History was made at BlizzCon in the StarCraft e-sports universe. Every year a champion is crowned, but this year was special. This year, a non-Korean won the title of best StarCraft II player in the world.

For those who aren’t familiar with the StarCraft and StarCraft II scene, it’s hard to express how monumental this achievement is. Even after the region lock separated Koreans from the rest of the world and gave non-Koreans eight spots at BlizzCon, those players were still crushed once they went up against their Korean opponents.

But as time went on, we started to see cracks in their dominance. Last year, Alex “Neeb” Sunderhaft tore through the WCS Circuit, winning three out of four events. Not only that, he became one of the only foreigners to win a tournament on Korean soil when he won the KeSPA Cup in 2016.

Neeb’s reign of terror was short-lived, though, when he got smashed at BlizzCon. It was a reckoning from the Korean players. They wouldn’t allow a foreigner to defeat them again.

This year, Neeb is nowhere to be seen. In fact, most foreigners are absent from the highest ranks of competitive play.

Joona “Serral” Sotala has stolen the spotlight, winning all four WCS Circuit titles. He then went on to defeat all of Korea at GSL vs. the World, continuing his path of dominance in the 2018 StarCraft II scene.



Then BlizzCon started. We saw Serral take charge in the Group Stage at the Blizzard Arena. He came out on top of his group 4-0. Serral went onto the quarterfinals where he refused to drop a map against Park “Dark” Ryung-woo.

I had a chance to talk with Serral after his quarterfinal match.

GameCrate: First off, congratulations on your quarterfinal victory. How did you feel about that match between you and Dark? You did 3-0 him, but it looked close at times.

Serral: The match was very, very close. It got to be too close. I made a couple mistakes—I was playing a bit too safe in the first two games. Mainly the second game. I think I was in a very good spot after I defended his initial attack. But, I didn’t follow up enough afterward, so it kind of ended up even. I still kind of felt a bit of sadness afterwards because I felt I should have won a bit easier.

GC: What are you most worried about for your next match?

Serral: I’m worried about Rogue as an entire player. He’s a BlizzCon champion. I consider him the best Zerg. He’s just a very strong player and we don’t too much time to prepare, so, I don’t think I’ll get the upper hand I could get if I had time to prepare builds. I just need to win with raw skill, I guess.

GC: With Juan Carlos “SpeCial” Tena Lopez out of the tournament, you’re the last hope for a foreign victory. Does that make you nervous at all?

Serral: It doesn’t really affect me too much. It would have been nice to play SpeCial in the finals, though. It doesn’t give me any extra pressure. I don’t really look at the other side of the bracket. I’m just playing my own game and not worrying too much about other things.

GC: I hope you make the finals—who do you want to play against?

Serral: I don’t care too much. I’m very confident in ZvP. I guess, probably Kim “sOs” Yoo-jin, but I’m fine with everyone.

GC: If you win, what would you do to celebrate?

Serral: I don’t think I would do anything. I would just invest my money in good places to help me when I end my career. Keep practicing.

GC: Lastly, are there any changes you’d want to see for the WCS Circuit next year?

Serral: People do get to the Global Finals because they win Challenger and it’s easier. I think it would be good if the Challenger points were taken down so it would be more about the main tournaments, instead of about Challenger as well.



Then it all came down to the Grand Finals for the biggest StarCraft II tournament in the world. In an overflowing arena, Serral took on Kim “Stats” Dae-yeob in a rematch of GSL vs. the World.

If there was pressure on Serral to become the first non-Korean to win BlizzCon, there was equally as much pressure on Stats to defend the honor of Korea. Unfortunately for Stats, the majority of those present wanted to see Serral triumph. They wanted to see Korea fall, because Serral was an icon to the west.

Soft-spoken and humble, Serral soldiered on, taking a quick 3-0 lead over the Korean Protoss. Everyone was looking for a clean sweep, but Stats would have nothing of that. Stats pushed Serral to the limit, picking up the next two maps and pushing him to a game six.

It all ended there, though. Serral was just too good. He was everywhere at once, methodically swatting down everything Stats could throw at him. Serral took his time accomplishing his victory.



As he lifted the trophy, history was made. The StarCraft II community was witness to one of the best storylines in gaming. One man against the world, and he accomplished it all.

Unfortunately, I only had the chance to ask Serral two quick questions after his victory. But rest assured, this is a moment all of StarCraft will never forget.

GC: Congratulations on winning the WCS Global Championship. Now, you’ve won every tournament you entered this year, what has that experience been like?

Serral: It’s been an incredible experience. When I came into this year I wasn’t expecting to win this much, since I didn’t really win anything last year. I’m very happy with it.

GC: When you lifted that trophy and looked out at all those fans cheering for you, how did that feel?

Serral: I don’t know how you describe that kind of feeling. It was just insane.

Photos via ESL's Helena K.