Interview with Sodah from coL

By: Cameron "fams" Carson Posted 2009-04-25 22:00:18 CDT

Sodah sat down and talked with us about his life, how to become a professional
gamer and what steps it takes, as well as his thoughts and insight on the current
state of arena. This is an interview you don't want to miss!

If you would please start off by introducing yourself to the community and telling us
a little about yourself.

I'm Sodah, I've clasically played a druid but for the past 4 months I've dedicated
myself to playing only Priest. I love World of Warcraft PvP, I play it every single
damn day, but I also attend college at UCSB as a political science major. I play for
compLexity with the same mage rogue I've been playing with for a year now,
Venruki and Happyminti.

What did you plan on being when you grew up as a kid and did you ever picture
yourself playing games professionally?

Growing up as a kid I thought I'd follow what my dad did because he's the coolest,
which is software engineering. He writes code and stuff for manufacturing
companies. I never ever considered playing games professionally, I just played it for
fun because that's what my brother did, too.

When did you realize you were going to become a pro gamer and how did you go
about the steps to actually being one?

I only realized I was actually going to dedicate a ton of time and effort and actually
get some money from gaming a little over a year ago, when MLG San Diego decided
to start having WoW as a part of the circuit. At that point I had been first place in
every bracket in my battlegroup, which was really only because I loved competition
and I loved winning - not because I wanted to be a pro gamer.

This had allowed me to get a sponsorship, which was awesome, and that's when I
really started playing even more.

In regards to the steps to becoming ridiculously good at games,

It's really about who you become friends with and how much fun you can have
playing with them. In high school I played counter-strike with some friends and we
made a team for CAL. We didn't get very far, but that's when I first started using
ventrilo and practicing every night to get better. I adopted that same idea for
everything else I started playing. I guess it's just my personality, really.

You are one of the best players in the US in wow, but how about your skills with the
ladies? Do you currently have a girlfriend?

I do not have a girlfriend and I advise against it if you want to be crazy good at
games. Happyminti, our rogue, has a girlfriend which we have to fight against
constantly so we can get our damn practice in. Complexity also has a policy against
girlfriends, because historically they have broken up CS teams. So uhh, there is a lot
of sacrifice involved with the "sport."

Do you do anything extracurricular outside of World of Warcraft with your spare

time?

I really don't. I definitely will have to be doing a lot more come junior year, including
internships and such, but right now I'm just trying to get the best possible grades in
my classes while I'm doing arenas and crap every day. WoW kinda detracts from real
sports and fraternities, most definitely.

Is your family supportive of your E-Sports career?

As long as I do well in college, they definitely are. My mom keeps track of how well
I'm doing and watches the tournaments, and I think both of my parents are kind of
proud that I'm able to make something positive out of gaming. They're pretty
awesome that way.

Imagine yourself in 5 years, where do you think you will be and what do you want to
have accomplished?

I don't have a totally set goal in life, as I want to keep things flexible, but
realistically, I see myself working my ass off in a law office somewhere. I don't think
I'll be doing what I love, which is sad, but professional gaming right now is a sort of
temporary dream world. I don't think I can consistently make enough money off of it
to be doing it in 5 years - and I don't think more than a few people can say that
they're actually making a living off of it.

What made you choose an MMO over a RTS or a FPS?

I didn't choose an MMO. I love to play them all - It just happened to be that when I
was "in my prime," I was playing World of Warcraft. Plus, you really have to be
playing a game right when it comes out to get super good at it. I hadn't been
playing Counter-strike right when it came out, and I was too young for Starcraft.

Have you ever thought of quitting World of Warcraft, or changing games lately?

Yes. A lot of players have quit World of Warcraft at this point, as the game is
changing for the worse. I don't know a single player that doesn't think that the
game was way better back in season 2. I'll likely quit when Starcraft 2 comes out, or
Diablo III. However, there's really no games around right now to quit for, so I'm
sticking with it for now - especially given that tournaments are still going.
How often does your team practice and are there ever conflicts with real life or
school?

We practice every night around 7 PST, sometimes taking Fridays and/or Saturdays
off. In the past our team had a lot of conflicts with real life / school when we
practiced in the afternoon, so this solution has worked really well for all of us - we
just set aside everything for that one specific time. Gaming is really just another
part of our schedule, so it very rarely conflicts with stuff.

What is your most memorable moment at a tournament or inside arena in general?

A lot of people missed this and no one really cared about it, but against Nihilum's
Warrior Lock Druid last year at ESL Los Angeles, I blew Nature's Swiftness to finish
off Carekoala with a Wrath with my last bit of mana. He was about to turn a corner
when a big green ball hit him in the back and he fell over, while both my mage and
my rogue were being controlled and couldn't kill him.

It's sort of the ultimate insult to get killed by a NS wrath, because it means the druid
didn't have to use it to survive, plus it's a huge waste of a cooldown to use NS for
wrath.

As a professional arena player are there any changes you’d like to see in rules at
tournaments or changes in the way things are done during them? If not, any
changes you would like to see Blizzard make to the game?

I could write 10 pages on changes they need to make both at tournaments and in
the game. So I'll just mention two big ones. There need to be LAN servers for
tournaments for 0 ping, because having 300 ping at a tournament is ridiculously
stupid. Another tournament change should be that you should be given only one set
of computers which have no view of other computer screens, and never be moved
from that computer. I can't tell you how many times I've had to set up my entire
character interface... it's over two hundred times.
What is your most hated 3v3 comp at the moment?

Retribution Paladin, Restoration Shaman, Discipline Priest. Can't kill anything, EVER,
and there's no way to ever beat a good one.

How strong do you feel your current comp is against the rest of the competition?

RMP is such a well balanced and versatile composition, it will always have a good
chance to surprise and defeat someone in a tournament. It's a tournament comp
because even though it can lose a lot, a really well-played one can take a series
even when "countered."

Is Complexity going to be sticking with your current comp or are you guys going to
be exploring new team make-ups for upcoming tournaments?

That's a secret. Even though I can play a druid really well, and Minti and Ven can
both multiclass, RMP will always be our core setup.

If tomorrow by some miracle Complexity ceased to exist and you had to play for
another team, which would it be?

I don't know. In the past I'd say Team EG because they were looking for a new
healer, but I think most teams are confident in their healers. I'd probably just make
my own team with some friends, try to do well with it, and go to tournaments with
my own winnings.

What is the next tournament we should be looking for you at?

Blizzard regionals, which is unannounced but coming soon, or MLG Columbus which
is June 5th. Whichever comes first

Do you have any closing statements?

Yes, compLexity is awesome, go to complexitygaming.com and upload your videos

for their contest, and Blizzard, druids are boring, fix them.

Thank you for your time.

Photos: gotgame, Julia Christophers

http://www.mylgn.com/content.php?postid=100