The GREATEST UNDERDOG STORY in StarCraft 2 esports - Oliveira

[@EsportsStoryteller]

Timecodes: 00:00 Oliveira's first steps in StarCraft 2 02:17 Oliveira's results decline & he thinks of retirement 03:48 What made Oliveira a champion 04:30 Breaking down Oliveira vs HeRoMaRiNe 05:40 Breaking down Oliveira vs Reynor 09:08 Breaking down Oliveira vs herO 15:56 Breaking down Oliveira vs Maru 17:35 Oliveira as a World Champion

[@fatbasterd5195]

He played like he had nothing to lose and got lucky. But sometimes fortune favors the bold.

[@Erebus2075]

yer damn this is good for the esport scene and sponsors as well :D they couldn't be happier with this ^^ ggwp

[@Erebus2075]

he also managed to outplay his opponents in so many situations where it's an A,B choice and he choose the Right one and the opponent choose the wrong one. (like lockdown over turrets etc.). he got an amazing run out of it, definitely not something that can be repeated as it thrives on the inexperience or confusion of the opponents doing the wrong reactions to what he was doing, and if they met it again it wouldn't be so ^^

[@2bitgypsy]

I actually feel bad for all of the people that wasted that day watching the super bowl that ended with a blown call. They missed the actual sporting event of the year.

[@deadly5074]

fr watching starcraft2 is way more interesting to watch than the NFL right now

[@XUndergroundRap]

Ikr Cheifs shoulda been up by two Td's

[@Neloish]

Umm you know you could watch both right. They were not on at the same Time.

[@JayBird84]

after the nfc championship chiefs game was straight up given to the chiefs - I finally accepted the nfl is rigged af. But still i dont watch it live, i have to wait for WinterGaming to cast it or the casting is too annoying lol

[@alxpenguin]

I could not agree more

[@DOOMinator111]

It was clear that the win meant so much to him and he truly deserved it. Him saying he almost quit and showing vulnerability like he did resonates with so many people (including me), and it shows so much humility and class. He didn't luck out. He didn't cheese his way to victory. His opponents weren't having bad games. He simply outplayed them in a way I don't think any one of them expected to be outplayed. He absolutely CRUSHED it. That speech has got to go down as one of the greatest game acceptance speeches of all time. GGWP world champ

[@buffetize]

😂actually time said it himself (in his stream) that his opponents (reynor hero and Maru) made lots of unexpected mistakes. But time played out his mind and took his chances.

[@DOOMinator111]

@buffetize mistakes are different from playing badly. Everyone makes mistakes. It takes skill to recognise and capitalise on those mistakes.

[@bz2857]

@@DOOMinator111 Time's killer instinct punishes every mistakes.

[@iMasturb8ed]

His aggression and risk taking in the games probably helped in that regard. It was almost offensive/insulting, he was acting as though he routinely steam rolls these S rank players, and I think that helped shake their mental.

[@skychaos87]

@@DOOMinator111 Exactly, sometimes those mistakes are forced. Like in tennis there's forced errors and unforced errors. Sometimes some micro or macro mistakes is because you are actively engaging, harassing and baiting etc, to force opponent to react in multiple places at once that they have no time to macro or they mis-micro their units.

[@echostarling84]

Something to note too is that Oliveira is a regular practice partner for pro players who wanted to keep their strats hidden from other pro players. He was like the boxing punching bag for years all the while getting to face the best players. It's fantastic, his story.

This should have more upvotes!

[@voidoli212]

when he first started playing pro, none of the these big name player would practice with him. He had to put up a small amount per game bounty to get them to play with him.

[@echostarling84]

That adds so much to his story thank you!

[@voidoli212]

@@echostarling84 pleasures, Time/Oliveria and his sponsors Chinese Casts Xiaose and F91 had many funny stories over the past decade. When Time just started, he wanted to observe one of the ongoing match of Maru. Maru, in match, said “who is Time?” And kicked him out because he does not want lag for the game. It became a interesting meme now “who is Maru” amongst Chinese SC watchers.

[@Gasolonfreestyle]

He has a very good dad that most of the pro players would be salty for. In addition to providing an annual financial support about $160,000 (¥1,000,000 Chinese RMB), his dad also learned to play Starcraft. At his 50s, the great father even made it to Diamond League in China server before Blizzard quit China just to make Starcraft II a family event so they could know each other better. His father deserves a bigger applause from us.

[@IamAWESOME3980]

With rich parents anything is possible. For us peasants, our parent would more likely shout us to get a real job and move out of the basement instead

[@Gasolonfreestyle]

@@IamAWESOME3980 you missed my point. China is not the West, and Chinese parents are way more authoritative than western parents. Yea Chinese parents do give money and afford kids college tuition. But everything has a price, when Chinese parents do all of those for the kids, most kids in China are supposed comply with what the parents say. In most cases, rich parents in China would NEVER agree that their kids go pro gamers as their career; instead they would ask the kids to give up what they love and go to school and live a life controlled by the parents. His dad could respect what TIME really loves and cares about, and support his career mentally and financially, that’s what makes him a bigger hero than TIME.

