With Day 1 of the U.S. finals in the books, Tyler "NonY" Wasileski has done what he expected to do and advanced to the semi-finals - without dropping a single game.

With a recent first place finish at the Spirit Tournament, Wasieleski has solidified himself among the best non-Koreans. His dedication, practice regiment, and love for the game has kept his motivation high

You were able to come in first in your group, were you confident that you would be able to do that?

I was pretty confident that I would advance. First place...I wasn't really thinking about that advancing, so yeah I am really happy that it turned out this way...it gives me some confidence going into the semis.

Going undefeated in your group is quite an accomplishment, how did you prepare before coming into this final?

I have been playing the maps a lot for the Spirit Tournament that's been going on. I really like these maps...they're great maps...they're also the Courage maps, so I can get practice on them easily. I don't really watch the replays of my opponents...I just study my own game and get my own game solid...put it out there and it worked well.

Eric "G5" Rothmuller was also able to advance from your group. Were you surprised that he was able to defeat Greg "IdrA" Fields as well or did you expect Fields to going you in the semis?

IdrA was the favorite for sure...I expected that, but I definitely knew that G5 could do it, so it was just a matter of would G5 beat iNcontroL and to put himself in a position to do that or were they going to be in like a tie breaker situation.

Fields is a very tough opponent, before this tournament began to you think that it was very possible that he could be knocked out in the group stages?

I knew it was possible, but I wasn't counting on it.

Both David "Dino" Kent and David "Louder" Fells were able to capture big wins in their first games. What are your predictions for who will advance from Group B?

It looks like Dino will probably advance...that's my only prediction at this point.


Galleries: Day 1a | Day 1b | Day 2a | Day 2b | Day 2c | Day 2d

Counter-Strike: Extreme Masters Day 2 CS Melee | Extreme Masters Day 1 CS Melee | WCG Day 1 CS Melee | Viewer's Guide | Cogu discusses all things MiBR | WCG USA, EM Prediction Contest | Ninespot reflects on Day 1 | x3o gives fnatic an early test | Five with punkvillE | Zonic on mTw's early exit | sfX on taking down MoB | savi0r: Looking forward to E4All | WCG CS Group Preview

StarCraft: WCG StarCraft Melee | WCG Day 1 SC Recap | Five with NonY | G5 talks about NonY and Day 2 | StarCraft in the U.S: Why care? | WCG Starcraft Preview

World of Warcraft: Extreme Masters Day 1 WoW Melee | Extreme Masters WoW Preview | Five with Sp0h