English interview - For Is Here #5 - Sjaak

A true dinosaur of the eSport scene since twelve years now, Mousesports has lately taken the habit to recruit from kindergarten : HeroMarine, Starbuck, Majestic and most recently, the Dutch player Sjaak.

Quite unkown from the general public until this Summer, he made a name for himself during DreamHack, where he managed to advance to the final bracket, beating HyuN and Golden, among others.

Focus on this young 16-year-old man, who already wants to conqueer the world.

First steps

 

[M] TinkeR :  I'd like to ask you first how did you fell into eSport ? For example, what was your first videogame you've ever played competitively and how did you end up choosing StarCraft II ?

[mouz]Sjaak : Well, I was very young when I started to play, so normally I just kinda played what my brothers played, (they are 4-6 years older). Since I was very young, I normally wasn't too good at these games, until we started to play StarCraft.

I played very casually for a while, but I still improved a lot. Then, at a certain point in time, a Dutch team saw my name on ladder (very Dutch name), and invited me to play for them. From that point onwards I have played competitively.

 

When was it ? Did you and your brothers played a bit with Broodwar or was it straight to StarCraft II ?

I think it was around the start of 2012, after the beta of Wings of Liberty already. We never played any RTS before, apart from some Age of Empires against the AI.

 

OK! What was your first league placement back then ? Or maybe the one you stayed the longest on before starting to improve and reaching an higher league ?

I think you could say I was quite a talent :D. I first played together with 2 brothers on one account, (they already started one month before me) and I won my first seven games in Bronze league. We used to play random and everyone played one race. Soon afterwards I started my own account and got Gold immediatly. I guess going from Master to Grandmaster was the longest.

 

It looks like it's the higher step, if we listen to other players :) What was your reaction when you eventually reached Grandmaster level ?

Haha, it was when Grandmaster just opened, and I played my game together with all my brothers. Then when we realised I got Grandmaster we turned on the song ''When I'm Grandmaster'' :D!

 

 

Ahah! I would have love to see that!
At the beginning of Wings of Liberty, were you following the eSport scene, and were you cheering for a specific player/team or not at all, you were just playing to get better and that's all ?

I didn't really follow the scene, I've just watched a tournament now and then. The first thing I remember was HuK vs Moon in MLG when he 6pooled the last game ! I watched streams to improve my play a lot. EG and Liquid were my favorite teams

 

Did you follow a specific player stream ? Or any player was OK as long as he was playing Protoss ?

Yeah mainly Protoss. I don't specifically remember, but as long as it was Protoss.

 

A Protoss, coming out of nowhere

 

 

You've recently made a pretty big sensation on last DreamHack Summer by beating players like HyuN or HuK, and reaching the final bracket. Were you expecting this kind of run ? Did you especially prepare for this event ?

I kinda expected it, since I'm a very good player ;). On a more serious note, I just prepared a lot for the event and showed my best build orders. I was very happy to be able to perform like that!

 

Yes I guess so ! Many was surprised and it looked like Mousesports recruiters thought that it could have been a good opportunity to have you with them, how did they approach you ?

They approached me already on Dreamhack. After that we started talking and I thought it was a very good opportunity to improve.

I really like it to have good teammates ! The CEO came up to me and started a conversation, I think the overall mood was pretty relaxed.

 

Interesting, what do you think has made them believe that you could be a very good asset for their roster ? As it looks like before DreamHack, you mainly did some online tournaments, etc.

Well, I think the main thing was that I am a very young player, so they expect me to have a lot of potential. I am happy that I was able to show that to them thus far, having shown good results in my time here!

 

How did joining Mousesports changed the way you were practicing ? Was that only about the amount of times or did you try to make more custom games instead of ladder, etc. ?

Hmmm, I think it is mainly more practice, taking the game more seriously. Of course I have new practice partners for custom games too now, it is nice to be able to practice with good teammates and friends !

 

A day where you don't have school, you are on holidays for example, how many games or for how many hours do you play ?

Hmmm, in holidays I play mostly 10-20 1v1 games a day, I also like to play teamgames/arcade apart from that for fun ! But I try to catch up in games a bit indeed.

 

A month or two after DreamHack, you've made an impressive all-kill against Axiom during the ATC. Do you think the fact that you were in holidays (I guess ?) and have much more time to practice helped you here or would you have done the same during the year ? Will there be a Summer of Sjaak as there was a Summer of TaeJa ?

Hmmm, actually my holidays just started then, I think I was just really excited to join Mousesports (it was the day after), and I wanted to show my very best. I don't know how I did it, but performing so well vs Liquid and Axiom was one of my best experiences yet !

 

Around StarCraft II

 Keep your pants on, darling !

 

I watched the interview you gave to PiG back in DreamHack, and I understood that you were doing quite well in school so that can let you maybe more focus on your practice, if tomorrow it turns out you can't deal with both studies and gaming, what would you choose? Take a year or two as full-time playing or go on with studies instead ?

I think I would choose for studies, I have a lot of learning talent and I think studying will be my best option. I never know what will happen, but for now I would think it's studying.

 

Do you have an idea on what would you study ?

