• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:47
CEST 07:47
KST 14:47
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Season 1 - Final Week6[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall12HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0
Community News
Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed10Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll4Team TLMC #5 - Submission extension3Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced7
StarCraft 2
General
Who will win EWC 2025? RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed
Tourneys
FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) WardiTV Mondays Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome
Brood War
General
Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Starcraft in widescreen A cwal.gg Extension - Easily keep track of anyone
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Cosmonarchy Pro Showmatches CSL Xiamen International Invitational [BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project The PlayStation 5
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative Summer Games Done Quick 2025! Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 2024 - 2025 Football Thread NBA General Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Men Take Risks, Women Win Ga…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 691 users

Get to Know Your WCS Challengers: Serral

Forum Index > SC2 General
9 CommentsPost a Reply
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33360 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-06-06 20:23:18
June 06 2017 18:41 GMT
#1
(Wiki)Serral has been on a rampage, winning the European Challenger tournaments for both WCS Jönköping and WCS Valencia. One of the best European players without a major title, Serral will soon have back-to-back opportunities to rectify that situation. I talked to Serral about his place on top of the European scene, possibly going to Korea, and, uhh... golf.

*This interview has been edited and condensed.


Serral


Wax: First off, could you introduce yourself briefly? Although, I don't think you need much introduction nowadays.

Serral: Hello everyone, I'm a Finnish Zerg player. Yeah I think a lot of people know me nowadays, but I have actually been around from the beta, not just at the highest level.

How are you feeling these days? You've been absolutely destroying the WCS qualifiers, and it really looks like there's no one who can stand up to you in Europe.

I have been feeling extremely confident with my play lately, but I was still fairly surprised on how the last two Challengers went. I still wouldn't necessarily rank myself as the best European, as I have been struggling to performance on offline events. Hopefully this will chance at Jönköping and Valencia, though.

It feels like this thing has been been going on for several years now, where all the other progamers hype you up before tournaments. Has that put a lot of pressure on your shoulders?

Not really, I never feel too much pressure when I go to events. I'm not exactly nervous either, so I think my problem has been that I always do bad at one match up. The moment I manage to improve that one match up, I find myself losing in some other match up. But right now I'm actually doing pretty good in all match ups, even though my ZvT is slightly lagging behind.

Was that the problem back in Austin, when you went up against Special (MajOr)?

That was partly the problem for sure, I was struggling with Terran early-game. MajOr probably was better than me during Austin though, so I would have had a hard time even if my ZvT was stronger. MajOr also was better than most of the Terrans I got to practice and play against in Europe.

I've heard other people say that the small number of top-tier Terrans in Europe is a problem as well. Even beyond Jönköping and Valencia, do you think that's gonna be an issuein mixed region events like GSL vs World and BlizzCon?

Yes, that's going to be an issue. I personally think you need to go to Korea if you want to get success in tournaments where Koreans are present. This is why I'm thinking of going to Korea before Blizzcon if I manage to maintain top eight WCS spot. Then again Nerchio and Snute seem to excel at ZvT even though they did not go to Korea.

What do you think about the way Zerg has dominated two EU qualifiers in a row? Do you think there's a problem right now?

I think maps are the problem, at least for now the maps are quite good for Zerg. I don't think the game is too unbalanced otherwise. ZvP has come down to the point that it's mostly Hydra-Bane stuff, but I don't think that it's too overpowered. Issue there is, that if it comes to Protoss always defending these hydra bane builds, it's not too enjoyable.

At Austin, you seemed pretty hesitant to talk up your chances, even though all the other pros were naming you as one of the scariest players there. Given all the recent conditions—maps, your ability to play the various match-ups—do you think you're one of the favorites to win it at all Jonkoping and Valencia?

Actually at Austin, my goal was to win the whole thing and I think I had quite good chance there. But yeah at Jönköping and Valencia, I will have the same goal, but my chances are better for sure. That has to do with the maps, but also with my improvement. I think, it's fair to say that I'm one of the favorites based on the recent results.

You recently tweeted a graduation photo with fellow Finnish player Zhugeliang. What's the story behind that?

There isn't too much story behind the picture. My parents organized the graduation party and shared the invites, there were some people from Finnish esports and StarCraft scene. Zhugeliang actually wanted to take this picture and later pressured me to tweet it, as I don't tweet enough. But yeah I had the party on Saturday, so basically two parties for that day.

Is the Finnish scene generally close knit like that? I remember stuff like Elfi and the ENCE guys going for a swim in freezing water, things of that sort.

Yeah I think Finnish StarCraft scene is great, everyone knows each other and most of the people are in good relationships with other people. I guess that's what happens when you have a small scene. I have no clue what Elfi has done, but I wouldn't be too surprised.

What do you plan to do now that you've graduated? Will it effect your approach to StarCraft/progaming? Besides, giving you the time to potentially go to Korea, anyway.

My plan is to play full-time for the next year, which I have been basically doing since March when I finished my last exam. I haven’t really changed my approach too much, I still mainly just practice, but more. Being able to focus only on one thing instead of two has been extremely helpful.

Anything you want to take some time off to do, besides practicing at StarCraft? I dunno if graduation trips are common in Finland. Maybe after Valencia...

Well after the weather gets warmer, I’ll probably be going to summer cottage and play some golf. Outside that, I won’t be doing too much besides StarCraft. I travel enough, so no graduation trips for me.

Ever consider lining up a StarCraft trip and a golf trip? The USA has many fine courses.

