• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:30
CEST 07:30
KST 14:30
  • 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
Power Rank - Esports World Cup 202552RSL Season 1 - Final Week9[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall15HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16
Community News
BSL Team Wars - Bonyth, Dewalt, Hawk & Sziky teams9Weekly Cups (July 14-20): Final Check-up0Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed19Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll8Team TLMC #5 - Submission re-extension4
StarCraft 2
General
The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Power Rank - Esports World Cup 2025 RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread Jim claims he and Firefly were involved in match-fixing RSL Season 1 - Final Week
Tourneys
Esports World Cup 2025 Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation #239 Bad Weather Mutation # 483 Kill Bot Wars Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava
Brood War
General
BSL Team Wars - Bonyth, Dewalt, Hawk & Sziky teams BW General Discussion [Update] ShieldBattery: 2025 Redesign BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Ginuda's JaeDong Interview Series
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues CSL Xiamen International Invitational [CSLPRO] It's CSLAN Season! - Last Chance [BSL 2v2] ProLeague Season 3 - Friday 21:00 CET
Strategy
Does 1 second matter in StarCraft? [G] Mineral Boosting Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread [MMORPG] Tree of Savior (Successor of Ragnarok) Path of Exile CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project
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 Post Pic of your Favorite Food! Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[\m/] Heavy Metal Thread Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Korean Music Discussion
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2025 Football Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Installation of Windows 10 suck at "just a moment" Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Ping To Win? Pings And Their…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Socialism Anyone?
GreenHorizons
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 663 users

soO wins IEM Katowice 2019

Forum Index > SC2 General
197 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 Next All
TL.net ESPORTS
Profile Joined July 2011
4 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-03-04 07:45:50
March 03 2019 15:23 GMT
#1
[image loading]

IEM Katowice 2019

One of the longest running curses in StarCraft II was broken in Poland as (Wiki)soO cast off his silver shackles to claim the IEM Katowice championship. soO appeared to be headed to another devastating loss after (Wiki)Stats went up 2-0 in the grand finals, but the ex-Kong rallied back to win four consecutive maps. soO was unable to hold back tears after winning the IEM trophy which gave him the 'major' title that had eluded him for so long.

Stats had looked imperious throughout the tournament, arriving in the finals with a 10-0 match record. soO seemed like he would be an easy eleventh victim, with his Zerg forces breaking helplessly against the 'Shield of Aiur' in the first two games. However, the swarming Zerg style that had seen soO reach ten previous finals began to work in in game three, and the normally steadfast Stats was suddenly overwhelmed by waves of Hydras, Roaches, and Banelings. Down 2-3, Stats pulled out a tricky 2-base all-in to try and even the score, but soO was able to snuff out the attack to end the series 4-2 and win the $150,000 1st place prize.

soO's runner-up curse and 'kong' reputation had been one of the longest running narratives in StarCraft II, with his first finals loss coming in 2013 at the hands of Dear. Four more 2nd place finishes would follow before he finally won KeSPA Cup II in 2015, and then four more losses after that. Fan mythology proved to be a stronger force than historical fact, as the StarCraft community collectively denied the KeSPA Cup victory 'major' status. It was a position that even soO himself bought into as he continued his search for a championship that no one could dispute. That search would take him all the way to BlizzCon 2017 where he suffered his worst heartbreak yet, losing to Rogue on StarCraft II's grandest stage.

A poor 2018 campaign suggested that the BlizzCon loss may have finally broken the unbreakable player, but early signs were positive for soO in 2019. He looked strong in the early rounds of GSL and online competition—but he was still overshadowed by names such as Serral and Maru, heading into IEM Katowice. Any hopes of a title run seemed to die in the group stage where he finished 2-3, but an unlikely four-way tie saw soO squeeze into the playoff bracket.

Though soO entered the playoffs with the worst record among the participants, he took his play to another level after receiving the unexpected second chance. (Wiki)soO's 3-0 sweep against the mercurial Zest was not surprising, but his bloody 3-2 victory over reigning Global Champion (Wiki)Serral instantly restored soO's championship contender status. (Wiki)herO—an underdog punching above his weight—was summarily dispatched in the semis, setting up soO's meeting with Stats in the finals.



