Redbull Battlegrounds Champ PartinG: "I never thought for a second I would lose"

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

Won 'PartinG' Lee Sak has defeated BlizzCon Champion Kim 'sOs' Yoo Jin 4-1 to take home the Empire State trophy and $20,000 along with it.

"Guys you’ve suffered long enough, your hyung, older brother, has won" Won told onGamers after winning his first championship in 2013. Won wasn't convinced that Kim's win at BlizzCon made him the best player in the world.

"I really feel like sOs has a false confidence that's too big for his own good. From the beginning I never thought he was the world champion. When I saw that he won [BlizzCon], I was upset at the players that helped him get there. All i could think was that if i was there, I could have won that $100,000 prize. I think I was able to show everyone here I was the better player."

"Prior to the games I never thought for a second I would lose. In preparation I thought how could I tour around with him the most to enertain the fans and win in a very convincing manner. I think I was able to show that in my games, and I'm very satisfied. I wanted to do it so that the fans that doubted me will feel ashamed for doubting me".

Won credits his mother for earning his first title in nearly a year since the 2012 World Cyber Games.

"My mom is in Korea right now and despite the fact it's a completely different time zone and so late, she watched all my games and made sure to send me messages on my phone", he said. "She gave me so much support, I feel I was able to win because of that."

Caster Sean 'Day9' Plott credit's Won's adaption to the new StarCraft 2 update for his success.

"He is really smart about readjusting his play tot he Oracle", Plott told onGamers. "He's one of the only Protoss'es to do clever Oracle plays. It was sheer precision across the board."

Plott, who has cast nearly every league and event in esports including BlizzCon, Major League Gaming, DreamHack, Intel Extreme Masters and more, says Redbull Battlegrounds had a different feel to it.

"It's sick to me that it's an esports show, not just an event", Plott said. "The IEM events exist inside of another con like GamesCom or CeBIT. MLG has multiple games and a booth setup, it's like an activity. But this was a show. It's really cool to be part of such a focused thing. A two day event for just StarCraft 2 and only 8 well qualified players."