Probably too fine for me :D. Well, I guess the problem is with transporting the equipment and playing alone is no fun.

Which way does that interaction work? Golf helps you relieve the stress of StarCraft, or StarCraft helps relieve the stress of golf? At least from the people I've seen, golf never seemed like the most 'leisurely' game.

Honestly, I never get too much stress from StarCraft during just a normal practice week. I guess golf works as a well-earned break kind of thing. I find one day or couple day breaks very effective to keep yourself motivated. And golf actually is extremely leisurely game if you play it that way.

Alright, it's time for our famous pirate question. Your loved ones have been kidnapped by pirates, and you can only recruit a squad of three StarCraft II players to go rescue them. Who do you pick, and why?

First of all you need strength, so Harstem and ShoWTimE as swordsmen. Then I would hire Nerchio as an archer and tactician due to his intelligence.

Any shoutouts, comments, or thing you wanna say to end?

Shoutouts to my fans and ENCE eSports for all the support I have gained.


If you're watching a major EU tournament, then there's a good chance you'll see Serral and ShoWTimE meet at the crossroads. For now, Serral has taken the upper hand, winning a 3-0 sweep in the Challenger tournament for WCS Jönköping.



You can follow Serral on Twitter at @ENCE_Serral, and you can find his competitive statistics on Aligulac.com.


You can read more interviews with the WCS Challengers who will compete at WCS Jönköping during June 17-19!
  • Seither
  • iaguz
  • Namshar
  • JonSnow
  • Winter
  • Semper
  • Serral
More interviews are coming soon™
Facebook Twitter Reddit
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Azhrak
Profile Joined January 2011
Finland1195 Posts
June 06 2017 19:00 GMT
#2
Thanks for the interview!
starcraft2.fi
Gurbak
Profile Joined January 2017
France622 Posts
June 06 2017 19:08 GMT
#3
great interviews
D-light
Profile Joined April 2012
Finland7364 Posts
June 06 2017 19:10 GMT
#4
Nice. Possibly going to Korea seems interesting.
why even
rotta
Profile Joined December 2011
5586 Posts
June 06 2017 19:24 GMT
#5
Good stuff!

Code Serral inc
don't wall off against random
Nerchio
Profile Joined October 2009
Poland2633 Posts
June 06 2017 19:55 GMT
#6
Lol the pirate question, I can be a tactician no problem and pirates don't stand a chance.
Progamer"I am the best" - Nerchio , 2017.
ArtyK
Profile Joined June 2011
France3143 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-06-06 20:01:17
June 06 2017 19:59 GMT
#7
On June 07 2017 04:55 Nerchio wrote:
Lol the pirate question, I can be a tactician no problem and pirates don't stand a chance.


+directing 2 protosses as meat shields must be great


Needed an interview with Serral thx!
He's been dominating WCS just like neeb NA last year. If he can fix his offline issues he'll be a monster
Sup dood ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ KiWiKaKi | SLush | uThermal | PtitDrogo | SortOf | Clem ~ "I told my mom she should vote for me in Nation Wars, she said 'I dunno, I kinda want Finland to win'" – Luolis ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_NScWV9h8k#t=1h01m
TL+ Member
stardog
Profile Joined August 2011
556 Posts
June 06 2017 20:13 GMT
#8
On June 07 2017 04:55 Nerchio wrote:
Lol the pirate question, I can be a tactician no problem and pirates don't stand a chance.

But how is your archery?
Nerchio
Profile Joined October 2009
Poland2633 Posts
June 06 2017 20:19 GMT
#9
On June 07 2017 05:13 stardog wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 07 2017 04:55 Nerchio wrote:
Lol the pirate question, I can be a tactician no problem and pirates don't stand a chance.

But how is your archery?

I can definitely shoot an arrow to the knee
Progamer"I am the best" - Nerchio , 2017.
Marialauraaaa
Profile Joined February 2016
4 Posts
June 07 2017 11:41 GMT
#10
Nerchio is the new Hawkeye :D
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 10h 13m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 308
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 26562
Sea 14155
Backho 204
Mind 61
Sacsri 43
Noble 24
Bale 16
Shine 16
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm101
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K1525
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King87
Other Games
summit1g10090
hungrybox376
Trikslyr25
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2897
BasetradeTV23
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH334
• Light_VIP 66
• practicex 44
• OhrlRock 3
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• sooper7s
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 1
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Lourlo1378
• Stunt421
Upcoming Events
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
10h 13m
Replay Cast
18h 13m
The PondCast
1d 4h
OSC
1d 7h
WardiTV European League
1d 10h
Replay Cast
1d 18h
Epic.LAN
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
Epic.LAN
3 days
CSO Contender
3 days
[ Show More ]
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
3 days
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
Online Event
4 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
4 days
Bonyth vs Zhanhun
Dewalt vs Mihu
Hawk vs Sziky
Sziky vs QiaoGege
Mihu vs Hawk
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs Bonyth
Esports World Cup
6 days
ByuN vs Astrea
Lambo vs HeRoMaRinE
Clem vs TBD
Solar vs Zoun
SHIN vs Reynor
Maru vs TriGGeR
herO vs Lancer
Cure vs ShoWTimE
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
Championship of Russia 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters

Upcoming

CSL Xiamen Invitational
CSL Xiamen Invitational: ShowMatche
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
K-Championship
RSL Revival: Season 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
Underdog Cup #2
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.