Ret on the prowl, as depicted by pachi. Original photo by lopper.
It's been some time coming, Team Liquid, but after months of speculation from your end, we're finally here to confirm that Jos "Ret" De Kroon is in fact taking up Starcraft 2, and doing so in the best way possible - shoulder to shoulder with our boys in blue!
If you remember, way back in March 2010, Ret won the first ever SC2 Liquibition. Then, he disappeared, and everyone had their own questions. Why did he leave? Where did he go? What is he doing?
Today, we have answers.
Men and women, boys and girls, we're proud to introduce, for the first time ever, The Flying Dutchman, son of the swarm and hero of little Zerglings everywhere,
Hello, Team Liquid!
Talking to us from Korea, Liquid` Manager Victor "Nazgul" Goossens said that the team was delighted to have him aboard. "Ret has been a top gamer for so long with so much talent for the game but somehow the environment at the time never really worked in his favor," said Nazgul. "I really like the fact that we picked him up even before he won any tournaments, because that's a clear indication of the confidence we have in his capabilities."
Goossens stressed that rather than going after big names, Liquid` was always a team that focused on seeing the underlying talent in players and recruiting those it though would do well with the team. "Jos is a long time friend of ours, and we're really happy to invite him into the fold!"
So what does this mean for Ret? Progaming? Korea? World domination? Ask him yourself.
Hi Ret, and welcome back! Where have you been hiding all these months?
Hey, thanks. I've had a great summer away from my computer! After returning from Korea, I had totally lost the will to play videogames, and focused on weights in the gym, tennis, the worldcup, and rebuilding friendships with old friends! So that's why I haven't been around.
But rumour says you are now back and ready to go?
Yes... after Gamescom and seeing all my old buddies do so well and watching some high level SC2 from up close, I started to itch again. I decided to take my focus off school and try my best to do well in SC2. I have some catching up to do since I missed the whole beta and the first month of release, but I am confident it won't take too long for me to get up to par.
Of course, the big news is that you're going to start this journey with some pretty cool people. But we'll let you break that news. Go ahead!
I'm very excited to say that I will be joining Team Liquid! I've known Nazgul for 10 years and when I just started playing SC:BW I was always begging him to let me join the team. This was before it became a huge community/website, and well, who would've thought it would happen in 2010? I look forward to representing Liquid in tournaments and hopefully helping them in their quest for world domination.
That is amazing news indeed, and your recruitment only strengthens an already solid lineup for Liquid. So in terms of you and Liquid, what does the future hold?
I will be practicing a lot from home at first and try to represent Liquid in European based tournaments and stuff like HDH etc. After I finish up my driving license (something I've already invested a lot of money into - it's expensive), I will join the Liquid guys in Korea and participate in the GSLs. I am looking forward to getting a second chance in Korea in a much better setting than last time and will definitely be practicing really hard to make the most out of it. I feel like my last Korea experience wasn't very successful and I have to set some things straight over there.
Don't let his easygoing demeanor fool you. Ret is a man on a mission.
What are you most looking forward to about Korea, and living and playing together with Jinro, TLO and Haypro, when he arrives as well?
I'm looking forward a lot to living with those guys. Hayder has been one of my best friends in SC:BW for years and I've known Jinro for a long time as well. I met TLO at gamescon and he seems chill also, as well as amazingly talented of course. I believe that when we combine the Swedish, German, and Dutch powers we will be unstoppable! It'll also be good to be close to my old friends like Artosis & IdrA, who I was very close with during my last stay but haven’t seen or talked to much since I’ve been back in Europe and not into the game scene at all.
Let's go into your last Korean experience. It's no secret that it was less than pleasant for you. What will be most different for you, this time?
The fact that I'm not alone in a house with people who don't speak English, I think. The other TL players are good friends and having them around at all times will solve almost all the problems I experienced last time in Korea. Also the fact Nazgul will be around occasionally, and Spunky speaking fluent English should make everything easy. I'll be practicing a lot, but not being forced to sit at your pc for 12 hours a day is obviously a big plus as well. I'd be able to compete in gaming, while still going to the gym and exercising and playing sports. I don't expect any problems with the progaming lifestyle this time around.
