Fin becomes first non-Korean StarCraft II World Championship

Since the Global StarCraft II League was founded eight years ago, only South Koreans have won the world championship. This year, at Blizzcon 2018 in Anaheim, California, the tide turned and a Finnish Zerg player took home the world trophy.

Joona ‘Serral’ Sotala has narrowly won the final of the Starcraft II World Championship 4-2. Serral played against Kim ‘Stats’ Dae Yeob, who is known as a talented Protoss player. With a strong defense and the constant inflicting small bits of damage, Serral managed to keep his opponent at bay enough to win the last point.

“I was a bit annoyed and angry with myself. I think I made some stupid mistakes, but apart from that I wasn’t caught off guard,” Serral said afterwards. “It feels good to win the whole event and make history. It feels great, but I have yet to let it sink in.”

The reason for the large-scale Korean presence in the StarCraft II tournaments is the popularity of the game in the country itself. There is even a television channel, OGN, which is completely devoted to esports. CNBC reported in early October that the channel plans to invest $100 million in the North American market and partner with PUBG Corp. wants to engage.

Serral has already won four qualifying tournaments in Leipzig, Montreal, Austin and Valencia in the run-up to the world championship at Blizzcon. In addition to a trophy, the Finn will receive 240,000 dollars.