It worked on the fifth attempt: Finn Joona “Serral” Sotala won the Starcraft 2 TeamLiquid StarLeague (TSL9) for the first time. The World Champion defeated South Korea’s Cho “Maru” Seong-ju 4-1 in the final of the tournament played offline in Utrecht.
“I haven’t won a TSL yet. And I’ve been to the final twice, but it wasn’t always a nice affair,” said Serral after the win. “I’m very happy to have finally made it and not been completely destroyed.”
Smiling, the Finn accepted the winner’s trophy made of knotted balloons and shortly thereafter cut a pink cake that had been brought on stage by two commentators. “It tastes pretty good!” the star player rated the cake.
With a remarkable performance, the German Tobias “ShoWTimE” Sieber took third place. He lost 4-0 to Serral in the Upper Bracket Finals, only to lose 4-2 to Maru in the Lower Bracket Finals. The placement is among the best in an international tournament for Team BIG’s player since last October’s Dreamhack Masters.