{"post":{"id":"9987","title":"Mionix Sponsors NaNiwa for IEM Cologne","content":"Today, it was announced that the high-profile Swedish Protoss player **Johan \"NaNiwa\" Lucchesi**, recently departed from Quantic Gaming, would receive sponsorship for a trip to the IEM Global Challenge at gamescom in Cologne, Germany. \r\n\r\nThe sponsor is a new player in esports, the Swedish peripherals company Mionix. I was able to talk with both NaNiwa and the E-Sport Manager for Mionix, **Anders Börjesson**, and get their thoughts on this unique opportunity for the teamless player.\r\n\r\n##Interview with Johan \"NaNiwa\" Lucchesi##\r\n![image](https://s3.amazonaws.com/scvrush/uploads/image/image/normal_naniwa.jpg)\r\n*Image Source: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/NaNiwa*\r\n\r\n* **1. So it looks like you're going to IEM now! How excited are you to have this opportunity?**\r\n\r\nI am very excited to have this opportunity; I met them before, and they seemed like nice people, so I am very pleased to work with them.\r\n\r\n* **2. Were you surprised when Mionix reached out to you? How quickly did this arrangement happen after you parted ways with Quantic?**\r\n\r\nI was a bit surprised, but very happy! I felt it was for the better I parted with Quantic but with Mionix I still have the opportunity to go to events : ) So this works out perfect to me! It was only a few days afterwards.\r\n\r\n* **3. The IEM field is a bit less star-studded than what you are probably used to after making the GSL Code S round of eight two times in a row. How do you think you will do? What attending players do you think will give you the most trouble?**\r\n\r\nAs I have had a little break in Sweden, I am just going to try my best and try to play without pressure, I think I've been a bit harsh on myself before. So I'll try to do my best but also have fun at the same time! We will see how I do : )\r\n \r\n* **4. Do you have any additional comments you would like to make? Where can people follow you? And do you have any shoutouts you would like to make?**\r\n\r\nPlease follow me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/naniwasc2) and also follow [Mionix](http://twitter.com/MIONIX) at Twitter : ) I'm very grateful for their support, so I'd appreciate if you follow them too!\r\n\r\n##Interview with Anders Börjesson##\r\n![image](https://s3.amazonaws.com/scvrush/uploads/image/image/normal_mio.png)\r\n*Image Source: http://www.mionix.net*\r\n\r\n* **1. I would have to think a lot of people are not very familiar with Mionix or yourself, so could you introduce yourself and what you do with the company, and tell us a little bit of what Mionix is all about?**\r\n \r\nMionix is a Swedish high-end computer peripherals brand, created in 2007 by Peter Nygren, our CEO. We have been around for a while, but this year we got some new investors, and we had the ability to branch out, get more products out there, and have a busy year ahead. \r\n\r\nMy job at Mionix right now is to take care of events and the people we would like to bring; I also take care of all e-sports and sponsoring requests, some of the marketing, and I'm still involved with support, RMA, and product development. It's a busy job, but we all love it here at Mionix.\r\n\r\n* **2. I don't think anyone in the Starcraft community expected this sponsorship at all, and Naniwa even seemed a bit surprised himself. How long has your company been considering a sponsorship for a professional gamer?**\r\n\r\nWe have been talking about this quite a while and have been in contact with several players and other companies, but never really found what we were looking for. Then we met Johan and Simon Sundén, a friend of Johan's that has been helping us a lot these past days and at Dreamhack Summer, and we found a way to work together.\r\n \r\n* **3. How did you decide on Naniwa over other potential players? Mionix is a Swedish company and Johan is certainly one of the best Swedish players, so that makes perfect sense, but were there any other reasons why you chose him?**\r\n \r\nJohan is a great player and icon in the Swedish Starcraft 2 scene; he was standing without a team and wanted to go to IEM. We like to support the Swedish community in what ways we can, and we already had the connection to Johan; it all seemed to make sense.\r\n\r\n* **4. What is the full extent of this sponsorship? The Mionix press release said that Naniwa will be representing the company at IEM and Gamescom, but what are the plans for Johan going forward?**\r\n\r\nIt's all very new and open for discussion. We will start with IEM and see how it goes, not talking about the result in the tournament, but more about the partnership in general, and we will take it from there. It's possible that we will do more together with Johan in the future. \r\n\r\n* **5. Naniwa has shown that sometimes he is not the best at being a \"team player\", as he has joined and left a number of teams in his career. Do you think this arrangement will be a healthier one, considering it is an individual sponsorship?**\r\n\r\nI think Johan can handle any situation, but as a top level player you sometimes need to focus on yourself and your own training, especially if you, like Johan, are unhappy if you don't come out winning. I believe Johan has talked a lot about his previous team in Real Talk, and I don't want to speak for him, so I think it's better that people watch the interview and get their own opinion.\r\n\r\n* **6. I have no more specific questions, but do you have any additional comments about this pickup? And where can we find out more about Mionix and their products?**\r\n\r\nThank you for the interview! You can find out more about us at [the Mionix website](http://mionix.net) or stay updated on what's going on during Gamescom/IEM at our [Facebook page](http://facebook.com/mionix).\r\n\r\n###Additional Author's Notes:###\r\nI highly recommend watching the Real Talk episode where J.P. McDaniel interviews NaNiwa. It contains some good information on the player's thoughts on his departure from Quantic and being without a team:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI did make some grammar-related edits to the answers, as English is not Johan's first language, but the information itself is completely unaltered.","image":"/assets/post_default_image.png","tag_list":["scene-news","interview"]}}