Yes, that's quite a difference indeed. Although your stay last time was not that great, was there anything you missed about Seoul or Korea on your return to Europe?
Artosis & IdrA, as well as watching SC1 on TV, and being fully immersed in the most competitive gaming scene that exists in the world. Korean food can either be really awesome, or really bad. I do miss Korean BBQ, and some of the other wonderful dishes I've had over there.
So Korean BBQ is clearly a foreigner favourite in Korea! Have you been watching the GSL so far? What do you make of it?
I watched the IdrA series, and I’m watching Junwi vs LegalMind as we speak. To be honest, so far I'm a little disappointed with the level of play. If you compare the GSL to the OSL or MSL for SC:BW, the level of play is just atrocious. Hopefully this will change over the months to come as SC2 grows in Korea and the E-Sports scene for it gets more serious and skill levels increase. I think in the future it’s going to be just as big and awesome as the OSL/MSL were. SC2 is already advancing in Korea - Tester and Check just formed a new team 'TSL'. Things like that show that the game is growing in Korea. Once we get a few rounds out of the way, the GSL should be amazing. I can’t wait to see how the foreigners do in it.
What would you say to people who argue that the 'zing' of BW just isn't present in SC2, that the 'wow' micro moments are just not there?
I actually used to be one of those people, but when I saw the games at Gamescom I actually recognised lots of stuff from SC:BW present in SC2. I believe SC2 does have the potential to grow into a great game. It's already pretty good, with patching and the new expansions it can potentially be as good as SC:BW. There are lots of small details in Micro and Macro that separate good from great players.
It will just take time for people to be good enough for everyone to notice it. At the beginning of the game nobody had a clue about what they were doing, but as strategies become more complex and timings in the game get more advanced, the game will feature similar wow moments and dynamic gameplay like SC:BW had.
It's always hard for people to switch to a new game, especially after 12 years. It takes time for people to appreciate new things. You have to learn to like it. We will never see the same kind of amazing muta micro or cool tricks like Hold lurkers, or a last second dark swarm to save an expansion. But we will be seeing new, different things that the best players will come up with to win their games.
Like Morrow's great 5 rax reaper player at IEM (yes I know, 'imbalanced'), or Dimaga/IdrA covering the whole damn map in creep within 5 minutes and therefor just crushing the opponents army on creep with great flanks – stuff like that. I just watched LegalMind hallucinate a collosus to trick his opponent Junwi into focus firing that first. Plays like that are really enjoyable to see, too.
That's an interesting take on things, and it will certainly be fun to see the game develop. You spoke about all three races just now, but which one have you chosen to focus on in SC2, and why?
Zerg. I figure the Swarm needs another hero to stand up to the evil Terrans, and take some weight off Idra's shoulders . But nah, I've just always been Zerg and I see no reason to switch it up, I love the way Zerg plays in SC2, it doesn’t feel much different from SC1.
"I pity the fool who tries to 5rax reaper me."
Speaking of evil Terrans, anything to say about the Terran OP issue? Haha.
In my opinion, it’s slightly exaggerated. As long as the Zerg or Protoss plays well they do fine against Terran from what I've seen in tournaments. I don't have too much to say about it.
Fair enough. So, let's talk about the swarm. You said Zerg feels the same, but no doubt a lot has changed as well. What are some of the more noticable changes from your point of view and which things have remained more or less the same?
Well of course there is the Queen as the biggest change to Zerg gameplay. It really makes some of the things that were already so crucial to being a good Zerg even more important. Zerg always had to make extremely accurate predictions about whether they should be making drones or units with larvae, and the extra larvae available now makes those decisions even more influential on the later stages of the game.
I really like how fluent Zerg plays in SC2. Because of the extra larvae available you can play it very reactively to what your opponent is doing. It was pretty much like that in SC1, but unit composition became even more important in SC2.
There has been some discussion as to creep and how slow units like hydras are off of it. Do you see creep in general as a negative or positive addition to Zerg gameplay?
I like the creep dynamic, it adds another element to SC. If you keep your multitasking up and your queens' energy low you can really benefit from having creep everywhere, I'm happy with it, it’s another strategic element in zerg gameplay that adds to the diversity of the game
What would you say about the criticism that Zerg has less diversity in terms of units, when compared to Protoss and Terran? What about people who say that Ultras/Hydras/insert-unit-here are useless?
