I don't follow the European scene much back then, but somehow watched the games Serral vs Naniwa at that time. After the game, I thought Serral's control reminded me of Life, and thought he could be the best zerg one day.
This is great for me cause I was just asking about him in another thread.
For me it was a very big shock to come back to the game and see that a foreigner had won the WCS. That was unheard of. So I was pretty skeptical. WCS has always favored foreigners (except that one time when Koreans could play in NA and EU), so I thought maybe it was a fluke or a balance patch or something. Just today I was asking some questions and researched a little more and it seems it definitely isn't a fluke, which is really impressive. Obviously there is a lot of other factors like the whole Korean scene imploding, but still very strong players still remain and they respect him.
I was surprised to read in this interview about his "emotional" response to BlizzCon 2018 because the VOD of the final was one of the first pieces of exposure I had of him after coming back, and found his lack of reaction shocking. Like you won the biggest tournament for sc2 and you just stand there and no reaction? made me if he had some sort of condition, but it doesn't seem to be the case. + Show Spoiler +
In any case, I've gone from shock and total disbelief into intrigue. I wonder if we will see more foreigners start to dominate. And I wonder if this will be a phenomena exclusive of sc2, or if this will happens to other games, as esports become more accepted on this side of the globe. It seems like a natural progression, but maybe it came sooner than expected
.
Lack of reaction? He was crying tears of joy dude. If this is not emotional then I don't know what is. Just look at this picture: + Show Spoiler +
I think the only other more emotional moment in SC2 history was soO winning IEM Katowice. That's when I shed a tear too :D
duckdeok winning WCS EU was very emotional too. Before, he was just a faceless korean for me, but after that i really cared for him. When I think about it, maybe that´s my problem though XD
This is great for me cause I was just asking about him in another thread.
For me it was a very big shock to come back to the game and see that a foreigner had won the WCS. That was unheard of. So I was pretty skeptical. WCS has always favored foreigners (except that one time when Koreans could play in NA and EU), so I thought maybe it was a fluke or a balance patch or something. Just today I was asking some questions and researched a little more and it seems it definitely isn't a fluke, which is really impressive. Obviously there is a lot of other factors like the whole Korean scene imploding, but still very strong players still remain and they respect him.
I was surprised to read in this interview about his "emotional" response to BlizzCon 2018 because the VOD of the final was one of the first pieces of exposure I had of him after coming back, and found his lack of reaction shocking. Like you won the biggest tournament for sc2 and you just stand there and no reaction? made me if he had some sort of condition, but it doesn't seem to be the case. + Show Spoiler +
In any case, I've gone from shock and total disbelief into intrigue. I wonder if we will see more foreigners start to dominate. And I wonder if this will be a phenomena exclusive of sc2, or if this will happens to other games, as esports become more accepted on this side of the globe. It seems like a natural progression, but maybe it came sooner than expected
.
Lack of reaction? He was crying tears of joy dude. If this is not emotional then I don't know what is. Just look at this picture: + Show Spoiler +
I think the only other more emotional moment in SC2 history was soO winning IEM Katowice. That's when I shed a tear too :D
duckdeok winning WCS EU was very emotional too. Before, he was just a faceless korean for me, but after that i really cared for him. When I think about it, maybe that´s my problem though XD
Also ForGG ECH!! moment. And I guess Grubby, but was after a loss. And this Golden win, was pretty scary to watch at the time. www.youtube.com
I remember watching Welmu stream back in 2013 and him praising young Serral. That was the first time I’ve ever heard of him. Few months later he took a game off 8th team Baby who is TY now. Didn’t think he was gonna be that good until 2016 when he had the highest MMR ever on Europe. Now it’s looking like he will be the GOAT of Starcraft.
Good interview again. TL's interviews feel so relaxed and chill while getting some amazing commentary on things from players. Maybe it is that they are a forum thread and not an article on those so-called esports news sites.
Hopefully, we get some more 10 years of SC2 interviews. Maybe some older players like TLO, ShoWTimE, or INnoVation, that were bigger names on earlier years and are still playing.
This is great for me cause I was just asking about him in another thread.
