Juan Tena… we remember this guy vaguely. An original ROOTer, Juan never really got the chance to show his skills under the ROOT banner. Juan is most famous in the SC2 scene for shedding teams and tags like fur coats in the summer. What most people don’t remember is that Juan was an exceptional BroodWar pro, considered to be almost unbeatable in the Americas and an online practice partner for Hite Sparkyz. He very nearly was shipped to Korea to play Brood War full time. When he transferred to SC2, well behind the curve and after the beta, he managed to achieve a top ten ladder ranking in under two weeks. Since then he’s posted big tournament wins and places in most events that he enters, and he’s made the trip to Korea to hone his skills against the world’s best.

Now the reigning WCS Mexico champion — winning it all without dropping a game — we’re proud to welcome Juan back to his old home. He’ll be ROOT’s fifth representative in the Blizzard NA WCS, joining NA Champion ViBE, NA qualifier Fitzy and Canadian qualifiers Drewbie and TT1 at this prestigious tournament. You can also enjoy him in TSL4, now playing under our banner and slated to take on johnnyrecco in the next round.

We’re sure that you all have many questions for Juan, so CatZ took a moment to ask him those questions.

1- Why is ROOT Gaming the right team for you? are you happy to be back?
i am very happy to be back yes, im not gonna lie my dream was to be in a korean team (KeSPA) but it didnt work out the way i wanted and if i had to pick a foreigern team i would pick ROOT over every other team cause i have alot of friends in there and its a team that shares my goals and ambitions.

2- You were in ROOT before in the early days when you started playing sc2, but then you left for sixjax and we weren’t happy about it at the time. What has changed this time around?
i was young and got a bit blinded when I joined sixjax and i kinda joined sixjax because they promised me to send me to korea really fast which didnt happen and thats been my dream sicne sc1 as many people know.

3- For a long time you’ve had a reputation of being sort of a team hopper. Do you feel you deserve this?
in sc1 yes but on sc2 not really i been in root , sixjax , and checksix and reason i left checksix was because TSL coach told me hey leave checksix and come join us when i was in korea but a few days after i left xsix the coach told me sorry i cant pick u up sponsors dont want you .

4- What are your long term goals when it comes to StarCraft 2 and what do you hope to acomplish with and at ROOT?
 im just gonna keep doing what i do play alot and try to be a strong player and with ROOT im hoping to improove even more and have good time with my friends

5- You recently won WCS Mexico without dropping a game, congratulations, where would you rank yourself in the Americas, and who are some others of the best players in the continent in your opinion, is there anyone you fear? (name a few)
I always have respect for every player i play dosen’t matter how good or bad i think they are i always respect em and try my hardest everymatch as i said before i really don’t care if people think im the best or the worst i just play to try to improve and win. and as of name a few i guess ViBE , scarlett , IdrA , TT1 etc there are a lot of players that are hard to beat

6- You recently managed to defeat TSL’s Hyun after being down 0-2 and came back to 3-0 him and take the win @ TSL 4, what are your expectations for this tournament?
My next match is againts jonnyrecco so im hoping i can win this match but its gonna be hard , but i always go match by match i dont try to think too much in the future

7- Again, we’re happy to have you back and expect great things from you in the near future Juanito, would you like to make any shoutouts?
I would like to thanks ROOT for accepting me again and giving me a second chance, tt1,vibu,gatito are good friends in root , also shoutout to Nyoken -0- hes the best!

CatZ took a moment to comment on Juan’s joining the team:

“We were warned before Juan joined for the first time that, that it might end up being a mistake to let him in. We were told Loyalty wasn’t his thing. Inviting Juan back was hard. He is the only ROOT member to have ever left the team without hesitation with the first offer he got; we were very unhappy at the time. Though I thought Juan was immature and disloyal, we remained friends, had ups and downs here and there, and I know for a fact that he is a good kind hearted person, and everyone deserves a second chance. As soon as we remade ROOT, Juan started asking to join, I told him no about in about 5 different ocassions. He insisted, I consulted with the team, didn’t go in his favor. Not because we didn’t like him, but because of our past experience. He asked again, and again, and again. I realized he was serious, he came clean and told me beforehand “I really want to join, but to be completely clear I would like the opportunity to leave if I had the chance to join a KeSPA team, and for no other reason” I was thinking, that if anything he had matured and he was transparent with his intentions, but that wasn’t enough to join ROOT as we want our members to be as commited as possible to the team and its members. A few weeks passed and Juan asked again, this time he said “the KeSPA team.. its not gonna happen, I want to join ROOT and I want to join to stay” Juan was ready to sign with us. I went back to the skype team chat and we discussed, with no one having objections this time after expressing I strongly wanted to give him a second chance, we unanimously decided to let Juan be a part of our family again. One of my best teachers once told me ‘History is there so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes of the past’ Today, I would like to tell my teacher to shut up. Circumstances and people can change. I believe Juan is a very mature person and I consider him a friend. We at ROOT are very proud and happy to welcome him back into our house and hope that he, like the rest of us, will find a home in it to stay. Welcome, Juanito.”

Juan is an outstanding player, and we’re happy to have our Princess back — under any name he desires. Welcome home, ROOTmajOr!

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