I can't do anything but agree that Zerg has less unit diversity. It's a pretty clear cut fact that Zerg armies usually consist of no more than 2-3 unit types, but I'm not bothered so much by it because every unit has a pretty specific role and no unit, in my opinion, is 'useless'. Of course I could complain and ask for more units, but this is what Blizzard has given us and this is what we'll have to work with.
Good man! So, in terms of Zergs, you've already mentioned Idra and Dimaga, but are there any other sons of the swarm who have impressed you with their play?
Myself, IdrA and the overmind frequently get together to discuss the current state of the Zerg taking over the world. Unfortunately, we have not been impressed with the talent currently out there. If my return to SC2 does not bring the expected Glory to the Swarm, we may be forced to call upon the one that goes by the name of the 'Tyrant.' In which case, I believe you are all doomed. In all seriousness though, Haypro has always been someone who's playstyle I appreciated a lot in SC:BW and it's the same in SC. He’s a very thinking player, and there's usually a reason behind every move of his.
Have you been in touch with Hayder at all these few weeks? Now that you're in Liquid we can imagine you'll be playing and interacting with him on a very regular basis.
I've kept in touch with him somewhat over these past few months, but not as much as I’d have liked to, especially since I wasn’t playing. Also, not playing at all made me a noob, and he looked down on me! He’s evil like that! But yeah, I hope to be playing with him a lot now that I’ve started playing SC2. In fact, I believe that would've happened regardless of which team I'm in! Me being in Liquid just makes it even better.
Indeed, and it makes our lives as Liquid fans that much better as well. Welcome to Liquid, Ret! We're glad you're here.
Thank you! I’m also happy to be making a new start with gaming here. Couldn't imagine a better home.
GLHF Liquid`Ret, and we look forward to seeing you represent us in Korea! Gogo!
Well, there you have it, folks. More great news for Liquid, and indeed, more great news for TL. Expect great things from this Dutchman in the weeks to come as he revs up his SC2 engine and we tag along with him to Korea and beyond. Liquid fighting!
Liquid` is proudly sponsored by The Little App Factory, makers of fine applications for Windows and Mac OS X and fans of great Starcraft! Their flagship program, iRip allows you to recover your music from iPods - a life saver if you, like many of us, do tech support for friends and family. In fact, for a limited time, you can use the coupon code TEAMLIQUID to get 25% off when you get TLAF products!
Holy cow. Very unexpected, but very exciting! It's great to see Ret back, and even better to see him with the Liquid tag-- he'll undoubtedly represent it well.
Seems like a really nice guy and an amazing Starcraft player. Keep plenty of other activities balanced into your routine- and I'm sure you'll be crushing nerds for many years to come.
OMG I can't believe how thin ret got, he really got into shape! good for you ret.. i think having a healthy body can actually make a big difference in your attitude and gameplay..
On September 09 2010 01:22 stk01001 wrote: OMG I can't believe how thin ret got, he really got into shape! good for you ret.. i think having a healthy body can actually make a big difference in your attitude and gameplay..
ret fighting!! so glad he's sticking with zerg!!
yeah looks like he lost quite some weight, Liquid going for most handsome team? :p
On September 09 2010 01:22 stk01001 wrote: OMG I can't believe how thin ret got, he really got into shape! good for you ret.. i think having a healthy body can actually make a big difference in your attitude and gameplay..
ret fighting!! so glad he's sticking with zerg!!
yeah looks like he lost quite some weight, Liquid going for most handsome team? :p
"If my return to SC2 does not bring the expected Glory to the Swarm, we may be forced to call upon the one that goes by the name of the 'Tyrant.' In which case, I believe you are all doomed." literally nobody who currently plays sc2 would be able to compete, it's true.
good pickup by TL, i hope his experience in korea is much much better than last time and am looking forward to seeeing more foreigners advancing in the GSL!
I haven't even read the article yet, but Liquid'Ret makes me so happy. :> More than any other player with the Liquid tag, to be honest.
