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4 Posts
This is a transcription from the post-GSL vs. The World press conference with  Serral. This transcription has been edited for clarity.
Q: How do you feel about winning GSL vs. The World?
Serral: Obviously it feels great. I wasn’t really expecting to win but that was my goal. It feels great to win something a bit bigger than a normal tournament.
You’re the first foreigner to ever win a GSL tournament. How does it feel knowing that?
I would say that my year has been pretty good so far, so this is like a cherry on top of it. I’m very happy that I managed to pull it off. I’m also very thankful for everyone who supported me and helped me on my path.
How does this compare to winning your first premier tournament at WCS Leipzig?
Obviously it feels better, just knowing that the players are higher level, and knowing that I can beat higher level players. The higher level a tournament is, obviously the more happy I am to win. This is probably one of the higher level tournaments we can even have, so obviously it means more to me than WCS wins. But the first win in WCS and this are very even, I would say.
Some would have expected you to have swept at least one finals by this point, but the underdogs always seem to take at least a map off of you. What do you think is the reason?
To be honest, I think when I lose maps in finals, a lot of it comes down to it being best-of-seven, and I feel the urge to do some all-ins. Which is good, I think, but sometimes they don’t work and you can’t really do anything about it. I don’t really think I play worse in finals. It’s very hard to say, but I think it’s just that you add more build orders to your play—that might be the reason.
In the last game, Stats changed up the Archon-drop build he was using before and killed a bunch of Drones with Adepts. Did that trigger your decision to go all-in, or had you already decided on that?
The Dreamcatcher game was a bit indecisive. Actually, at the start, I was planning to do a sixty-nine drone hydra-ling-lurker with some roaches. But just before I lost the drones, I already knew at that point I was going to do the all-in. I just randomly switched up my plans—not sure exactly why. But yeah, losing the drones didn’t change it. I already planned to do it before.
What was the most difficult moment in your tournament run?
Throughout the whole tournament I would say that before the finals it was going pretty well for me—I didn’t really have any too-hard moments getting to the finals. I guess against Kelazhur, InnoVation and Dark, I think it went quite comfortably.
But the final games… I had some worries after being 0-2, because I felt Redshift was a good map, but I guess he knew a bit more about the map than I, so he got the lead there. Then I managed to take two maps back, then I lost once again, even though I was in a decent spot. There were a couple of moments when I was worried toward the end of the series, but mainly I tried to always keep pretty calm and not worry about too many things.
You were a team captain in the team match. Your team won it pretty easily—what was a key moment in the team battle?
I think all matches were more or less very important. But I would say that I managed to take down Maru was probably one of the more important matches, because otherwise we might have been 4-4 with Koreans only winning. But… [laughs]I don’t like to brag too much, but that might have been an important win.
People say you have to train in Korea to become the best in the world—not just in StarCraft but in other games such as League of Legends as well. How were you able to reach this level playing mostly in Europe, and what do you have to say to the European Terrans who complain about having no one to practice against?
I think you can get pretty good with European practice, especially against Zergs and Protoss players. With the practice I’m getting against them, I can beat anyone. We’re lacking a bit in Terran players—we have some, uThermal and souL—but not too many. So I have been mainly just theorycrafting and thinking about how to play the game, ‘what are the correct things to do?’ and watching the Korean games.
I haven’t had too much experience against Korean Terrans but I still kind of know what to do, even though I haven’t had that experience, so that’s enough.
Anything you want to say to the Finnish fans?
I would say what your sign said, but you know what that means so I’m not gonna say it. [Laughs. Probably.]
Kiitos, kiitos kaikille noille ketkä on tukenu mua näiden matkojen aikana, ja auttanu mua tänne ylös pääsemään.
Thanks to everyone for helping me, and to everyone who has helped me on my path to become this good.
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GG wp Serral!
Thanks for the transcription of the press conference!
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Australia18228 Posts
Serral improves by thinking about the game
Are we sure he isn't an AI?
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On August 06 2018 01:35 Inflicted wrote:
Serral improves by thinking about the game
Are we sure he isn't an AI?
We should try to Turing test him at least.
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According to Google Translate, the sign reads "Outdoor market".
What?
