Malystryx: Well Insomnia it has been a long time but in the end you finally were ready for me to interview you. Can you remind people what sparked your retirement?

SK.Insomnia: You're right Maly, it has been a while.
About my retirement, well at some point, about year and a half before I actually ended my career I began feeling a bit old for what I was doing. I was also getting quite bored of it after so many years, remember I also spent 4 years playing StarCraft competitively before my WarCraft career.

Most of the excitement was gone and it just didn't feel right for me to go on playing. Also I thought it was time for me to resume my studies, for which I just didnt have enough time for while being a progamer and travelling all the time.

Malystryx What were the first few weeks after retirement like? A huge weight off your shoulders or a feeling of something missing?

SK.Insomnia: Definately the first one. I felt relieved that I finally closed that chapter of my life and it was time for a new beginning. It was not an easy decision for me to make but a necessary one. The feeling of something missing came after a while but I did not pay that much attention to it as I had a lot more new stuff going on in my life to focus on.

Malystryx: What were the first things you started doing when you got back to the “real world”?
SK.Insomnia: I started studying again. I am currently in my 3rd year at university. I'm majoring in Management and Administration and this year I'm also signing up for a minor in Marketing and Advertisement.

I also started doing sports again and I got really hooked on snowboarding. It's awesome I'm telling you. Last season was my first one and I spent roughly 30 to 35 days around the many slopes we have here in Bulgaria. I can not wait for the winter to come.



I also started going to the gym regularly and of course I started socializing with my friends a lot more catching up on what I missed during all those years spent infront of the computer screen.

Malystryx: So we can we expect to see you turn into a body builder like Heman did once he quit eSports?

SK.Insomnia: Haha no. I'm just trying to maintain a good looking and healthy body.

User submitted: Kageman asks " Now that you are not playing games, is it easier to get laid?”

SK.Insomnia: Haha nice one Kageman. I don't know if it's easier but it definitely happens more often.

Malystryx: It has been more than half a year since your retirement, do you ever regret spending those five years on eSports or do you look back with fond memories?

SK.Insomnia: Regret it? Hell no. I was able to visit so many places, meet so many people and get to know so many different cultures because of my gaming efforts. All of those changed me and enriched my personality in a way I would not be able to achieve had I not pursued my eSport career.

I was also able to prove to myself that impossible is nothing and I would be able to achieve anything if I really put my mind into it and try hard enough, allowing me to go on with a great confidence with the rest of my life. In addition to that there were so many great and fun memories I would never forget.

Malystryx: can you share some of the best? Now your out of the eSports scene you must have some behind the scenes stories you can share

Haha one thing I've learned is never to drink with MadFrog. I remember when we were in Korea with Frog, Heman and Domi playind as team Intel. One of the first nights we went out Fredrik got so drunk that he could not stand on his feet. I had to carry him on my back for about kilometer and a half to our place, it was an uphill way and I was pretty drunk myself.

Or this other time the two of us went to this club in Cologne, where upon entering you receive a card and everything you purchase gets charged to this card and you pay when leaving. So we had a couple of drinks ... err maybe I should say many drinks, I do not know how much exactly and at some point we decided to leave.

So we go to the exit and we gave our cards to check out. I pay my bill and then MadFrog, barely standing on his feet again mumbles, "I only have this much", waving a 10 euro bill. I'm like "WTF man", I look at the bouncers and I already see ugly things happen, knowing I did not have much money left on me and considering Frog's condition his bill should be bigger than mine.

Fortunately for us we were short only a few euros so they let us go, but we had to walk our way home cause we had no money for taxi. When we got home I promised him "I'm never drinking with you again". A promise I broke last year when we met up again for the SK 10th anniversary, but we had no problems with him then. It was Heman who puked next to the bar that night.

Malystryx: Sounds memorable! How much contact have you had from your former colleagues in the Warcraft3 professional scene? Do you work to keep eSports friendships alive or is that a closed book?

SK.Insomnia: Not much really. I have different interests and different goals right now and obviously I communicate with different people.

Malystryx: So it is a closed book? Do any of them make efforts to keep up with you and what you are doing?

SK.Insomnia: To be honest I stopped using MSN/IRC, which were my main channels of communication with the eSport players. And I did it intentionally. I like to keep focus on the goals I picked and not get any distractions. I am sure though if one day I decide to return to the eSport scene, the people who matter would not have forgotten me.

User submitted: K1ckgrayf0x asks “Where did u punch Deadman exactly? And how hard?"

SK.Insomnia: I punched him in the face, hard enough for him to have a small shadow beneath his eye the next morning. I did not mean to hurt him bad, but I had to send a signal that if he did not stop illtreating ownitsch that bad things were going to happen to him. He got the signal.

User submitted: MostWantedLover asks: “How does it feel to be such a huge inspiration for a whole nation (Bulgaria) and many other people from all over the world as well?”

SK.Insomnia: Haha I doubt I was an inspiration for the whole nation. If I was able to inspire all the Warcraft players though, that makes me really happy of course. Being admired by others proves you achieved something significant and it justifies the efforts. Thank you for this question.

Malystryx: When we met at the SK Anniversary you were reading a poker book, did anything ever come of your interest in poker?

SK.Insomnia: Haha yes indeed. Poker is my only source of income right now. I play it during my spare time but I do not have plans to pursue a career of a professional poker player. It is just a temporary thing that helps me go after my main goals.

In addition to that me and two other friends (both of them former members of the eSport scene) established a company last month with me as the manager. We are going to launch a website dedicated to teaching and improving the poker players in Bulgaria (maybe we go international if things go well, who knows).

The website should launch in the next couple of weeks on http://www.akula.bg , (akula being the Bulgarian word for shark), where you can already see our kickass logo.

Malystryx: Would you ever consider leaving Bulgaria or do you plan to live there for a long time?

SK.Insomnia: No. I don't have such thoughts for now at least. I like my country even though it is not the best one in terms of government, economy and technological development, it is my homeland and I had a happy childhood here. I am bound to love it and I do. I don't think I can be as happy anywhere else in the world, not for now at least.

Malystryx: Do you ever wear your SK clothing?

SK.Insomnia: Yes I do :). I wear it during my sport activities as you might see on one of the pictures I sent you.

To be Continued...