Ret, I think I watched every hour of your stream, so much so that Forget It is probably burned into my brain. Futbol might be The Beautiful Game, but watching you play BW was #2. I can't wait to do it in SC2.
Dude, Ret looks amazing. Last time I saw him at BlizzCon 2009 and he looks like a totally different person! Good for him, this is exciting news and I can't wait to see what ret produces! GL!
Ret, you look incredible man! So sexy! Please come back and show all these SC2 noobs how the game is meant to be played. They haven't been able to see much of the greatness of Ret.
Also, will you start streaming again? Your stream was incredible
This has made an already awesome situation in korea even better. You've been my favorite foreigner for the last 2 years, ret. I wish the best of luck to you. Smash some nerds for us!
Didn't Shark call him the King of Europe or something like that in that Hyungjoon show? ^^
But seriously though, even more important than your return to gaming, congrats on what appears to be one or more lifestyle changes you've made. Gaming is cool and all but you definitely have to keep your priorities straight, and gaming is not #1.
On September 09 2010 01:19 DarkspearTribe wrote: Doubt he can compete with top players after such setback
You have no idea what you're talking about, if anything after a short amount of time he'll be in the top.
Good to see you've been taking care of yourself Ret, this may sound stalkerish but I saw you post in the health and fitness thread and it looks like you've got it going good for you! I'm real glad you're coming back to play. I hope you have an amazing second chance in Korea when the time comes ^_^
I can barely recognize Ret. Seriously. I don't think I've ever known someone to make a transformation like that so quickly. I don't even care about this news compared to that.
If my return to SC2 does not bring the expected Glory to the Swarm, we may be forced to call upon the one that goes by the name of the 'Tyrant.' In which case, I believe you are all doomed.
If my return to SC2 does not bring the expected Glory to the Swarm, we may be forced to call upon the one that goes by the name of the 'Tyrant.' In which case, I believe you are all doomed.
Nice try ret, but I highly doubt Jaedong would give up his lucrative contract in BW to play in SC2.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW RET good for you! Health makes u play better, this was obviously part of the plan! Glad to see u back.
This is so awesome. I know I lot of people thought his trip to Korea was a failure but just the fact that he tried and even got somewhat close despite the terrible circumstances was a huge inspiration for me. I'd root for Ret even if he was on Team Animal Cruelty but having him in Liquid is just perfect.
20 kg? More like 40-50, no offense. I hope Ret still has the spark to have a similar practice regimen so as to get SC2 up there with SCBW in finesse before the end of the year. Stay healthy!
Yeah, everyone's been saying it, but damn Ret the weights and workouts sure did a number!
More and more, I feel like liquid is an actually competitive version of Ace: older heroes, fan favorites, collected under one umbrella. I love it! Every fan of SC2 needs to be a fan of Liquid.
Amazing transformation, I guess that's what true zerg players are capable of. I just love everything Ret is, so laid back and even if he loses he is like "I'll rape next time" with this super confident smile.
Remember to keep working out and taking care of your health, think its super important.
GO RET!!! WELCOME BACK!!! My first sight of ret was actually on the korean show where the singer tries to get a Progamer license but nonetheless, best of luck to ret!!
Ret is awesome my favourite foreign player and the most skilled foreign BW zerg player ever . Can't wait to see him bust some noobs in GSL . Now i have a reason to follow GSL .
Nice, Ret has always been amazing to the community, he was one of the very first streamers if not the first! Go ret, you know you have the talent and dedication to own in the future GSLs. GL and have a lot of fun with the rest of Liquid`
surprised that nobody commented on the word play that is Retribution yet. am i a freak for finding that worth noting while everybody else does not, or did it just escape everybodys view because of the sheer awesomeness that is in this news? :D
Liquid`Ret wrote: I will join the Liquid guys in Korea and participate in the GSLs
omg .... sorry if this looks bashful, but seriously ... there are so many other players better than ret atm. If i were nazgul i'd try to recruit a more experienced and more dedicated player ... we've already seen ret quit after some hardships ... well let's hope that he's not a quiter anymore now that he's lost some weight .. lol at least he looks a lot better now !
