He was expected to meet Cho Maru Seong Ju, considered the world's second best player, in the finals, but Maru was beaten by Kim sOs Yoo Jin in the playoffs. The race is barely played in competitive tournaments. Copyright 2017-2022 Rookie Road Inc. All rights reserved. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Squatting on the high ground, the red Zerg squashed his opponents attack to claim Game One victory. By submitting your email, you agree to our, Protoss player SoS becomes the first two-time StarCraft 2 World Champion atBlizzCon, Sign up for the https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/02/16/lcs-news-keith-moved-to-starting-r https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/03/24/el-nexo-becomes-liquid-heroes-team, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/05/14/welcoming-halo-to-the-liquid-family, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/08/27/changes-to-liquid-halo, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/09/03/hiko-and-gbjames-joining-our-ranks, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/10/09/liquid-reincarnation, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/11/04/tl-heroes-sign-lowell. The game's next expansion, Legacy of the Void, comes out next week, complete with major changes to the multiplayer that should shake up the competitive scene. 2022 On Click Creative, LLC. Reynor led 3-2. In Game Six, he forced Reynor into a more conventional build with his solid mechanics.

MC quickly found success after being the first South Korean Brood War pro to announce the StarCraft II switch publicly. From the start, he became the youngest champion of a major South Korean StarCraft II league and the third-youngest player to have ever appeared in a televised StarCraft II match. Notably, this was the final StarCraft 2 tournament to use the Heart of the Swarm version of the game. The last time a non-Korean won was in 2000, when Brood War was the StarCraft du jour. There were literal seconds between the upgrades and build timings, with a mirror three base expansion and Zergling speed finishing almost simultaneously. Blizzard Watch uses minimal cookies to improve your experience and is in full compliance with the GDPR. Stats went on to sweep sOs in the semis. Press J to jump to the feed. Undeniably successful and skilled, his eight-year career spanning 2012-2020 is one of the best. After so much success in the game and the competitive scene, Mvp's inclusion on this list is more than justified. Zest is a Korean Protoss player and is a professional member of the Dragon Phoenix Gaming team. Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity.

Numerous pro players have carved their legacy into this game; this list will highlight the top six. There was a problem. Life was able to destroy SoS' expansion bases while his remained, taking a commanding lead that led to a swift victory thanks in part to a large air army of mutalisks. NY 10036. ASUS ROG (Stats)Edit: 3. This is like the 9th thread in the last two three months writes the exact same shit. Protoss player Neeb didnt just win the finals but did so convincingly, sweeping the first four games in a best of seven. He enjoys spending quality time with his family and plays golf with his dad and older brother (who used to play SC2 professionally as well). It sounds like Big Gabe agrees. Join esports fans worldwide at the premier news and analysis outlet for competitive gaming, streamer culture & top-tier esports including LoL, Dota 2, Valorant, CSGO, Smash, FGC, and everything in between. Life couldn't recover and conceded the game early. He began thinking more about competitive gaming with the release of Wings of Liberty and joined his first team in 2012, but didnt make a huge splash initially. https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/01/22/pubg-roster-update-jeemzz-sambty-a https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/02/03/thank-you-nuckledu, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/02/05/csgo-roster-update-liquidnaf, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/02/09/salem-joins-liquid, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/03/09/ice-to-meet-you-liquidfr0zen. var zergnet = document.createElement('script'); The Finnish Zerg player was heavy favourite coming in the WCS Global Finals at Blizzcon (opens in new tab), having gone undefeated during the tournament's opening week. Life attempted to rush with zerglings in game three as well, attacking the front and back of SoS' base simultaneously. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I feel that the problem with zerg is that at the highest level of play and control (that not even most of the pros can achieve) the two spellcasters (vipers and infestors) become too strong. By accepting you agree to our privacy policy. He finished 7th/8th during 2012 WCS Finland Nationals and received $200 in prize money. His success was repeated 2 years later by Reynor, an Italian Zerg player. Ino seems to be on to something hopefully maru can pull out some stops in GSL. A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon. As the only officially recognized two-time winner, sOs won his first WCS Global final in 2013, then became the only WCS Global repeat winner in 2015 when he beat major professional StarCraft II player Life in a thrilling 4-3 victory. Game one was curiously standard, with both players seemingly unwilling to make the first mistake. This rise in recognition and success is justified by his numerous notable achievements, including being the sole player to make it to the IEM Katowice Finals three times, winning the IEM Season IX World Championship, and having the most wins in the 2015 SK Telecom Proleague.

While known for being the "runner-up" in many major competitions, soO still did well for himself, notably winning Global StarCraft II League Season 3 and placing second in the 2017 WCS Global Finals.

