Interview with Warcraft Gamers Sagar ‘SAiNTK’ Vaishnav

The Warcraft 3 section of the upcoming ‘The Gaming Contest’ promises to be impressive with all the top players from India attending. Today, we meet one of the top contenders for the title, Sagar ‘SAiNTK’ Vaishnav who has already established his name as the reigning Undead king of the country. Read on to learn what Sagar has to say about the Indian Warcraft community, competitions and his quick rise to the top.

GI: Hi there, Please tell us about yourself.

SAiNT2K: I am Sagar Vaishnav and I’m doing my FY bms at H.R college in Mumbai and I am an L33T War3 player

GI: How did you get into gaming?

SAiNT2K: I started my gaming career around 4 years back. I used to play Mortal Kombat at a gaming cafe. My first FPS was Quake 2 and I even won a tourney for Quake 2 in my area. After that I started playing Starcraft and then switched to War3. I also play CS but I don’t see an opportunity in it and so I’m concentrating on War3.

GI: And how long have you been playing Warcraft 3?

SAiNT2K: Its been around three years since I first started but I’ve been playing competitively for only about a year or so.

GI: You are noted for handling your Scourge units with ease. What makes the Undead race so cool in your eyes? Why did you choose them as your race?

SAiNT2K: The speed increase that Undead units get from the Death Knight’s Unholy Aura is one of the reasons. Most units can also heal themselves when needed. This suits my playing style well.

GI: You are currently at level 43 in the Kalimdor ladder. Was it very hard for you to get to where you are now? Did you ask any pro players for help in improving your game?

SAiNT2K: Yes, of course it’s very hard to get to a high level since you are matched up against level 50 to level 60 players and it’s extremely hard to beat them with lag. As for help, nope. I didn’t ask anyone for it. I practiced myself and tried new tactics. I also watched replays of pro players.

GI: Who according to you is the toughest player to beat in the Indian scene?

SAiNT2K: That would be my friend Pricksy who also plays Undead as he knows all my strategies and tactics very well. He is improving rapidly. Another player would be FINaL.ELEMENT but I believe I can beat them both.

GI: Nickunj aka FINaL.ELEMENT has beaten you in the past at the WCG finals. With ‘The Gaming Contest’ coming up very shortly, it should be interesting to see both of you go at it again. What makes you think that this time will be different? Have you been giving importance to Human counters?

SAiNT2K: Well, that WCG was my first major tournament. I’m more experienced now and the new patches are balanced. 1.16 leaned too much towards the Human race and therefore at the WCG grand finals, 1.17 was used. I have also watched a lot of UD vs HU replays to learn many strats and counters. The one who is at top has to fall sometime or the other and I think that is going to happen soon.

GI: To what extent has Warcraft 3 been productive for you? Could you list out your achievements?

SAiNT2K: I have won more than fifteen tournaments held in Mumbai. A few in Pune too. I was the runner-up at the last WCG India. I missed out on the Urban Fury tournament as I had my exams but before that I had competed at Blitzkrieg ‘04 where I managed to win without losing a match. I also won the Reliance Gamebox tournament in Mumbai but they did not allow me to use my custom keys and my equipment at the grand final. They were also using the outdated 1.16 patch and so I forfeited the tournament. They have no sense of gaming whatsoever. I am looking forward to ‘The Gaming Contest’ and it is looking good as of now.

GI: Blitzkrieg ‘04 was a huge success. What are your thoughts on it as a tournament?

SAiNT2K: It was the best tournament ever held in India and in my opinion even the WCG doesn’t match up to it. Everything rocked and the tourney was a grand success.

GI: Could you please describe the finals?

SAiNT2K: I played Pricksy in the finals. He gave me a hard time but I managed to win somehow. The maps were Twisted Meadows and Turtle Rock.

GI: What was the prize?

SAiNT2K: I won a Shuttle XPC and an AMD 2800+ processor. The prizes were worth about 15000 bucks.

GI: What do you feel about competitive Warcraft today? The game almost died in Korea. How long do you think that this game will last in competitions like the WCG?

SAiNT2K: War3 isn’t dying. The pro gamers who quit are back and they are still playing it. More than 2,00,000 people are online at Battle.net at any given time. I think the game will see at least another 2 years of solid competition.

GI: How long do you see yourself playing the game?

SAiNT2K: I am not playing much nowadays but I wont quit … I will try to play an hour or two each day after my college starts. For now I need to practice hard for ‘The Gaming Contest’

GI: What do you think of the current patch? Would you like to see any changes in the next one?

SAiNT2K: Hmm…nice question Well, I would love it if they nerfed NE. The Staff of Preservation and NE Expos should cost more. Some changes with Orcs as well as they are very strong. The other things are fine but I also feel that they should completely remove the Lost Temple map because every race can dominate UD on that map.

GI: Both you and FINal.ELEMENT have beaten a few well known Korean players from big clans like WeRRa on the Kalimdor ladder. Do you feel that an Indian player can perform well at the international level anytime soon?

SAiNT2K: Well, no would be my answer. Until you play for about 4 months in Korea you cant do well at an international event. You need to play good players without lag. Internet ladders are just to keep in touch with the game.

GI: Who is your favourite player and why?

SAiNT2K: MaDFroG will always be my favourite player: D because I learned a lot by watching his replays and followed his strategies.

GI: What is your current gaming PC config?

SAiNT2K: AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 1gb Transcend RAM, Asus K8V PCI-E deluxe motherboard, XFX 6600 GT, Viewsonic 19” monitor, Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical 1.1, DKT Megamat, Logitech Cordless Keyboard.

GI: How about some tips for new and upcoming players?

SAiNT2K: The most important thing is to learn yourself and figure things out. Do not depend on someone else to teach you. Watching a lot of replays of pro players can also help you improve.

GI: Alright, Thanks for your time and patience. All the best to you for ‘The Gaming Contest’. Feel free to include your shoutouts to your friends.

SAiNT2K: Thanks :D. Shoutouts go to Priyank, the best War3 player, the CS gods MA (take me in MA please :D), to you AshR, the imba quake 3 machine and also to UT player Kris and NCLP