On September 09 2010 02:41 enzym wrote: surprised that nobody commented on the word play that is Retribution yet. am i a freak for finding that worth noting while everybody else does not, or did it just escape everybodys view because of the sheer awesomeness that is in this news? :D
Liquid`Ret wrote: I will join the Liquid guys in Korea and participate in the GSLs
GO RET!! ~
I noticed. But to be honest I would be disapointed if TL DIDN'T make a pun like that. Even the TLO(pen) is probably named intentionally after one of their players.
Whaaaat! This is HUGE!! I can't wait to watch Ret go back to Korea and own it up like he should have on his first try. Hopefully someone will upload a VOD of Ret running into the arms of Artosis and Idra in slow motion with some moving music in the background.
Hahah yeah, i know this is super personal, but how much weight did you loose? I remember you being .... well... fairly bigger than you look now. Good job man.
I love hearing there are "new" recruits to the swarm. Let's hope he can bring his dominating zerg play over the gap so I have someone else to watch besides IdrA. Having to always get up at 5am to watch one player is tiring!
this is super exciting news. I cant wait to see what other players they add. It seems like they could add 1 more player and have an amazing amazing roster. Ret should def raise the bar on the level of play we are going to see in Europe. I hope that he kicks it into high gear learning the game.
Also ret def looks awesome after loosing all that weight!
. If you compare the GSL to the OSL or MSL for SC:BW, the level of play is just atrocious.
Well said. I was watching this game where Zerg did a counter attack while protoss' army was in the middle of the map. Then zerg got all his roaches up the ramp into the protoss main, and the protoss army was chasing it. Instead of making a concave on the ramp and engaging protoss while all of his stalkers were moving single file up a ramp, zerg decides to continue moving inside the base and taking pot shots at gateways, then finally engaging on even terrain. I was like "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!!!" That would be inexcusable in BW
If my return to SC2 does not bring the expected Glory to the Swarm, we may be forced to call upon the one that goes by the name of the 'Tyrant.' In which case, I believe you are all doomed.
EPIC LOL.
fuck that keep jaedong in the game that is 1000000x better than sc2 BW FOREVER!!! there is nothing quite like jaedong's mutas or his epic sandwiches keep the tyrant and the ultimate weapon in their rightful throne on top of the bw world!
I wanna see the REAL interview - the story of losing so much weight!!! When did he decide to go for it? how he felt before? How he did it? Which programme, which diet? How he feels now? And finally.. + Show Spoiler +
Usually I get annoyed by the attention give on people's looks on tl especially when it comes to progamers/notable players but I will I couldn't even recognize Ret at first in the pictures. Wow just wow. Pro in life and sc.
Sexy ret is new and frightening to me. I always wondered why Artosis hyped ret up so much for SC2, and then he barely touched the beta. I guess he had to go into exile and train like Batman for a while.
Wow this is awesome. Day1 of IEM I asked him how his SC2 career is doing. He said there is none. Really glad to see this has changed. I'm very confident that if he gives it all then he will become a top player pretty fast.
Yes! Man, Ret looks really good too. I'm really glad he's taking good care of himself now. He seems like such a likable guy, and he's always been really good for the scene.
On September 09 2010 02:41 enzym wrote: surprised that nobody commented on the word play that is Retribution yet. am i a freak for finding that worth noting while everybody else does not, or did it just escape everybodys view because of the sheer awesomeness that is in this news? :D
OMG.. what did he do to the real ret!?? He looks completely emaciated. ½ret, gl in your adventure. I miss your stream, oh it would be so great to have a really good BW stream now...
I know I'm just a random noob and a random stranger to you, but hot damn I'm so proud of you working on yourself and losing that much weight. I know it's shallow, but you look so much better AND it is benefiting you in the end since it's healthier this way, so win-win.
No need to wish you luck, since we all know you can do super well once you focus on something, so try to enjoy yourself on this road you're taking.
My dick is so hard from reading this that it could cut glass.
Hmmmm, perhaps that's going a bit too far.... Regardless, this is great news and can't wait to see good things out of Ret that we all know he's capable of.
haha i knew ret was up to something like practising like crazy in secret but noooooooo.. first get in shape, fresh in the mind, he's gonna play so much better then before i really do pitty the fool.., best news ever!
