Gaming
Esports
How Serral became an unlikely StarCraft 2 world champion
Serral became the first non-Korean StarCraft world champion, but his legacy consists of much more than that one achievement.
Joona ‘Serral’ Sotala is one of the most famous esports players in the world. As a StarCraft 2 world champion that is, of course, to be expected, but in 2018 he made headlines across the world as the first non-Korean player to win a StarCraft 2 World Championship.
The now-iconic moment took place at Blizzcon 2018, where Serral took down Korean player Kim ‘Stats’ Dae Yeob 4-2 in the grand finals. The win changed StarCraft history forever. No longer was this a game solely dominated by South Koreans; there was finally a player good enough to best them on the biggest stage, and it felt like a massive moment in the world of esports. Everyone knew Serral as the player who slayed the Korean giants, and he instantly became a household name in the esports world.
That celebrity is as alien to Serral as a Zerg is to a Terran – he’s as lowkey and unphased as they come.
“It's a cool stat, [but it] doesn't really mean too much to me though,” Serral tells us, when talking about being the first non-Korean StarCraft II World Champion. “When we are playing I don't really care what nation someone is from, the starting point is always the same for everyone in a game.”
For the man himself, the accolade is little more than an interesting footnote. The success of being a world champion is certainly a more relevant achievement, and despite the success and history of Korean players in StarCraft ultimately all players do start at the same point, regardless of nationality. While the rest of the world was fawning over him and his Korean slaying ability, Serral was basking in the glory of achieving everything he had worked for, after one of the most dominant years any player has put together in StarCraft 2.
“Winning everything is pretty much what you want as a pro gamer, so that was the best time of my StarCraft 2 career,” says Serral. “That was the time when I was just extremely confident, playing super standard and winning by outlasting my opponents. Basically, if I just got to the midgame even or slightly behind I didn't see myself losing from there really.”
During that incredible run in 2018, as well as winning the world championship he also took first place at WCS Leipzig, Austin, Valencia and Montreal, along with further wins at the HomeStory Cup XVIII and GSL vs The World. He was without a doubt the best player in the world that year, and looked unstoppable. He was consistently beating the best in the game, and had truly arrived at the very top level of StarCraft.
Serral is one of the most mechanically skilled players ever
© ENCE
But it was a long journey to get to that point. StarCraft had been a part of Serral’s life for the best part of 10 years before he finally lifted the world championship trophy, achieving his dream of being the best in the world. During those 10 years, there had been a number of highs and lows, and a lot of hard work.
“I started playing StarCraft a bit before SC2 was released, so around 2008-2009, back then I just played a bunch of arcades though," says Serral. “A big part of that was my brother picking up the game and playing it and I was just following him in a way. When StarCraft 2 was released in 2010, I went for 1v1s mainly and had more of a goal-focused approach for it.
“When I got my first team back in 2012 I realised I was fairly good at the game and could make something out of it. I didn't really get any great success back then, but when I won my first Finnish event in 2013 I started to make bigger goals, especially because the Finnish scene used to be pretty strong back then.”
Serral is also an avid golfer
© ENCE
It was during those early years that Serral realised he had a chance to really make a living from StarCraft. As results started to improve and he got a few wins under his belt while still in education, he started to think about how he was going to continue his success. Dropping out of high school was never going to be an option, but he quickly decided that as soon as that part of his life was done, he would give StarCraft 2 a go full-time – it’s safe to say it paid off.
“My early years had its highs and lows, but afterwards thinking [about it] I feel like I had a fairly stable improvement curve in results,” says Serral. “For a long time, I was going just for the experience and didn't get too bothered by the results. I already had, quite early on, the idea that I wanted to go full-time after my high school ended and that would be when I would need to start getting some better results. This mindset helped me keep the motivation up and after I went full-time I got the results pretty fast.”
What followed was a whirlwind ride that never really stopped. Serral quickly went from young upstart in the European community to a player who could challenge at a global level and then, of course, the world champion who broke records and did what many thought would never happen: take down the Koreans at the world championship.
Like anyone who gets caught up in a crazy life such as this, where the pressure is always on and the stakes are always high, Serral needed a way to relax and take his mind off StarCraft. His choice, which may come as a surprise to some, was golf, a game he has played for years, and uses as an escape from the computer screen.
“Golf fills the role of doing something else than playing StarCraft really well,” says Serral. “It's not really stressful, so it's just enjoying being outside and playing. I have also always preferred individual sports over team sports, because I find it easier to improve my game. I'm not very good at golf, honestly, but I'm trying to improve.”
While many players who win a world championship in an esport retire shortly after, a life fully on the links doesn’t seem interesting to Serral just yet. He may have won the biggest title in StarCraft, but he won’t be satisfied before he has all the major trophies in his cabinet – then, maybe, he might think about pursuing something else in life.
“I'm still missing some titles and those are what I'm going for,” says Serral. “I guess my real goal is just to maintain the level I have achieved and try to keep winning. I'll play for as long as I can and I feel like I can succeed. After that, I have my military service and then most likely back to the very normal stuff.”
The hunt for those missing titles is still ongoing, with Serral having an impressive 2020, even if the pandemic has put his quest for the last remaining trophies on hold. The online tournaments he has played in have yielded some good results, including a win at DreamHack Summer and second place in the Douyu Cup, but really the focus is now on 2021, when LAN events start up again and he can finally try to complete his trophy cabinet – and potentially add another world championship as well.