With the victory, soO has not only secured $150,000, but a spot at the 2019 WCS Global Finals. A BlizzCon championship won't be necessary to secure soO's place as one of SC2's all-time legends. Yet, it will be intriguing to see if soO can change his reputation from that as StarCraft II's biggest loser to one of its greatest winners.

You can catch up on the games at IEM's official Youtube channel.
Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
Shuffleblade
Profile Joined February 2012
Sweden1903 Posts
March 03 2019 15:28 GMT
#2
As the ultimate Maru fanboy and terran supporter I have to say I wouldn't have wanted this tournament to end any other way then it did (some more TvZ would have been great though). So happy for soO, he played well!
Maru, Bomber, TY, Dear, Classic, DeParture and Rogue!
Philozovic
Profile Joined August 2012
France1677 Posts
March 03 2019 15:31 GMT
#3
Resilience incarnated
INnoVation is the absolute best | I wept for i knew his words to be true
Doko
Profile Joined May 2010
Argentina1737 Posts
March 03 2019 15:34 GMT
#4
Must watch:

Jihadi_Chant
Profile Joined February 2018
19 Posts
March 03 2019 15:34 GMT
#5
He slayed a serral and he won IEM. Good job.
Kashim
Profile Joined December 2013
Poland1206 Posts
March 03 2019 15:36 GMT
#6
congrats soO!!
SC2 LP Staff, Aligulac Editor, Tournament Organiser and Admin @KashimSC2
HsDLTitich
Profile Blog Joined October 2012
Italy830 Posts
March 03 2019 15:43 GMT
#7
Well deserved
I used to organize tournaments for ESL Italy and referee Go4SC2s, WCSs, and IEMs for ESL SC2.
fishjie
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1519 Posts
March 03 2019 15:44 GMT
#8
what a fucking inspirational man. ive been watching this man play sc2 for over half a decade, and watched his soul crushing 2017 loss to evil rogue at blizzcon. i thought he was really done after that defeat, as he basically dropped off the face of the earth in 2018 and had basically no results to speak of, and didn't even qualify for blizzcon. i thought it was over for him and he would seek retirement. even then though, i still considered him a champion in my eyes, because he always pushed forward despite all the second place finishes and strove to do his best, which takes a strong will, grit and determination.

to me, this win is more amazing than maru triple GSL first place finishes, and serrals 2018 dominance and becoming first foreigner to win blizzcon and best player in the world
Snarosc
Profile Joined January 2016
France66 Posts
March 03 2019 15:44 GMT
#9
Can we take a moment to appreciate our new Kong Stats, be it in all kinds of tournaments :

2018 GSL S1 : 2nd place
Blizzcon 2018 : 2nd place
GSL vs the World 2018 : 2nd place
IEM Katowice 2019 : 2nd place

Very emotional and well-deserved win for soO, even Smix was barely able to hold out her tears during the interview.
Stats is the best player of LotV.
Z3nith
Profile Joined October 2017
485 Posts
March 03 2019 15:48 GMT
#10
On March 04 2019 00:44 Snarosc wrote:
Can we take a moment to appreciate our new Kong Stats, be it in all kinds of tournaments :

2018 GSL S1 : 2nd place
Blizzcon 2018 : 2nd place
GSL vs the World 2018 : 2nd place
IEM Katowice 2019 : 2nd place

Very emotional and well-deserved win for soO, even Smix was barely able to hold out her tears during the interview.


