The Stephano Fan Club - Page 719

In less than 2 years Ilyes "Stephano" Satouri has made an entrance as an unknown Frenchman from Paris, become a millionaire and world star, to later announce that he's quitting the "Starcraft"-scene for good. He just turned 20.
"Stephano" personifies that the feeling you can get of professional "Starcraft"-players living after the Gregorian calendar. "I remember" they'll say, "the good old days". Often they're talking about the championship which only date back a couple of years in time. When they with glossy eyes romanticizes about "Brood War" you get the idea that era took place right around the renaissance.
Maybe it's because of 2 years in the e-sportbubble - packed as it is with competitions, travels, teamchanges, wins, losses and temporarily homes in prohouses - feels like eternity.
He's earned 1,4 million kronor.
Still you have to point out that "Stephanos" careeer - now that he's made up his mind to quit - has been all too short. Something always happened around Ilyes Satouri both inside and outside of the player booth. He could mesmerize his audience and his strategical ploys were was debated and analyzed by community experts. With over 1,4 million kronor he became the player outside of Southkorea who earned the most amount of prizemoney.
Despite the nice eyes and the distmantling smile he was also one of the "Starcraft"-scenes bad boy.
He passed the limit of the distasteful when he joked about having sex with minors, a prank which forced his team Evil Geniuses to both keep him from competing and fine him.
After the Dreamhack championship last year, he got so drunk at a nightclub in Jönköping that he had to be taken into the drunkcell. The image that Rakaka published shows Stephano, with sunglasses and a stained T-shirt, is being escorted out of the venue with police officers in each arm.
Quitting
Maybe the most bizarre thing "Stephano" did - a prank that gets its alarming explanation in this interview - was that he smuggled a knife with him onboard an airplane earlier this year - and tweeted about it.
But we will begin with the end.
Your team, Evil Geniuses, did a minidocumentary with you recently. Where you said that you might be thinking about quitting professional play.
-Not maybe. I said I would quit. The more days that passes, the more I wish that I would quit. In the beginning this whole experience was very fun. I learned a lot from it. My English has become much better. I got to meet new people. It was a positive experience. But right now I dont think I can get much more out of it. Except money. But I have enough money now to face life head on and to start my studies. I'm pretty sure that I wont need to be homeless now.
"I dont have fun anymore"
But a part of those who quits wants to remain in the industry.
-Yes. But I played the game because I loved it. It has nothing to do with casting, or to show products. It's only about playing infront of an audience.
You miss that passion now.
-It's disappearing. Right now it feels pretty repetitive.
Even though "Heart of the Swarm" is new?
-Yes. The 2 first months of "HOTS" was entertaining as I learnt new units and things. But if you dont count that it's the exact same thing. In one years time you wont see much of a change. Just little details. And that's not exactly what I want from the game. I'm not having fun anymore.
You're regarded as perhaps the best european player. What are the qualities that has made you so succesful?
-I think my best asset to have is... how should I say... if I know a player is better or worse than me I try to not be affected by it. Let's say that when I play I try not to have any feelings at all. People has noticed that I never have a big smile on my lips as I've won tournaments. Or the opposite: been really sad with tears and everything. However I have had a smile when I've lost. Because I dont want to become angry, then I'll just keep losing. It's like an evil circle. So I try to keep myself positive when I lose, and not get affected by it.
"Denies feelings"
You try to be rational in an otherwise emotional enviroment?
-As of right now, in competitive gaming, there's pressure to win or lose a tournament. The pressure from the audience. And for me it's about the pressure from my family. I've told them that I'll do well. For every match it feels like I think of them, it would be bad if I lost. I try to deny those feelings.
You've done well with that.
-Yes I have. And that's the main reason I think.
What does your family think about you being a professional player?