Serral claimed the final victory, winning the series 4-3. })(); Blizzard Watch is a safe space for all readers. If so why, if not why not? Another low-variety and unorthodox army composition from Reynor in Game Five again caught Serral off guard. MC is a Korean Protoss Player and a member of ROOT Gaming, known for his skill in the game and a flair for dramatics; MC is one of the greatest players StarCraft II has ever seen. Has won the second-most Premier tournaments in StarCraft II's, Has won the second-most prize money of any StarCraft II player, Placed in the top 5 in career earnings all four years he played StartCraft II, Won the BlizzCon 2011 StarCraft II Invitational, Considered the top Terran player as early as 2012, The first player to earn $200,000 in prize money, The first Protoss champion of both the GSL and the OGN Starleague, Won the 2014 GSL in his first Code S appearance, Has won at least one Premier Tournament each year since 2014, The only player to have reached an IEM Katowice Finals three times. New patch has hit, we are waiting to see what will happen with the first major tourny (HSC, yea not so big, but guess what, all zergs except reynor and serral shit the bed on the new patch), and speaking for me at least, I'm tired of reading the same low effort shit over and over again. https://www.reddit.com/r/Str8/comments/6ggrhb/str8_rippin_acquires_rayne_from_te https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2017/07/13/liquid-goes-to-quakecon. That was Rogue, who Serral defeated in the Semi-finals. http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/08/12/a-new-challenger-approaching-liquid http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/09/28/all-good-things-must-come-to-an-end, http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2016/01/15/team-liquid-answers-the-call-of-duty, http://www.thescoreesports.com/smash/news/9842, https://dotesports.com/halo/news/liquid-apg-steps-down-replaced-by-assault-7007, https://dotesports.com/halo/news/team-liquid-announces-new-halo-roster-7055, https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/liquid-add-insanity-xxx-na-lcs-16185, https://estnn.com/fortnite-team-liquid-signs-stretch-to-fortnite-team/. http://www.liquiddota.com/forum/dota-2-general/465873-bulba-and-qojqva-released- http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/closed-threads/504035-liquid-parts-ways-with-hero. Like what has to happen? It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Throwing away a promising career in marketing and PR, he now specialises in MOBAs, covering League of Legends, Dota 2, and esports in general since 2019.

soO is a Korean StarCraft II pro who, while primarily playing as the Zerg, became one of the most well-known players in competitive play. znscr.parentNode.insertBefore(zergnet, znscr); What has to happen for the nerf to be "enough" ? Joona Serral Sotala has become the first non-Korean to win StarCraft 2 (opens in new tab)'s most prestigious tournament, the World Championship Series (WCS). https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/05/06/o-novo-captulo-de-zig-aposentadoria-e https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/05/18/birds-of-a-feather-welcome-erick-and- https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/05/21/get-ready-for-the-next-battle-liquid- https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/05/31/welcome-hsnamuringa-to-the-r6-roster. https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/11/16/unlegit-moves-in-to-liquid-halos-l https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/11/24/team-liquid-welcomes-2-new-heroes, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2016/01/02/a-s1mple-pickup. In 2018, Serral was already a star, but all of his previous successes paled in comparison to what he managed to pull off that year. https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/07/16/boeufmac-and-juicyj-join-clash-roy https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/08/29/vivid-or-notvivid-hes-definitely-l https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/09/24/liquidtaeja-the-prince-returns. At Blizzcon 2018, Joona Serral Sotala from Finland made history by defeating the South Korean player Kim Stats Dae Yeob 4-2 in the grand finals, becoming the first player to break the Korean dominance on the StarCraft II scene. The final tournament of 2017 worth noting was WESG qualifier in Spain where he climbed all the way to the finals and beat Nerchio, the Polish Zerg in a stunning 4-0 victory, claiming the largest prize in his career thus far. Please read the rules before submitting content. https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2016/12/09/liquid-2017-update-lourlo-matt-and https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2016/12/12/thank-you-fenix, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2017/01/02/introducing-liquidgh. https://www.facebook.com/notes/team-liquid-pro/liquid-csgo-update-6-june-2016/11 https://www.facebook.com/notes/team-liquid-pro/welcome-liquidcrunch/115382815466 https://www.facebook.com/notes/team-liquid/farewell-and-thank-you-to-kongen/2075 https://www.facebook.com/notes/team-liquid/farewell-to-our-heroes/1388008204617622, https://www.facebook.com/notes/team-liquid/hayz-to-step-down/1729423050476134/, https://www.facebook.com/notes/team-liquid/welcome-adrian/1466069280144847. This push was countered by Life in an incredible, surprising show of skill. Reacting to that speedy defeat in the first game, Life rushed out zerglings in game two. So how can good zerg players show to these idiots that they are good (not that they have to) ? Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. New York, And for the first time, the Italian players trademark confidence started to shine. https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/09/11/two-more-legends-welcome-kellar-and-w https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/09/13/the-end-of-an-era. It looked like the World Championship was slipping away from Serral. https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/03/15/welcome-surgical-goblin-azilys-and https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/04/06/welcome-taco, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/04/18/bienvenida-diegob, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/04/23/farewell-mickey, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/05/01/welcoming-insanity. At that time he didnt use to play the game competitively.

