Holding Up the Banner

When you ask people for stereotypes about Germans, they will mention discipline, industry and hard work. Inside Germany itself these attributes often get connected to a certain region, Swabia. While stereotypes are what they are—inaccurate, overblown, the butt of many jokes—they do contain truth from time to time, and Tobias ‘ShoWTimE’ Sieber is exactly the kind of person you’d point your finger at as a true Swabian (right down to his dialect when giving interviews in German). As cheesy as it sounds, his discipline, willingness to work hard and drive to steadily improve are the recipe his success is based on. He has won several German championships, gained international recognition as early as 2013 and finally taken his first big title this year. That last part directly qualified him for BlizzCon—the first German player to compete in the event since TLO back in 2010.

Back then, ShoWTimE was an indistinct face in the crowd: another casual player finding his way in this most complex strategy game, posting on German forums in build order and strategy discussions. His ability to learn quickly became clear as he surpassed his peers and climbed the ladder in steady manner. Soon, the guy who discussed build orders gave advice to other players and got invitations from international clans and teams. His ambition to improve led him to practice harder and finally seek recognition in both national and international competitions.

Having scored some online success ShoWTimE was picked up by ESC Gaming, one of Germany’s bigger esports teams, which made him decide to try out a year as a full-time progamer. 2013 was not stellar in terms of results, but it was the year of his international breakthrough. In WCS Europe he did what most considered impossible: he beat the legendary Mvp not once, but twice, and eliminated him from the tournament. These two victories got his name into every StarCraft fan's mind—a one-of-a-kind first impression. The Protoss player immediately didn’t manage to follow up his triumph in the next round however, and was eliminated. In fact, he wouldn’t make a big impact in WCS again until 2015.

Instead, ShoWTimE refined his play in ESL Pro Series Germany, winning it twice in 2014. He denied Patience the chance to become the first non-German speaking player to earn the championship and also continued his rivalry with HeRoMaRinE, who had taken the title away from him the previous season. ShoWTimE’s veneration of a certain idol shaped his approach to the game: he tried to emulate SKT T1's Rain’s style, the de facto example of a solid macro Protoss, at a time when the race was dominated by gimmicks and all-ins. Competing against players such as GoOdy and HasuObs—who tended to force long games—forced ShoWTimE to develop a great deal of patience and stamina, which reinforced Rain’s standard Protoss playstyle. Additionally EPS allowed players to easily gain offline experience, strengthening their nerves for international stages.

And that’s exactly where the more battle-tested ShoWTimE went. Now playing for one of Germany’s prime teams, ALTERNATE, the Protoss qualified for WCS Season 1 in 2015 and reached the semifinals, eliminating favored foreigner in Kane along the way. Hydra did stomp him in the semifinals, but the top 4 finish reacquainted ShoWTimE with the spotlight. He repeated this feat near the end of the year at the Legacy of the Void launch tournament, defeating opponents such as Nerchio and going toe to toe with PartinG. LotV proved to be a game-changer for everyone, but especially so for ShoWTimE.

He stayed true to his regular macro playstyle, which had become his trademark in Europe. But he recognized that this made him vulnerable against opponents studying him—which became more common with his rising prominence—and began to mix in aggressive builds from time to time. Lowering his predictability, he became even deadlier in longer series.

This is the ShoWTimE we are looking at now. His play was forged in the fires of the German scene, heavily influenced by one of the greatest Protoss players of all time, and adapted to fit into a new environment—all without neglecting his own strengths. Even being without a team for some time between 2015 and 2016 couldn’t break his spirit and will to improve. Team Millenium ultimately recognized this dedication and ShoWTimE paid them back in dividends: he defeated Nerchio in one of this year's closest and most action-packed finals at Tours. He maintained his good performances this time and reached top 4 in IEM Shanghai, as well as another finals appearance at WCS Copa Intercontinental.

Some people out there will look at ShoWTimE and claim he would have never made it this far without Blizzard’s 2016 WCS policy. However, those people overlook his history. This is a player who defeated none other than Mvp himself two times in a row. A player who defended Germany’s championship against a Korean challenger in Patience. A player who is proud to admit that his standard playstyle was copied from a legendary Korean Protoss. ShoWTimE embraced challenges rather than running away from them. ShoWTimE is no product of the 2016 WCS system, he is a product of the earlier WCS systems—the ones which brought the global scene closer together, not broke them up.

ShoWTimE took his regional identity and strength fused them with what he could learn and experience from StarCraft’s best all over the world. This is the banner ShoWTimE will carry at BlizzCon: the insignia of a truly global athlete.