At the moment I'm thinking of econometry/economics at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

 

Great ! How is the StarCraft II scene going in Netherlands currently ?

I think the StarCraft II scene in the Netherlands is pretty good. You got the ''pros" like Grubby, Harstem, uThermal and Ret, and then you also get a lot of players below that. DSCLeague is also a nice initiative where dutch players can compete !

 

Do you have the feeling that it's kind of "dying" as we can hear here and there or not at all ? Are people losing a bit of interest ?

Hmmm, maybe a bit but I believe that there will always be a base of players, and next year looks promising !

 

Talking about next year, what do you think about the upcoming Region Lock Blizzard has announced for WCS 2015 ?

I really like it, it gives players like me a better shot at doing something great. I only don't really like the #dreampool, since we don't know what maps we have to practice.

 

Do you have specific expectations for Legacy of the Void ? We all are hoping for some announce at the Blizzcon. Maybe a unit you would redesign, a thing you would change in the game ?

Hmmm, I hope for a free-to-play multiplayer so more people would play, maybe they can sell some skins to compensate, just like they do in Heroes of the Storm. I've played that game a bit and you get lured to buying something very quickly. I will see how the units change, as long as they take balance into account it is fine for me.

 

OK ! Who would you consider as the best Protoss player in the world right now

I think Zest is very strong at the moment. And as foreigner, I think Harstem is doing very well, especially his PvT is stunning sometimes.

 

There's not much of offline tournaments remaining, will we have a chance to see you on one of them? Or maybe online qualifiers for some events in the near future ?

I will play IEM qualifier this Sunday for sure. My main goal is trying to qualify for HomeStory Cup X, I really want to get there !

 

Beside StarCraft II

 

So you do have Heroes of the Storm then, do you have any other game you play beside StarCraft II ? What are you other hobbies ?

I play Heroes of the Storm sometimes, and I play football three times a week in the local team. I like to play Heroes of the Storm sometimes since it 5v5. I can play more with friends.

 

And what do your friends think about your progaming life ? Do they support you ? What about your family ? I guess your brothers are following you a bit as they are responsible of what you are now, ahah

My brothers and friends really support me, one brother even helps me with builds ! My parents also support me, although they remind me of the fact that education is important too ^^.

 

In which league are your brothers ?

One of them is high Master, two of them are Diamond . The Master's one helps me.

 

A real StarCraft family ! Where do you see yourself in five years ? Still in esport or... ?

I hope I can still play at a high level then. I'll certainly try !

 

Where does your nickname come from ?

My nickname is a typical oldfashioned Dutch name, I was kinda lacking inspiration for a name, and I knew someone called like that, and then I thought other people (especially Dutchies) might find it funny !

 

Bonus Time

 

 

What kind of music do you listen to ? Could you name some artists/band?

I mostly listen to EDM/chill music. Some of my favourite artists are Hardwell and Calvin Harris, as hipster artist pick I would say Galantis :)

 

Editor's note: during the interview, Sjaak was playing the Gfinity Cup and was facing First in semifinal. In the last game, Sjaak didn't scout a DT, which made him lose the game, and the whole match.

 

:(

 

Dat DT :(

Haha yeah, better luck next time. Gfinity is a good place to practice against Koreans. Last week I beat HyuN again, so now I'm 2-0 against him :D

 

Yeah I saw that on Aligulac :) It confirms (if needed) that it was not just a oneshot. Like some players do, do you think having Korean players playing these cups help the Europeans getting better ?

Yeah it does, but it also helps us getting poor :D

 

Do you have any favourite movie? Actor/actress ?

I kinda like action movies and movies such as The Lord of The Rings. But I'm not really an avid watcher.

 

What's your favorite meal or food ?

Spareribs :D

 

Favorite country? And one you'd like to go and never went to ? (if not the same)

I have been to Barbados once, that was my best trip ever :D Maybe I would like to go to South Korea once (for obvious reasons ^^)

 

Yeah, I heard landscapes are pretty nice out there, ahah :D
OK, let's say you have to make a hard bootcamp, for a whole month, and you have to pick: a Protoss, a Terran, and a Zerg, who would you choose ?

As in best players or most fun?

 

That's the point :) would you pick fun or hardworking ?

HasuObs for Protoss because I want him Kappa. For Zerg, practicing with Starbuck would be nice but frustrating because of his weird strats, otherwise I would pick a Zerg like soO. And as Terran, TaeJa, because one day I will beat him, if he isn't too scared and retires.

 

Message has been heard, your move Young Seo :D
Final question, do you have a fun/unusual story that had happen to you ingame or IRL and you'd like to share ?

No, I just want to spread the word to make HasuObs play more StarCraft. He is invited for Hearthstone Seatstorycup, he should play StarCraft instead :D

 

Well that concludes the interview, I'd like to thank you a lot for your time, that was really pleasant to have a chat with you and get to know you a bit more. Do you have any words for our French readers? and any shoutout you'd want to make ?

Thanks everyone for supporting me, and I really enjoy making French cheese in StarCraft II.

 

Thanks and good luck for the IEM qualifiers this week-end if you play ! Bye !

Thanks, good luck to you too !