Red Bull LAN Orlando – Interview with Shawn “Liquid’Sheth” Simon

Shawn "Liquid'Sheth" Simon is a Zerg player and Florida native from Ft Myers, FL. He's one of the most renown Zerg players in the world and is notable in the community as being the nicest guy in eSports. He's also been rather successful lately, team killing Evil Geniuses in a team tournament all by himself! Let's see what this gentle giant has to say for himself!

1) Your focus goal for this Red Bull LAN was to improve your play against 3 base Protoss with an air opening – do you feel like last night’s challenge helped you get there at all, or are you still unconfident in that situation?

I don’t think it’ll be perfect right now. I definitely feel like I’ve improved quite a bit – even if I don’t do it exactly right every time, as long as I know what to do, I can improve on it over time. I’m happy with how it went.

2) Your team kill of Evil Geniuses was most impressive – how did it feel taking down one of the most hyped Starcraft 2 Teams in North America?

It was really good, we had a tough time the week before in our match against Prime, then we had to play EG. And I went first – I wasn’t really feeling that great, but let me tell you, after those games I was feeling much better.

3) We’ve seen how you train here at the LAN – what have you been doing differently with your training as of late that so obviously enhanced your performance?

I don’t know – just playing a lot. Don’t really have any secrets.

4) What was your favorite eSports moment of 2011?

For me, it was taking second place in the North American Battle.net Invitational. Beat some big names like IdrA and HuK in that tournament. I was also picked up by Team Liquid which was awesome.

5) Do you feel like Starcraft 2 is reaching the level of acclaim with the community that Brood War had?

Starcraft 2’s definitely way above where Brood War was right now. Especially with all the people on r/starcraft and sites like Teamliquid.net. The population is just amazing.

6) How confident are you heading into this new MLG season?

I’m pretty confident in my abilities, I think my chances are pretty good this season. Looking forward to it.

7) You seem to have something against “cheese” builds – why do you prefer macro style play to early harass and rushes used by other players?

I feel like anyone can do cheese builds, anyone can defend a cheese build. And while I do cheese from time to time, I feel like macro games are where you can show your true skills.

8) Do you have any closing words for your fans?

Thank you for being my fans, thank you for the all of the continued support. But more importantly, keep playing Starcraft, that’s the most important thing.

Thanks for your second interview with GameZone Sheth! We wish you luck in the upcoming MLG season!

Dustin Steiner is GameZone's eSports Correspondent! You can follow him on Twitter @SteinerDustin!