http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/20117374/liquid-signs-son-mickey-young-mi http://www.liquiddota.com/forum/dota-2-general/453545-introducing-liquiddota-2, http://www.liquiddota.com/forum/dota-2-general/463504-liquid-and-demon-part-ways, http://www.liquiddota.com/forum/dota-2-general/464050-wayto-moving-on. Between 2019 and 2021, Serral continued to impress by either winning tournaments or at least reaching the final games. That is a potential power that you develop to a level that feels imbalanced only if you're really really good at the game but I feel Terran and Protoss doesn't have this potential with their units (especially the spell casters) even if they're incredibly good. Life played Zerg and focused on harassing his opponent, while SoS went with a more defensive Protoss game. All Rights Reserved. He's now a full-time reporter covering health at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/06/13/welcome-nasticle-to-our-apex-legends- https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/06/20/welcome-w33. Serral has accumulated an astounding $1,143,488.55 from over 140 tournaments in his short career and has done so at only 23 years old.

With overwhelming aggression on his mind, Serral went with a super-fast Roach/Baneling rush Reynor. Because this was an all-in, Reynors hold spelled defeat. In an interview, he mentioned he is not very good at golf, but likes the fact that it is an individual game, which makes it easier for him to improve. Which is a bit what they tried to do in the new patch but maybe not enough.

These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The dominance of Serral - Reynor and Dark this year has been impressive.

MC went on to win numerous accolades, such as being the second player to achieve the Triple Crown, becoming the first Protoss to have reached three GSL Code S Finals, and the first player to win two GSL Tournaments. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. At that point, Serral has achieved the goal no other westerner managed so far he became the first non-Korean World Champion. It has found immense success over the years in the competitive eSports scene. Hearthstone's October card back is definitely Not a Lie. Rookie Road may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/06/30/thank-you-mike-mikeyeung-transfers-to https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/07/03/nothing-odd-about-it-theoddorange-joi https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/07/04/adding-another-3-star-piece-welcome-s https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/08/13/introducing-our-newest-legend-mendoku https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/08/30/welcome-egor-and-surgts. Mvp is a retired Korean Terran StarCraft II player who earned more than $300,000 in prize money in the StarCraft II Wings of Liberty era. So I would try to maybe make some regular units stronger while reducing this spellcasters potential. From that moment, his appetite for success began to grow. This is my prediction for 2020.

2020 might be the first year with no Protoss winning any tournament.

In 2016, he won Assembly Winter 2016 without losing a single game during the group stage, quarter finals or semi finals, eventually defeating Namshar 4-2 in the ZvZ grand final. That year he also won Takes Penthouse Party, defeating HeRoMaRinE, the German Terran player, 4-1 in the finals. At the StarCraft 2 World Championship Series Global Finals today, two long-time StarCraft 2 players Life and SoS faced off for the prestigious top spot in Blizzard's biggest esport. This is not about statistics obviously, as poster has manipulated data (in the now edited post), and added some "clarifications" how zerg wins more than other races at the end. https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/07/04/shifting-into-high-gear-tl-enters-roc https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/08/01/thank-you-nitr0, https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/08/04/welcome-grim-to-tlgo, https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/08/07/liquid-valorant, https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/08/13/free-fire-roster-update, https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2021/02/17/our-new-approach-to-clash-royale, https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2022/01/09/team-liquid-br-enters-valorant, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/lcs/doublelift.html, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/lcs/impact.html, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/lcs/olleh.html, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/lcs/rosterupdate.html. And even though Reynor could hold initially, the pure aggression allowed the Finn to go up 2-0. Oh man, Protoss isnt wining jack shit next year lol. StarCraft II is a real-time strategy game developed by Blizzard Entertainment, released in 2010. https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/11/20/from-doublelift-to-double-js-corej https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/11/20/good-enough-by-liquidjensen, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/11/27/viper-graduates-from-tla-to-flyquest, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/12/12/now-entering-call-of-duty-blackout. Is that kind of drastic change of the game what is expected by these noobs making these threads? He was an aggressive player, and at first, soO originally started playing StarCraft Brood, but it wasn't until StarCraft II that he hit his stride. He cemented his dominance by beating Protoss player Kim Stats Dae Yeob 4-2 in the final yesterday. The two faced off in a best-of-seven series, with SoS taking an eventual, hard-fought victory.