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I haven’t had too much experience against Korean Terrans but I still kind of know what to do, even though I haven’t had that experience, so that’s enough.
He kind of knows what to do. Bro you 3-0'd Innovation I feel like you got a good idea lol. This kid is absolutely nutty, what a player.
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On August 06 2018 02:02 Haighstrom wrote:
According to Google Translate, the sign reads "Outdoor market".
What?
Yes TORILLE = To outdoor market / to market square. This is hard to translate. It is just finnish thing, something that is popular in finland to say when finland is victorious, for example after finland wins ice hockey tournaments thousands of people gather in market square and go crazy.
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It was cool to read this from above:
"I think you can get pretty good with European practice, especially against Zergs and Protoss players. With the practice I’m getting against them, I can beat anyone. We’re lacking a bit in Terran players—we have some, uThermal and souL—but not too many. So I have been mainly just theorycrafting and thinking about how to play the game, ‘what are the correct things to do?’ and watching the Korean games."
What I wonder is how much impact it's had to have a big brother playing professional starcraft?
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On August 06 2018 02:11 435 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 06 2018 02:02 Haighstrom wrote:
According to Google Translate, the sign reads "Outdoor market".
What? Yes TORILLE = To outdoor market / to market square. This is hard to translate. It is just finnish thing, something that is popular in finland to say when finland is victorious, for example after finland wins ice hockey tournaments thousands of people gather in market square and go crazy.
Is it something like "We got you in a market sale?", meaning "ez u got pwnd"?
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On August 06 2018 03:04 quirinus wrote:Show nested quote +On August 06 2018 02:11 435 wrote:On August 06 2018 02:02 Haighstrom wrote:
According to Google Translate, the sign reads "Outdoor market".
What? Yes TORILLE = To outdoor market / to market square. This is hard to translate. It is just finnish thing, something that is popular in finland to say when finland is victorious, for example after finland wins ice hockey tournaments thousands of people gather in market square and go crazy. Is it something like "We got you in a market sale?", meaning "ez u got pwnd"?
No. It just means to celebrate. Meaning is to gather in market square, party, and celebrate victory 
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Thanks a lot for the interview.
As in chess, is this the era of really brainy 20-somethings from Scandinavia !?!
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What a time to be alive when the best SC2 player is not only foreigner, but finnish. GG!
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Thats insane. You just think? :D
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Wow, what a dominant year this has been for Serral
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Awesome tournamemt and Serral is an awesome player. Really astounding matches. Incredible plays vs all the matchups. I really hope he gets far at BlizzCon!!
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51416 Posts
The Dreamcatcher game was a bit indecisive. Actually, at the start, I was planning to do a sixty-nine drone hydra-ling-lurker with some roaches. But just before I lost the drones, I already knew at that point I was going to do the all-in. I just randomly switched up my plans—not sure exactly why. But yeah, losing the drones didn’t change it. I already planned to do it before.
Nice.
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On August 06 2018 04:23 TheBloodyDwarf wrote:
Thats insane. You just think? :D
Thinking is a good skill to have.
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Thanks for the interview. Serral is a beast. TORILLE & EZ4ENCE.
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Disappointed about the lack of promising to show more good games for his fans.
Great interview otherwise, props to the King in the North.
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On August 06 2018 01:35 Inflicted wrote:
Serral improves by thinking about the game
Are we sure he isn't an AI?
Considering he showed barely any emotion after winning it, it is possible.
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Really nice that they asked about his training regimen, i kinda thought he s smurfin on the Korean ladder cuz he found some good connection somehow, that s how he s so good...
But it s not the case? he s practicing on EU ladder and became the best ZvT player by THINKING about the friggin mu?
Holy hell, he s either not telling the truth or that s just flat out insane.
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smart man, smart player. he will always continue to evolve because his mind is in the right place.
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On August 06 2018 03:47 Grettin wrote:
What a time to be alive when the best SC2 player is not only foreigner, but finnish. GG!
Tell me, exactly how is Serral better than Maru now?
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He is pretty good imo, I don't think I could beat him
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On August 07 2018 03:11 KaiserCommander wrote:Show nested quote +On August 06 2018 03:47 Grettin wrote:
What a time to be alive when the best SC2 player is not only foreigner, but finnish. GG! Tell me, exactly how is Serral better than Maru now?