Great news! I remember seeing pictures of him from Gamescom looking pretty fit, but wow, seeing that video I realize how much he's changed. Man, this is great.
Ret is a beast even without practice. i can't even imagine what happens once he really starts to get his roll on. im looking forward to see that magic happen. admittedly, he does have a slight disadvantage over the more 'experienced' players by now, but i've seen Ret incorporate new builds and tactics with ease after catching just one glimpse of them in some other game. i mean, you probably can tell, but i am impressed by this man. he's scary good. gl hf Ret!
"Myself, IdrA and the overmind frequently get together to discuss the current state of the Zerg taking over the world. Unfortunately, we have not been impressed with the talent currently out there. If my return to SC2 does not bring the expected Glory to the Swarm, we may be forced to call upon the one that goes by the name of the 'Tyrant.' In which case, I believe you are all doomed."
On September 09 2010 01:22 stk01001 wrote: OMG I can't believe how thin ret got, he really got into shape! good for you ret.. i think having a healthy body can actually make a big difference in your attitude and gameplay..
ret fighting!! so glad he's sticking with zerg!!
^ !!! I had a few double takes while looking at his pic. "wtf where did chubby ret go!"
Finally, Ret has come back to Starcraft! God speed, good luck, rape face, and break necks. Congrats on getting healthy and losing weight, I know how much work goes into something like that. If you put even half as much effort into Star2 you'll make waves in HDH 2 no problem. Plus you don't have to worry about ZvZ since there are no other Zergs.
On September 09 2010 08:49 eazo wrote: AWESOME. I really liked the interview and his response to the questions. New favorite zerg player? I think so. Represent the swarm well Ret!
I like Ret, but this seems a bit premature. Liquid probably should of waited to see how well he played after a few weeks. I hope Ret can impress us with his skills.
great interview thanks so much for the update on ret i was wondering when he was gunna pop out of his overlord and make an appearance in the pro scene!, make us proud ret!! For the swarm!!
ret disapeared and just came back a complete and total badass... wow.... great interview, this is so exciting, and i agree with like everything he says too ahah.
On September 09 2010 01:22 stk01001 wrote: OMG I can't believe how thin ret got, he really got into shape! good for you ret.. i think having a healthy body can actually make a big difference in your attitude and gameplay..
ret fighting!! so glad he's sticking with zerg!!
Ummm no it doesn't he was amazing when he wad fat..it all has to do with self confidence and ret was really confident in himself
This made me happy. Cool to see that ret plays tennis. I love that game, wish we could play a match when I'm living in the netherlands for grad school.
At first, I was sort of surprised that Liquid picked up ret, since they have a reputation of only taking in the most manner of players, and I recall with quite a bit of clarity him trash-talking every opponent he had in an interview in the last TSL (Such and such is a noob, so and so is a moron, etc etc), or some other tournament. And at the start of the SC2 beta he had nothing but complaints to offer up.
But after reading the interview, it's nice to see that he's mannered up quite a bit and his opinions about SC2 have become significantly less retarded. I wonder how much of his former butthurt was in his excess weight? (It's a shame we'll have one less target for fat jokes now. At least we still have FantaPrime)
Not gonna lie. THe most shocking thing to me when I saw this in the featured column was ret's PICTURE. I hope he visits the TL fitness thread and shares his secrets.
Don't people fucking know how to read these days. It's in the FIRST interview question....
Hi Ret, and welcome back! Where have you been hiding all these months?
Hey, thanks. I've had a great summer away from my computer! After returning from Korea, I had totally lost the will to play videogames, and focused on weights in the gym, tennis, the worldcup, and rebuilding friendships with old friends! So that's why I haven't been around.
Hi Ret, and welcome back! Where have you been hiding all these months?
Hey, thanks. I've had a great summer away from my computer! After returning from Korea, I had totally lost the will to play videogames, and focused on weights in the gym, tennis, the worldcup, and rebuilding friendships with old friends! So that's why I haven't been around.
Because "focused on weights in the gym, tennis" obviously says exactly everything you need to know to drop weight as dramatically as ret did in such a short period of time. Maybe if they had asked him why he's so good he'd give us another golden nugget like, "I play better than my opponent." I agree that people don't know how to read these days.
