StarCraft II is gearing up for the WCS Finals!

Yes you heard right, among all of the thrilling and exciting events at this year’s BlizzCon, StarCraft II will see it’s World Championship Series draw to a close with an action-packed final! The top 16 players from around the world have all secured their seats and will commence fighting for supremacy today, October 26th.

© Blizzard Entertainment

It’s not all been straightforward, and the series so far has seen some really tough matches as well as some unprecedented access to the players and greater insights into what it takes to be a champion. With BlizzCon opening week in full swing, it’s a great time to look at one of the top 16 competitors, Joon “Serral” Sotala.

He and his brother Jonne have both played StarCraft II professionally in the past, but it is Surreal that has take the StarCraft WCS by storm this year. His performance has been nothing short of miraculous, racking up sweeping victories and out-maneuvering his opponents at almost every turn. His older brother has now moved from eSports to university, but Surreal has made a bold statement this year and that is that his eSports career is just getting started in earnest.

The year to date has been a dream come true for both Serral and his brother Jonne, who couldn’t be more happy for his younger sibling. In fact his entire family is incredibly supportive of his career, though none of them thought it would take off quite so quickly, or in quite such spectacular fashion. There’s no doubt that the training is hard for this level of competition, but despite the once inseparable brothers leading fairly different lives for now, they are still incredibly supportive of one another.

The siblings hail from Finland where they were very close growing up, and the brotherly bond hasn’t tapered off as the pair have gotten older either. Always doing things together growing up, StarCraft was a natural progression for the pair who shared a passion for gaming. This then extended into professional tournaments and this year we are seeing the fruit of all of that hard work.

Serral quite openly admits that his brother bested across most of the games the brother’s shared in their youth. Rather than being bitter about it though, he feels it has made him a better player as he had to learn from his mistakes and continue to improve. Now, Serral is most at home playing Zerg, and this year has been dominating the battlefield with quick-thinking tactics and thinking several steps ahead of the competition.

With the group rounds whittling down the final 16 players across the week, there will not doubt be some tense times ahead. We’ll have to wait and see if Serral can keep his composure and put that almost legendary focus into practice. Until then, he has enjoyed being able to spend some time again with his brother during this competition where the pair have been, you guessed it, playing one another at StarCraft II. It looks like Serral is unstoppable this series and as the finals head into BlizzCon, fans are eagerly awaiting his next appearance. Who knows, maybe he’ll take home the World Champion title at the end of it all too.

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