Also won GSL Super Tournament in the time frame mentioned. The agenda to push for Stats as this new Kong seems a bit artificial. The guys won four premier tournaments.
ArtyK
Profile Joined June 2011
France3143 Posts
March 03 2019 15:49 GMT
#11
Legend! Congratulations!
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
sneakyfox
Profile Joined January 2017
8216 Posts
March 03 2019 15:51 GMT
#12
In its darkest hour, Korea called upon a champion to step forth and regenerate the glory. All eyes looked to Maru but the Terran did not face up to the task and Korea was left without hope. But from the shadows came the perennial Kong, victim of so many taunts, written off as he who could never take the greatest price. He brought Serral to the brink and pushed him over it using only Honorable Korean Non-Hive ZvZ and showed its superiority in the face of modern European styles. But his biggest task was yet awaiting him in the grand finals, where he conquered the biggest foe of all: the shadow of his own inferiority. As he stood speechless on the podium, overwhelmed with the realization of his most profound desire, a thousand nerds shed tears of joy as soO finally lifted the trophy.

Surely the streets of Korea will be filled with celebration as its champion returns in glory. Many people are already expecting the reunification of the country in a swelling of pride over soO's achievement. And the return of proleague.
"I saw what sneakyfox wrote on TL.net and it made me furious" - PartinG
RaFox17
Profile Joined May 2013
Finland4581 Posts
March 03 2019 15:55 GMT
#13
So happy for SoO!
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
March 03 2019 15:57 GMT
#14
An extraordinary feat, the first ever time I watch Korean Starcraft was his second GSL defeat vs Zest, I have watch every single one of his premier final ever since and frankly lost hope before him.

Today was the first of his final that I didn't get to watch live, still only reading TL thread got me crying.
Can't wait to watch it when I come home.
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
nostrasbeefs
Profile Joined May 2017
29 Posts
March 03 2019 16:09 GMT
#15
well deserved zerg god.. i was in tears
Geo.Rion
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
7377 Posts
March 03 2019 16:18 GMT
#16
Let s just remember he started his group 0-3, and the only way to qualify for him was to 2-0 the remaining 2 series and pray for tiebreaker
"Protoss is a joke" Liquid`Jinro Okt.1. 2011
tagliatelle
Profile Joined August 2018
Canada69 Posts
March 03 2019 16:19 GMT
#17
This is best news to wake up to! Never really thought soO would do it but he did and I am so happy for him! I remember watching all his GSL finals losses in HotS all those years ago and feeling his pain as nothing seemed to go in his favour. Now, here we are, with soO winning a premier event!!
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
March 03 2019 16:20 GMT
#18
Finally! And incredibly well deserved.
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33371 Posts
March 03 2019 16:22 GMT
#19
what a way to break the curse
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Need
Profile Joined March 2019
566 Posts
March 03 2019 16:26 GMT
#20
The final games were not the most amazing games, but beating the world champion in a few insane ZvZs really showcased how good he is at this game. Well done soO, great fighting spirit, great mechanics, great discipline, great heart and dedication!
1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 5h 30m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Livibee 316
ProTech70
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 5442
Nal_rA 4741
Zeus 184
ToSsGirL 97
Noble 26
Bale 4
Britney 0
Dota 2
XaKoH 329
League of Legends
JimRising 721
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K551
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox658
Other Games
summit1g10053
shahzam868
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 75
Other Games
BasetradeTV29
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 66
• davetesta41
• Sammyuel 5
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2500
League of Legends
• Rush1360
• Stunt539
Upcoming Events
Esports World Cup
5h 30m
Serral vs Cure
Solar vs Classic
OSC
8h 30m
CranKy Ducklings
1d 4h
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
1d 8h
CSO Cup
1d 10h
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
1d 12h
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
FEL
2 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
2 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
2 days
Bonyth vs Zhanhun
Dewalt vs Mihu
Hawk vs Sziky
Sziky vs QiaoGege
Mihu vs Hawk
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs Bonyth
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
[ Show More ]
Online Event
4 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
5 days
The PondCast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Xiamen Invitational
Championship of Russia 2025
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
Esports World Cup 2025
CC Div. A S7
Underdog Cup #2
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25

Upcoming

CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
ASL Season 20: Qualifier #1
ASL Season 20: Qualifier #2
ASL Season 20
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
HCC Europe
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
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.