O.K. Maybe Socke isn't quite the Rock Star you expected, although his hair is plain rocking out, but he's getting there. Especially his recent results at MLG's have put him back where he belongs: amongst the best of the foreigners to play the game. After doing so Giacomo sat down with us at cadred to talk not only e-Sports, but life in general.

We have had a personal computer at home for as long as i can remember, and some of the first games i played were Golden Axe, Digger, Zak McKracken, etc. I really enjoyed Warcraft 1&2, so i was looking forward to that Warcraft in Space game quite a lot, and after it came out i switchd from playing singleplayer and at lanparties from time to time to playing online vs other people mostly. I got competitive about Starcraft rather quickly and went on to becomeone of the best german players from like 1999-2004. I quit the game at that point and enjoyed some casual dota at times until starcraft 2 came out.

I played for nSK, TAMM, DkH, shuuk and pG. At that time there werent that many tournaments, but i think i got first ever A rank on WGT, 2., 4. and 5. place at german WCG, 2. at PGchallenge2003 as well as a couple of wins in smaller german lans. When i played actively i was either the strongest or at least top3 german. internationally its hard to say, because there werent that many tournaments to prove oneself. i do remember winning a nationwarscup with germany though, so being one of the top germans mustve meant something . I still have very fond memories of my Broodwar time, and because of my age or the novelty of the whole thing i enjoyed it more than starcraft 2 right now.

Its somewhere inbetween hobby and work for me, and if i wasnt playing sc2 competitively id be playing much less, but still some dota or sc2 for fun i guess.

I am of course proud of my success nationally since there are very many skilled players in Germany, and it is never easy to win events such as WCS or EPS. Still, i am not too happy with my results so far, because there have been many times where i came very close to winning events or doing much better than i did, but somehow i often fell just short. It kind of sucks to get into the top ranks of almost every tournament you attend, and then not win. Id rather fail horribly at one event and then win a different, than always doing well.

I get along very well with all my teammates and i get great support from the team, so i enjoy being with alternate a lot. I set up my own training schedule, and it can differ from not playing for a week to playing 8hours every day for another week. It always depends on how well i feel and what events are upcoming, because i do not think its very useful to practice when you dont have the energy/concentration for proper practice.

I am not too sure about if i have a special strength in my play. Maybe my strength is my flexibility and that i dont have a real weakness? Im not sure :)

If things dont change much structurally and moneywise, i think the Koreans will always be ahead. I would like to be in Korea for a while, but i wouldnt want to stay there for more than like 3-6 months i think. At the moment, the right opportunity has not presented itself for me to do that though.

I think the game is going to be pretty broken for many months, with one thing/one race being op for a couple of weeks, and then sth else is gonna be too strong.
Once the game/balance has settled down, the game should be even more fun than it is now though. :) the minimothership looks pretty awesome, and im just looking forward to competing with all the new options in general.

With us gamers growing older, and also the younger generation all having a bigger affinity to gaming esports should definitely be growing for quite a while still. I do not feel that a TV-Involvement is necessary to do so, but it might help.

Music has been very important to me for a long time, and i played violin, guitar and drums for years. Lately i havent gotten to practice instruments at all though, because competing in SC2 oftentimes just takes too much energy and time. I think once i retire im gonna pick it up again. :)

Hard to say, i can enjoy many kinds of music. Theres some very obvious bad musicians, but for successful ones, i really dont enjoy Xavier Naidoo.

Girlfriend Id say, ive noticed that hair tends to regrow.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly or American Beauty. Just watch them and you know why :]

Hard to say, theres been so many great moments. 2. Place WCG 2002, 1. EPS win, Semifinal IEM Cologne or WCS Win, i really dont know :D

Big thanks to everyone who likes to watch me play and cheers for me, i really apprciate it. Im getting a bit into streaming now, so tune in at twitch.tv/sockesc2. Also dont forget to follow me at www.twitter.com/Sockesc2 and www.facebook.com/Sockeh if you want to know what im up to.