Serral became interested in StarCraft about two years before the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. This is Neebs first major tournament win. This series would go the distance. https://www.twitch.tv/heromarine/clip/NiceAwkwardKeyboardSpicyBoy?tt_medium=redt.

Not just underpowered, but completely unpowered lul, Prepare for another year of ZvZ finals because "Zerg is not OP, those players are just better". In a second attack, Life took out SoS' nexus, but the former was forced back, normalizing the game somewhat. "https:" : "http:") + '//www.zergnet.com/zerg.js?id=86352'; This didn't win the game, but it did leave SoS' starter base devastated and Life with a huge advantage.

You will receive a verification email shortly. Serral joins an exclusive club with his victoryOnly one other SC2 player has ever won the World Championship at IEM Katowice and Blizzcon. Serral and Reynor have to lose for the patch to be good? First, in the semifinals at IEM Katowice, he was losing 0-2 against Trap and was just one game away from dropping out, but managed to get back on his feet and win the series 3-2. Some of the most iconic wins in Life's career include a WCS Global Finals win in 2014, the 2012 GSL Blizzard Cup, and placing second globally in the WCS in 2015. Definitely the most intense match so far, SoS scored his third victory in the end. Ultimately though, Serral would advance in dominant fashion, and go on to face Reynor. When not glued to tournaments taking place on the other side of the globe, he spends time nurturing an unhealthy addiction to MMOs and gacha games. Maru has been the only Terran player to win two GSLs successively, the first player to win three and four GSLs in a row, and the first player ever to break the 3000 point mark on Aligulac. However, SoS played a more defensive game this time around, blocking that early attack before Life could make progress and swinging the momentum in his favor. newsletter, BlizzCon 2015: The latest on StarCraft 2, Hearthstone, the Warcraft movie and more, World of Warcraft team responds to shrinking subscriber numbers, Protoss player SoS becomes the first two-time StarCraft 2 World Champion at BlizzCon, Swedish player Ostkaka wins the 2015 Hearthstone World Championship at BlizzCon, Harvey Keitels returning to the National Treasure franchise, Gotham Knights Batgirl trailer shows Barbara Gordon stepping in to fill the Batman void, Feast your eyes on the first teaser for Teen Wolf: The Movie, Sarah Michelle Gellar trades vampires for werewolves, joins the Teen Wolf universe, Stray: List of Trophies and hidden Trophy descriptions. https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2018/12/21/liquid-update-zews-taco-traded-for https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2019/01/08/introducing-tl-academy-2019, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2019/02/09/thank-you-heroes-of-the-storm, https://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2019/02/27/parting-ways-with-salem. He won a total of 7 major tournaments that year, with the iconic victory at 2018 WCS Global Finals, where he beat the South Korean Protoss player Stats 4:2 and earned $280,000. His decision to go into Corrupters and Roaches was crushed by Reynors Muta/Ling combo. The match progressed into a deadlock in the middle of the match, with two even armies going back and forth. Michael is a UK-based content creator who caught the esports bug in 2010, but took eight years to figure out he should write about it.

The Finnish Zerg player, Serral, has the most career earnings of any StarCraft II player. The victory marks the first time the Finnish player has won at Katowice, becoming World Champion for just the second time in his incredible career. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street,

https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/09/24/special-tactics-alanzq-and-darkhydra- https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/10/02/team-liquid-returns-to-dota-2-welcome https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/10/22/welcome-ohnocturnal-to-our-apex-legen https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/01/18/welcome-kaymind-to-team-liquid-press- https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/01/22/meet-the-maestro-mitr0-joins-team-liq https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/01/23/locked-and-loaded-team-liquid-enters- https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/01/30/a-deadly-duo-purple-and-bunnyhoppor-j https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/02/21/welcome-clem-and-harstem-to-team-liquid.

https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/03/06/champion-squad-liquid-moves-to-apex-l https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/04/13/good-things-always-come-in-three, https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/04/25/oh-my-gosh-its-geesh, https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2019/04/27/welcome-to-auto-chess-hyped-and-tabzz. He was able to reach the quarterfinals where he hit a brick wall in the form of Dark, a South Korean Zerg player who defeated him 3-0. https://www.liquidhearth.com/forum/hearthstone/495876-who-let-the-dog-out-introd https://www.liquidlegends.net/forum/lol-general/474673-breaking-the-curse-liquid https://www.liquidlegends.net/forum/lol-general/475611-team-liquid-welcomes-lol- https://www.liquidlegends.net/forum/lol-general/488403-tsm-acquires-keith.