-I started with "Starcraft II" when I was still in high school. Then I got my degree. I had to decide if I should go professional or not. And I had a long talk with my family. I told them... Because I had been playing since I was 15... so I said that I just wanted to prove them that what I've done wasn't a waste of time. That it could actually mean something good for me. Give me benefits. I told them that I would take a year off to go pro and see what happens. "If I fail I promise to quit playing. If I succeed it means I have a talent I can use."
"Wants another way of life"
When asked where "Stephano" grew up he answers "here and there". When he speaks about his family he means his relatives, "we're a big arabic family". He calls himself "French-Tunisian". His relationship to his mom and dad has not been straightforward and his childhood was marked by constant breakups and temporary homes in Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Thailand, Australia and France.
-I had to change friends all the time and never really got close to anyone.
His background is held together with his choice to quit "Starcraft". For "Stephano" it's not about to return a life outside of E-sports, it's about creating a life he's never had.
"My family are very focused on that one should study, get a citylife, create a family. They dont want me to live a life constantly moving. And this life is just that. I can win hundreds of thousands of dollars one month, to not win anything the next 6 months. So I can understand their way of thinking. I think the same way. I've always wanted to know how it's like to have a life when you wake up one morning, do your job then get home again and that's it. To not have to travel every third or six months. I dont dislike my lifestyle, I just want another.
Threw up in the bathroom
What do you want to study?
-I've been thinking of becoming an engineer. In the beginning my plan was to educate myself to become a doctor. But after postponing the studies for 2 years, and knowing it will take 9 years... it's like eleven years delay. It takes too long. So I chose something more realistic. I'm very good at both math and physics so I'm aim to be an engineer.
Your "Starcraft"-career has not always been about achievements, but also been highlighted by scandals. Last year you were taken by cops at a nightclub in Jönköping.
-Yes. I had just lost against (the polish player Grzegorz) "Mana" (Komincz). Before that game I had like 20 wins and two losses against him. To lose against him in the semifinals made me very, very, upset. I started drinking a lot. Really fast. I got so drunk I couldn't stand up properly. I went to the bathroom to rest and it was then the security staff called the cops. But I didn't do anything stupid, like hit someone. I just threw up in the bathroom.
"Stupid to bring the knife"
And earlier this year you tweeted a picture from an airplane.
-Haha...
You had a knife with you onboard. How did that happen?
-iIt was stupid. I didn't want to carry a knife with me. I travelled with hand luggage. In my luggage I had a zippo-lighter. Just as I was about to pass the securitycheck they changed personnel. The person that saw the lighter, or the knife, was not the same person that checked my bag. So when they checked my bag they found the lighter. Then they must have thought it was the lighter that made the beep. And later when I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth I saw that I had a knife in my bag. So I took a picture of it.
But who put the knife in the bag?
-Oh, I keep it for selfdefense. I dont like to fight, but I like to keep a knife with me.
You travel with a knife?
-Yes. I've been attacked a couple of times. So I try to keep a knife with me.
You've been attacked?
-Yes.
How did that happen?
-It's just... When you're drunk on the streets sometimes...
Where? In Paris?
-Yes, in Paris.
Did they stab you?
-No, no stabs.
"Bad fighter"
Did they threaten you with a knife?
-No, they didn't have any knives. They hit me. But with a knife I might frighten them. I dont wanna use it, just show them it. Maybe they'll disappear. I have never used it. I'm very bad at fighting. I dont want to fight, I just carry a knife to defend myself.
Hopefully you will never have to use it.
-I hope so too.
All of the shapes "Stephano" has adopted during his two years in the spotlight comes out under our pretty short talk. The rationelle who seems to look so sober at his time with "Starcraft" and his future as a student. The youthfully naive guy whose life seems to hide truths and experience you should probably leave alone. But everyone that has had an opinion about the frenchmen can possibly agree that the e-sportworld will be a more boring place without him. Meanwhile Ilyes Satouri will search after his new life beyond the victories, beyond the headlines and beyond the cheers roar from the packed arenas. And when he discovers that time suddenly passes by quicker than before he will know that he has come home.