For me it was a very big shock to come back to the game and see that a foreigner had won the WCS. That was unheard of. So I was pretty skeptical. WCS has always favored foreigners (except that one time when Koreans could play in NA and EU), so I thought maybe it was a fluke or a balance patch or something. Just today I was asking some questions and researched a little more and it seems it definitely isn't a fluke, which is really impressive. Obviously there is a lot of other factors like the whole Korean scene imploding, but still very strong players still remain and they respect him.
I was surprised to read in this interview about his "emotional" response to BlizzCon 2018 because the VOD of the final was one of the first pieces of exposure I had of him after coming back, and found his lack of reaction shocking. Like you won the biggest tournament for sc2 and you just stand there and no reaction? made me if he had some sort of condition, but it doesn't seem to be the case. + Show Spoiler +
In any case, I've gone from shock and total disbelief into intrigue. I wonder if we will see more foreigners start to dominate. And I wonder if this will be a phenomena exclusive of sc2, or if this will happens to other games, as esports become more accepted on this side of the globe. It seems like a natural progression, but maybe it came sooner than expected
.
Lack of reaction? He was crying tears of joy dude. If this is not emotional then I don't know what is. Just look at this picture: + Show Spoiler +
I think the only other more emotional moment in SC2 history was soO winning IEM Katowice. That's when I shed a tear too :D
duckdeok winning WCS EU was very emotional too. Before, he was just a faceless korean for me, but after that i really cared for him. When I think about it, maybe that´s my problem though XD
Also ForGG ECH!! moment. And I guess Grubby, but was after a loss. And this Golden win, was pretty scary to watch at the time. www.youtube.com
Lol at the interviewer not knowing what a selfie is. Really great stuff in general though. Its crazy how Serral's voice comes through so easily while reading it.
This is great for me cause I was just asking about him in another thread.
For me it was a very big shock to come back to the game and see that a foreigner had won the WCS. That was unheard of. So I was pretty skeptical. WCS has always favored foreigners (except that one time when Koreans could play in NA and EU), so I thought maybe it was a fluke or a balance patch or something. Just today I was asking some questions and researched a little more and it seems it definitely isn't a fluke, which is really impressive. Obviously there is a lot of other factors like the whole Korean scene imploding, but still very strong players still remain and they respect him.
I was surprised to read in this interview about his "emotional" response to BlizzCon 2018 because the VOD of the final was one of the first pieces of exposure I had of him after coming back, and found his lack of reaction shocking. Like you won the biggest tournament for sc2 and you just stand there and no reaction? made me if he had some sort of condition, but it doesn't seem to be the case. + Show Spoiler +
In any case, I've gone from shock and total disbelief into intrigue. I wonder if we will see more foreigners start to dominate. And I wonder if this will be a phenomena exclusive of sc2, or if this will happens to other games, as esports become more accepted on this side of the globe. It seems like a natural progression, but maybe it came sooner than expected
.
Lack of reaction? He was crying tears of joy dude. If this is not emotional then I don't know what is. Just look at this picture: + Show Spoiler +
I think the only other more emotional moment in SC2 history was soO winning IEM Katowice. That's when I shed a tear too :D
duckdeok winning WCS EU was very emotional too. Before, he was just a faceless korean for me, but after that i really cared for him. When I think about it, maybe that´s my problem though XD
Also ForGG ECH!! moment. And I guess Grubby, but was after a loss. And this Golden win, was pretty scary to watch at the time. www.youtube.com
Thanks for the awesome interview! If Serral were to play until he should finally go to the army, he could join the "sports division" meant for pro athletes where there is much more freedom. However, SC2 might be too demanding that even the sports division would get in the way too much to stay competitive.
@Azhrak You're right. The Finnish Defense Forces won't be Korean-level SC2 career killer, but it actually needs Serral-caliber guy to go through the system so that "Sports division" can get truly adapted to the reality. The detachment still lacks the true 'E' company.
Within some 5 years there will happen adequate rearrangements in the Sports Corps. Serral is the one who bring the E with him, as nobody can just count on the multitude of CS:GO players being able to do that.
Anyway, in theory if you can play hockey in the NHL while serving in the Finnish Army, there shouldn't be any unsurmountable obstacles to play in GSL when serving....
EPT![[image loading]](https://tl.net/staff/Olli/Serral_wins_blizzcon.jpg)
