Last month we held the StarCraft 2 Benelux Qualifiers for DreamHack Winter. After a fierce battle Orly came out on top. With winning he not only earned himself the sum of 1000 euro, he also won the qualifier spot at DreamHack and will be coming with us to DreamHack to play in the main tournament, against 63 other players that are considered the best players of StarCraft 2. We spoke with Olivier ‘Orly’ Bellemans about his victory and his StarCraft 2 career.

Hi Orly. Congratulations on winning the Intel Pack4DreamHack Qualifier! How did the games go?

Thanks. At the offline finals I was up against Sushilicious in the first round and I took the set after some back and forth Zerg vs. Zerg play. The winner’s bracket finals and grand finals were both against the Terran player Servant. I focused on denying the early game harassment and set up for an aggressive mid-game play to prevent the game to come to a map split. The games on the map Xel’Naga Caverns in particular were very difficult, but I ended up winning both series.

Last Summer you also came to DreamHack with us. After a long period of being inactive, you played several competitions. What was the reason for starting again?

The game had evolved, so had the tournament scene. When I went inactive I didn’t like the map pool and Zerg as a race had only a few strategic options. Now the map pool has improved drastically and the official maps that are still flawed are simply removed from tournaments. Zerg received some changes that turned them from a passive punching bag into a race that can put on some pressure of their own.

Currently you are the number one player from Belgium, some even dare to say the best from the Benelux. How does that feel?

Both Ret and Grubby are better players than I am, although they’re not staying in the Benelux at the moment. Whether or not I’m the best of a region is not something I’m worried about, I just try to be the best I can be. Because I’m often the only representative of my country at events, I do feel an obligation to perform extra well. I’m sure we’ll see more Belgian faces at international events in the future.

Seems like you have a busy schedule these upcoming months. Besides DreamHack, you will represent the Benelux at WCG. What do you think is possible for yourself in terms of results?

A lot will depend on how the groups and brackets look like. I am more comfortable against some specific styles and races than others. Facing predictable players also helps. Many players may look at me as the underdog and show up with their standard game. If they show any weaknesses, I will exploit them. I plan to at least make it out of the groups at DreamHack. I’ll be disappointed if I don’t. It is one of the toughest international competitions out there, so this is the time to raise the bar and compete with the very best.

At ESWC you barely missed the round of 16, what happened? Do you think more would have been possible?

I was tied for the second place in my group with aTnCloud at 3-2. Because I had the better map score I thought I had advanced. Apparently the rules had to be interpreted differently and it was the head-to-head score that counted. Cloud won our set, so he went through to the ro16. Because I was in a good position to take the set against both Idra and Cloud but lost, I was especially disappointed. I guess some more experience will prevent this kind of blunders.

All the pro’s seem to be training in Korea these days, do you have plans in this regard?

No plans to move to Korea permanently. I would miss Belgium and I’m a difficult person when it comes to food. I might stay there for a few weeks to practice at some point, because the Korean server is miles ahead of the Western servers. Right now, there is still plenty of competition out here in Europe. The main thing I need to focus on is improving my practice routine, finding more, varied practice partners and stop being so damn lazy.

First place at DreamHack?

Obviously!