Gaming
esports
Use Your Illusion: Q&A With Chris Lee
After participating in last year’s Red Bull LAN, Chris "Illusion" Lee is ready to return to Orlando.
Chris Illusion Lee
© Quantic Gaming
The 17-year old American Terran player, currently teamless, spoke with Red Bull eSports about how he wants to improve his StarCraft game and advice. He's also here to dole out a little bit of advice to aspiring progamers.
Your first Red Bull event was last year’s Red Bull Battlegrounds tournament in Austin – what was that experience like?
My first Red Bull event was actually right here in Orlando for Red Bull LAN. At the time it was very surreal and it was my first boot camp like scenario just for practicing. I also got to meet some of the players, get to know them more as well as talk to the people involved from Red Bull. I would say I had a great time at each Red Bull event I've been to and I know it'll be just as good this time around.
What’s been happening with your career since Red Bull Battlegrounds? You’ve joined a new team since then. How has this affected your game?
A lot of things have happened since that tournament, but as of right now I am teamless. Progamer life is pretty difficult at times; there are short periods of intense stress that every player has to deal with. Hopefully everything at home will be stable as well as my team situation before I arrive in Orlando so I can show good matches and learn from my mistakes.
Red Bull Training Grounds is a much more intimate environment than Battlegrounds – do you think that will factor in to your performance?
Yeah I think so, I don't really think of this event as a huge tournament, just somewhere for me to go to practice, get to know people more and have a good time, but at the same time improving my game for future tournaments such as Battlegrounds.
Is there a certain aspect to your SC2 game you’d like to improve on at Training Grounds?
There's one thing that I know I need to focus on improving and it shows time and time again. I think my mechanics and control are at a good level to compete at the top but I still make stupid mistakes in high pressure situations. I think the best thing I can compare it to is the style of MarineKing, which we haven't seen much of recently but in the past you could tell he was too eager to end games and was doing too many things at once and usually ended up losing the game to himself rather than the opponent beating him. I want to stop making mistakes like those and win games where I have leads, instead of throwing them versus good players.
You livestream your practice sessions – in fact, we saw from your Twitter your internet connection was down there for a few days! – is that a good way for you to connect with your fans? What do you think your fans get from watching your streams?
Social media is a good way for all professionals to connect with their fans. My internet at home has been dodgy which is a bit frustrating, but it should be good now that I have switched internet providers. I try to be very talkative in my stream, explaining every step and the reasons behind my decisions so I think my viewers gain a lot of knowledge about the game. The only thing I regret is not streaming as much as I previously have due to busy home life as well as dodgy internet.
You’ll be competing at one of the top game design universities – have you ever considered a college path, or any other paths within gaming?
Haven't really thought about my future in that way for a long time but I want to be in the gaming industry someway when I retire from being a player.
As a pro player - any words of advice to the students, as they learn how to create the future wave of eSports games?
(Create) a game that is easy to follow, easy to understand but hard to master. That's the base line for a successful game with a large population. Then you need to work on the social aspect of the game to attract more casual people which will then be introduced to the competitive scene by friends or other resources.
For the latest news follow Red Bull eSports on Twitter.
