [non-Korean] player too - that's TLO. He is a good friend of mine and we get on really well. He may not be as good skills-wise as Bomber, but the creativity and ingenuity that he uses in some of his games is just incredible. He's one of the best streamers of the game too, definitely great to watch if you are new to Starcraft!
Bomber
MCMP: Which is your favourite tournament?
TW: Dreamhack. It always has top players attending it, the level of play is unreal, and they always have some of the best casters in the world there. It tours all around Europe so it gives fans a great chance to go and see their favourite players in action, I can't wait to go to one myself. Also, the music playlist at every Dreamhack is great.
MCMP: Who are your favourite casters?
TW: My favourite casters are Idra and Apollo. Idra used to be a pro player himself, until he got kicked off a team under controversial circumstances, but he understands the game better then anyone in the scene. He takes his casting very seriously and can give great insight and help for any up and comers.
Apollo grew up 10 minutes away from where I grew up, he's one of the funniest guys I've met, and he is probably the best caster around at the moment. He is always striving to understand the game as much as he can, and can cast any matchup flawlessly!
MCMP: Where do you watch other people playing?
TW: teamliquid.net is the place to catch pro gamers streaming. My favourite streamer is TLO - his music is really cool to listen to, and some of his play is just so strange that it's fascinating to watch. I watch as much as I can of his stream. Other players to look out for are MarineKingPrime, Destiny and CatZ.
Teamliquid.net is the best place to watch pros stream
I've played LoL but I'm not a huge fan of the community. I do play CoD and Dota 2. CoD has a massive fan base and can be enjoyable. Dota is great fun to play with friends, and if there's a game in esports that holds the best tournaments it's DotA. They are always atmospheric and they just have one of the best communities around
Tom streams Starcraft II most days at www.twitch.tv/wnxwebb. To find out when he's streaming follow Tom on Twitter - @webby2610
Tom's first article for MCMP - a guide to his favourite esports tournaments - will be published soon
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