On September 09 2010 15:13 Warrior Madness wrote: Not gonna lie. THe most shocking thing to me when I saw this in the featured column was ret's PICTURE. I hope he visits the TL fitness thread and shares his secrets.
He is actually a frequent visitor of that thread so you could just search through the thread for his posts.
I actually was expecting this. The only thing is i might have to reconsider who s my favorite Zerg player in BW it was Ret, in sc2 Dimaga, now i have a dilemma.
" Goossens stressed that rather than going after big names, Liquid` was always a team that focused on seeing the underlying talent in players and recruiting those it though would do well with the team. "
C'mon, you recruited TLO after he was pwning everyone left and right, as well as Haypro, who always was labeled as the best or 2nd best european zerg in SC2. Back in BW Nony was already the best P outside of Korea when he joined. Nontheless i'm happy for the additions
On September 09 2010 14:37 Vokasak wrote: But after reading the interview, it's nice to see that he's mannered up quite a bit and his opinions about SC2 have become significantly less retarded. I wonder how much of his former butthurt was in his excess weight? (It's a shame we'll have one less target for fat jokes now. At least we still have FantaPrime)
Retarded? What? I may have missed something there, but ret seemed to be having perfectly valid complaints about the game. Actually, it seemed he was one of the only top gamers daring to give his honest opinion about it, despite how much success and money he could've gotten since the release of the beta.
On September 09 2010 15:15 foxmeep wrote: Don't people fucking know how to read these days. It's in the FIRST interview question....
Hi Ret, and welcome back! Where have you been hiding all these months?
Hey, thanks. I've had a great summer away from my computer! After returning from Korea, I had totally lost the will to play videogames, and focused on weights in the gym, tennis, the worldcup, and rebuilding friendships with old friends! So that's why I haven't been around.
Because "focused on weights in the gym, tennis" obviously says exactly everything you need to know to drop weight as dramatically as ret did in such a short period of time. Maybe if they had asked him why he's so good he'd give us another golden nugget like, "I play better than my opponent." I agree that people don't know how to read these days.
Actually, I was referring to this post, but I didn't want to point the finger directly. Our posts just coincided pretty badly
On September 09 2010 13:30 SC2Phoenix wrote: Holy shit did Ret hit the gym? Hes like the white reach lol
" Goossens stressed that rather than going after big names, Liquid` was always a team that focused on seeing the underlying talent in players and recruiting those it though would do well with the team. "
C'mon, you recruited TLO after he was pwning everyone left and right, as well as Haypro, who always was labeled as the best or 2nd best european zerg in SC2. Back in BW Nony was already the best P outside of Korea when he joined. Nontheless i'm happy for the additions
Thats not true at all at that point the only thing I accoumplished was 2nd place in the TLI. And guess who invited me to that, eventhough I was a complete no-name in the starcraft community until then. Nazgul gave me a chance to proof myself worthy and then asked me after I did
lol i couldn't figure out who it was from the picture, ret really worked hard over the last year. this is exciting news and i can't wait to see him face off in a liquibition or tlattack.
I am happy for Jos that he was able to join TL now and it´s cool he took the chance in Korea to spend his time to sharpen up. Two years ago he was not looking really happy and contently. Now he is not just a nice cool guy, he also looks good and happy with a lot of plans :D Gratz and gl to him he got the best master with Naz :D
I feel I have been saying this a lot lately but this really deserves it: AWESOME NEWS. Eager to see Ret playing. Already this weekend we'll probably see how much experience Ret has so far. No matter how he does early on I have no doubt that in a couple of months he'll be a force to be reckoned with.
On September 09 2010 17:16 DminusTerran wrote: So does Ret get to be Mr. January in the Team Liquid 2011 sexy fundraiser calender.
I don't think TL (the proteam) has 12 members for the calendar. Maybe a TL-oGs calender or Nazgul better start aggressive recruiting.
On September 09 2010 14:37 Vokasak wrote: At first, I was sort of surprised that Liquid picked up ret, since they have a reputation of only taking in the most manner of players, and I recall with quite a bit of clarity him trash-talking every opponent he had in an interview in the last TSL (Such and such is a noob, so and so is a moron, etc etc), or some other tournament. And at the start of the SC2 beta he had nothing but complaints to offer up.
