ENCE and Joona “Serral” Sotala have renewed the player contract for yet another exciting year. The StarCraft 2 World Champion has represented ENCE for the most significant parts of his career, and values the continuity and community the Finnish team brings into his life.
Joona “Serral” Sotala has been a part of the ENCE StarCraft 2 lineup since October of 2016. During these years, Serral has developed from a promising Finnish player to one of the most exceptional talents in StarCraft history. He has dominated the foreign circuit in a way no other player has ever done before. He is also the first non-Korean to take the Global Championship at BlizzCon 2018.
“Representing ENCE has been good for me. From the beginning I wanted to be a part of a Finnish organization. And of course representing a Finnish organization as a Finn is easier for both parties. Being a part of ENCE’s community is a good thing and here I don’t feel like a mercenary. I want to represent ENCE because I want continuity as a professional player. When there is continuity I get better results.”
- Joona "Serral" Sotala
“Representing ENCE has been good for me. From the beginning I wanted to be a part of a Finnish organization."
- Joona "Serral" Sotala
The contract with Sotala covers the upcoming year. The tournament landscape for StarCraft 2 changed slightly in the beginning on the year. ESL announced a 3-year ESL Pro Tour to replace the old World Championship Circuit. Serral’s first offline tournament in 2020 will be IEM Katowice in late February. Despite his many achievements, he has never won an IEM trophy. Placing high in the tournament would make for a magnificent start for the year.
The General Manager of ENCE, Niklas “Willkey” Ojalainen is happy to continue working together with Serral:
"I have always had the utmost respect for Joona and his achievements and could not be happier to see him re-sign with ENCE and thus allow us to continue our journey together. On a personal level I’m even more delighted as I knew Joona from my gaming days and we always had good chats together when we met each other during tournaments. Now I have the opportunity to work with him professionally. Let’s make wonderful things together!"
