Serral

Serral
Serral at ESL StarCraft 2 Masters 2023 Winter
Current team
TeamBASILISK
GameStarCraft II
Personal information
NameJoona Sotala
Nickname(s)
  • The Night King
  • The Finnish Phenom
  • The Finnisher
Born (1998-03-22) 22 March 1998 (age 26)
NationalityFinnish
Career information
Playing career2012–present
Team history
2012eXelon Gaming
2013–2014ENCE eSports
2014–2016mYinsanity
2016–2023ENCE
2023–presentBASILISK
Career highlights and awards
  • WCS champion (2018)
  • 2× IEM champion (2022 Katowice, 2024 Katowice)

Joona Sotala (born 22 March 1998),[1][2] better known as Serral, is a Finnish professional StarCraft II player using the race Zerg. In 2018, Serral became the first non-Korean player to win the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS).[3][4] He won every major non-Korean tournament in 2018, the 2018 Global StarCraft II League (GSL) vs. the World event and, ultimately, the 2018 WCS Global Finals.[5] Serral is a two-time world champion of StarCraft II, having claimed his first championship title at the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice in 2022, and repeating the feat again in 2024 with an updated championship format.

  1. ^ Palvaila, Jaakko; Boustani, Ghadi (26 February 2023). "Lajinsa paras". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Joona "Serral" Sotala". Pallomeri.net (in Finnish). Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  3. ^ Kurt, Lozano. "Serral dominates, becomes first non-Korean to win the WCS". www.foxsportsasia.com. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  4. ^ Horti, Samuel (4 November 2018). "Serral becomes first non-Korean to win StarCraft 2's biggest prize". PC Gamer. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  5. ^ "StarCraft II: Serral wins WCS Global Finals". ESPN.com. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.