But after reading the interview, it's nice to see that he's mannered up quite a bit and his opinions about SC2 have become significantly less retarded. I wonder how much of his former butthurt was in his excess weight? (It's a shame we'll have one less target for fat jokes now. At least we still have FantaPrime)
On September 09 2010 20:26 rasnj wrote: I feel I have been saying this a lot lately but this really deserves it: AWESOME NEWS. Eager to see Ret playing. Already this weekend we'll probably see how much experience Ret has so far. No matter how he does early on I have no doubt that in a couple of months he'll be a force to be reckoned with.
This is so much win, Team Liquid starts to become my favourite team.
Also, wooow, Ret looks like Dwayne the Rock johnson - made me work out immadietly after the 5 minute heartattack when I realised this is actually ret on the photos!^^
At first i was like.....i know this guy,from somewhere i know this guy. Then i rembered the interview with IdrA and Artosis and Ret i was like WTF,this guy lost ALOT of weight. :O
Cool interview,was a good read. He's a cool guy and he plays Zerg. <3
On September 09 2010 14:37 Vokasak wrote: At first, I was sort of surprised that Liquid picked up ret, since they have a reputation of only taking in the most manner of players, and I recall with quite a bit of clarity him trash-talking every opponent he had in an interview in the last TSL (Such and such is a noob, so and so is a moron, etc etc), or some other tournament. And at the start of the SC2 beta he had nothing but complaints to offer up.
But after reading the interview, it's nice to see that he's mannered up quite a bit and his opinions about SC2 have become significantly less retarded. I wonder how much of his former butthurt was in his excess weight? (It's a shame we'll have one less target for fat jokes now. At least we still have FantaPrime)
Wtf ret is the most gm guy ever.
As I said in another thread, the majority of the top players aren't perfectly mannered all the time, some of them are just better at hiding it than others. IdrA is very bad at hiding it cause he just says what he wants in replays. Other players wait till after the game to say what they want.
edit: ret was never perfectly mannered either tho. anyone remember when he called Reach a fag? i do love ret tho would be nice if he found some time to stream every now and then too, his streams were always the most entertaining to watch.
Ret has always been amazing (nice guy, great at BW, great to the community) and now looks amazing. Nice work getting into shape! I haven't been watching SC2 at all but if you start playing and streaming I'm going to convert.
On September 09 2010 14:37 Vokasak wrote: At first, I was sort of surprised that Liquid picked up ret, since they have a reputation of only taking in the most manner of players, and I recall with quite a bit of clarity him trash-talking every opponent he had in an interview in the last TSL (Such and such is a noob, so and so is a moron, etc etc), or some other tournament. And at the start of the SC2 beta he had nothing but complaints to offer up.
But after reading the interview, it's nice to see that he's mannered up quite a bit and his opinions about SC2 have become significantly less retarded. I wonder how much of his former butthurt was in his excess weight? (It's a shame we'll have one less target for fat jokes now. At least we still have FantaPrime)
Wtf ret is the most gm guy ever.
As I said in another thread, the majority of the top players aren't perfectly mannered all the time, some of them are just better at hiding it than others. IdrA is very bad at hiding it cause he just says what he wants in replays. Other players wait till after the game to say what they want.
edit: ret was never perfectly mannered either tho. anyone remember when he called Reach a fag? i do love ret tho would be nice if he found some time to stream every now and then too, his streams were always the most entertaining to watch.
the only GM saint in foreigner scene was white-ra haha
indeed, white-ra's manner, maturity, skill and detirmination made him so easy to cheer for in bw. i've seen him leave a few games without a gg, but i think they were practise games with a close friend and he just wanted to get on with the next game asap, don't think he would intentionally bm anyone.
Men and women, boys and girls, we're proud to introduce, for the first time ever, The Flying Dutchman, son of the swarm and hero of little Zerglings everywhere,
The link is wrong, it doesn't lead to my profile. Other than that, great read. Can't wait to see Ret play SC2!!
That is great news ... andI think for himself that taking this break was a good thing at least he looks good and changed (to the positve in the pictures included) and I hope he now has a lot of energy crushing the "old guys" GL