Aligulac.com: Maru is 3–3 (50.00%) in games and 1–2 (33.33%) in matches against Serral
So, technically, Serral is slightly ahead in h2h and thus better
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China6328 Posts
On August 07 2018 05:41 opisska wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2018 03:11 KaiserCommander wrote:On August 06 2018 03:47 Grettin wrote:
What a time to be alive when the best SC2 player is not only foreigner, but finnish. GG! Tell me, exactly how is Serral better than Maru now? Aligulac.com: Maru is 3–3 (50.00%) in games and 1–2 (33.33%) in matches against Serral So, technically, Serral is slightly ahead in h2h and thus better
Maru leads 3-1 in offline maps. The only 2-0 victory for Serral was from IEM Katowice EU qualifier where Maru played from 200+ms ping.
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On August 07 2018 03:11 KaiserCommander wrote:Show nested quote +On August 06 2018 03:47 Grettin wrote:
What a time to be alive when the best SC2 player is not only foreigner, but finnish. GG! Tell me, exactly how is Serral better than Maru now?
The fact he beat him and won the tournament they were both in is a pretty good indicator for people who have eyes and brains.
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On August 07 2018 15:32 Geo.Rion wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2018 03:11 KaiserCommander wrote:On August 06 2018 03:47 Grettin wrote:
What a time to be alive when the best SC2 player is not only foreigner, but finnish. GG! Tell me, exactly how is Serral better than Maru now? The fact he beat him and won the tournament they were both in is a pretty good indicator for people who have eyes and brains.
An invitational tournament, a BO1 (Serral started his final series losing 2-0 against Stats and he still won isn't it?), and Maru has 2 GSL CONSECUTIVE titles and a WESG (where Serral actually lost against him). Tell me again, how is Serral better?
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Should have asked him about his pov on possibly competing in code s, missed opportunity!
Serral's thoughts on eu practice vs korean one is interesting because so far it looks like only he could and possibly can achieve this level while mostly practicing in a weaker region.
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On August 08 2018 00:31 The_Red_Viper wrote:
Serral's thoughts on eu practice vs korean one is interesting because so far it looks like only he could and possibly can achieve this level while mostly practicing in a weaker region.
It's been done in the past just not consistantly. Taeja comes to mind, so does Snute.
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god tier player
some of the best zerg i have seen, bw include. did he play bw?
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no question, best foreigner in a long time. hope he stays in korea, there is pride on the line for the rest of the world
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In League of Legends also? When had Serral played LoL?
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France12770 Posts
On August 08 2018 00:31 The_Red_Viper wrote:
Should have asked him about his pov on possibly competing in code s, missed opportunity!
Serral's thoughts on eu practice vs korean one is interesting because so far it looks like only he could and possibly can achieve this level while mostly practicing in a weaker region.
The region is not that much weaker, the top is slightly worse but there are a higher number of decent players afaik.
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it appears serral's brain > kr ladder
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Like Viper said, bummed you didn't ask about a potential participation in the GSL. Or maybe he didn't want to answer? It's such a shame if this year turn out to be his prime and he didn't try GSL
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Insane finals.
And that intro.
Most importantly, it was really nice to finally have an International SC2 final where the casting wasn't blatantly over-hyped. I can't stand the yelling during most International WCS finals, but the casting for this tournament and finals was really enjoyable, similar to your usual GSL. Pure class.
Also super cool to see Maynard and Rotti on GSL!
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Very impressive run from Serral
Basically he won against the best Korean Zerg, Protoss and Terran in the world : Dark, Stats, INnovation and Maru ( best of 1 )
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Do you plan to keep practicing at home since it has clearly been effective, or will you travel to Korea to prepare for Blizzcon?
No plans to go to Korea this year anymore but possibly next year.
Do you have any ambitions on going to compete in the next GSL?
Not really. If I go to Korea for practice next year and GSL happens to be around the same time obviously I’ll participate, but wont be planning too much around GSL.
https://www.ence.gg/article/serral-is-the-gsl-vs-the-world-champion/
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Serral the humble but braggy god
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EPT
