Sheer Force of Will

Some players are naturally gifted. Of these, some are mechanical monsters who transform their superior physical ability into victory; to others the complex strategy of StarCraft II comes very easily, as if the fog of war was but a transparent curtain to them. Snute is neither. In fact, if you were to ask Snute about his talents, he would argue that he has none at all. And yet here he stands among the top eight players in the international scene, five years after his first big tournament performance at Dreamhack Winter 2012 where he reached the quarterfinals, even winning a group stage series against Stephano, the best foreigner in StarCraft II at the time.




It is easy to forget at times that Snute was originally a very aggressive player. He excelled at aggressive roach strategies and was not scared to all-in whoever he met. He became a brood lord/infestor player, as did every other Zerg, and when that playstyle faded, a muta/ling/baneling player—only to again reinvent himself as a highly effective swarm host player in every match-up. If the first you had seen of Snute was in 2017, you would have never guessed all the different versions of Snute that came before. That evolution down the years hints at an important strength Snute does possess, even if he himself might never admit it. Snute, perhaps more than any other player in the international scene, excels at forcing himself to do the right thing—the winning thing.

This is by no means true for all players, and it is a very underrated ability to possess. Players very often let their personality flow into the game in ways that affect their style of play. Just as GuMiho or sOs inexorably sway towards unorthodox strategies, or Life was drawn to cheese in important matches, Snute's personality affects the way he plays. But it does so in the exact opposite way it did for the above players. Snute does not allow himself to succumb to his own tendencies. He would much rather change them altogether. Every evolution of Snute is based on modern and constantly updated knowledge of StarCraft II. That is why, when Snute deemed roach all-ins to be the most effective way of playing, he did not hesitate to employ them regularly. There is careful and intelligent thought behind Snute's different identities as a player, and they're all glued together by iron discipline and sheer force of will.

The greatest testament to this ability is that, despite changing his playstyle so many times, Snute has remained among the very best international players at all times. Time and time again, when all other foreigners fell, it was Snute battling on in close series against would-be-champions, taking them to their limits—and, unfortunately, falling just short in most cases.




The key to Snute maintaining that high level consistently is work, work and even more work. Even early on in his career that is what Snute was most known for. That dedication and commitment have earned him support and respect in the community—and not only among us spectators.



How does Snute keep pushing himself beyond his own limits? In an interview with Fragster (that unfortunately is no longer available), he explained that it is a conscious decision to keep improving.



To Snute, it seems, improving at StarCraft II is directly tied to his happiness as a person. To do this, he is willing to put aside any other interests he has and focus solely on the game that is now his job. That kind of mindset has proven successful, but it comes at a cost. Shutting out all things that distract from practice has yielded immense benefits—Snute is the highest earning foreigner in StarCraft II's history—but it also results in every single loss hitting Snute even harder. The more you focus on perfecting one thing—while sacrificing all others— the rougher the realization becomes that perfection can never be achieved by any human being. With it often comes a form of self-reflection seems depreciating to many. Snute has been quite open about how he sees himself and his abilities.



But despite taking losses as emotionally as he does, Snute has picked himself up and continued on every single time, always with the same goals in mind. Whether he wins or loses, he always learns from his mistakes and tries his utmost to fix them. The best way to describe Snute, then, is a player and human being fueled almost entirely by his will to succeed, and the ability to force himself to do whatever is necessary to reach his goals. And if that means dropping everything he knows in favor of something new and better then so be it.

That is the most important ability Snute has, one that perhaps he himself underestimates. Snute the roach all-inner, the brood lord/infestor abuser, the muta/ling/bane macro player, the swarmhost maniac and the Snute of today are one and the same person: Jens Aasgaard, always striving for perfection.