[@IamAWESOME3980]

@Gasol16 3on3 freestyle again, that is for peasants. They have immense pressure from parents to succeed academically yeah because gaokao is the only path to social-economic mobility for these lower classes. Heck, if you take away this stupid gaokao system that destroys childhood, life would be very different for the average Chinese kids. For those already rich, there is no need. Children of fuerdai and guanerdai (sons and daughters of bussiness tycoons and high ranking officials) are notoriously spoiled and entitled thanks to being the only child in 99% of the cases. They don't need to study or work at all and their parents can easily get them a comfy seat at a high ranking university or a comfy job as a top executive without any efforts on their parts. You will need have a rich parents to support a career in esports. It is not an opportunity that is possible for just anyone with huge talent. Less than 47% of chinese households own a computer. 10 years ago when this kid began playing, that number was less than 15%. This is after omitting the fact a computer with graphics card capable of running a demanding game is way more expensive than just any regular computers. That alone pretty much tells you about the feasibility of playing export professionally, especially in china. I mean, have you ever seen a top player from countries like Democratic Republic of Congo? With that said, that kid has skills and his victory is entirely borne out of his effort, work, and delication to his craft but once again, he has to come from a privileged background to fully realized his potential and reach where he is now..

[@Gasolonfreestyle]

@@IamAWESOME3980 I do agree that born in an affluent family is TIME’s advantage that might sound unfair to many. Family richness offers time enough second chances that he could harness to bounce back whereas in real “normal people” it is “win or go to find a real job”. However, playing esports in an upper class family is a deviant behavior to many parents. Times father recalled the price he paid for supporting TIME’s esports career was being despised by friends in his own social circle, aka lose face in Chinese term, which matters a lot to a traditional Chinese male in a patriarchal society. However, even TIME father lost face, he still tried to talk, understand and support his son’s career and dream. This piece of love is truly admirable, as many rich people in China consider face an integral part of the life goal when financially they are worry free. Overall, I think family socioeconomic status, parental support and kid’s self motivation pave the way for the kid’s success in any field, including esports. While I agree money matters, not every rich father in China would respect their kids’ dream like TIME father.

[@ravenkk4816]

@@IamAWESOME3980 you are just making things up, 47% Chinese households don’t have a computer? 😂😂

[@raymondt817]

Surprised you didn't mention his SCV pull in Game 3 vs Hero when mentioning his killer instinct. He had a finished 3rd CC and all the signs of intending to go into a macro game, but somehow knew he had a small window of opportunity to end the game then and there. That move went against all traditional wisdom but turned out to be a genius level move.

[@burgerdaveee]

9000 iq move

[@hanifloka130]

Yeah, that was easily my favorite moment of that series. Pulling the boys at the right time to help fight his opponent.

[@Wanderer1991]

Yeah that threw me off, nothing from a pro move but a straight-up high-risk high reward move. It's good seeing something new and diff

@@hanifloka130 that and using the rocks to block Reynor. When asked about it, he didn't even remember it

[@justinbowen4193]

That move was the most impressive decision he made to me over the tournament to me, taking advantage of a tiny window despite being set up for the macro game

[@SkyWKing]

You should totally watch Oliveira's stream after his win where he explained how he won each game. TLDR practice made all the difference. He was practicing with Serral 20 times a day, losing every single one of them but learned how to remain calm under constant Zerg pressure. He learned from Clem to figure out where to place each tank on each map to counter Reynor's ling run-bys. He practiced 700 times in a month just to defend against the proxy adept rush nailing down every single detail. He said in the end everything just became muscle memory and it's just down to execution. He literally practiced like an AI and dealt with almost every single situation he can be put in. And of course there's also the luck factor where he inadvertently spread his tanks perfectly against Reynor (he literally said "I didn't know spreading tanks like this was possible with my skill level", and it's pretty well known TIME's tank spreads were terrible). The psychological factor was also very important. His opponents were so tilted after losing one map against them that "they were performing at most 30% of their peak form" according to himself. All those factors turned into a perfect storm that gave us the greatest underdog story in SC2 history.

[@xWildernessss]

Where is the stream? Can't seem to find it on twitch or youtube.

[@loreychu7646]

@@xWildernessss kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6LYhYCQZdZ1gbc A fan did a simultaneous interpretation video

[@Devillionaire]

@@xWildernessss Winter replays it on his Twitch channel

[@pigzard01]

Wow. Well that explains the big improvement lots of practice and 2 of the best sparring partners one could wish for.

[@sc2youtube744]

There's a video with English subtitles that I watched. It was actually a gem. It's called "oliveira (time) analyze his way to world champion part 1"

[@charleswang8005]

Some add up for Time/Oliveira from his Chinese streaming: 1. He’s sometimes invited to play against top tiers like herO, Serral and Clem. Some think Time plays like a little Maru, ideal punching bag when u wanna try new build against Maru (without letting him know). and this time punching bag punches back lol 2. 100% of his income from streaming gifts and selling commemorative T-shirt will go to charity, supporting education in remote areas. I’m Oliveira/Time’s Chinese fan for more than 6 years. He went through all kind of trials, stumbled several times, grow up to fight the peak of 3 races and win this championship. He is always our hero!

[@veritascui6013]

In the last part of his speech, many chinese audience including a chinese old pro terran player, cried. It has been a dream of Chinese starcraft for so long, and after 20 years and generations of players' effort, we have this moment. It is beautiful.

[@joshuakevinserdan9331]

Congrats!

[@iMasturb8ed]

Most of us non-Chinese who love the game also cried... 1000% respect to this man and his achievement after struggling for so long! His humble and sincere words after the game inspired so much respect.

[@lppoqql]

The problem is most Chinese kids dont have time to play games. They compete in academics, but this will change soon.

[@-Raylight]

So happy Oliveira! He practiced hard and won the tournament, he totally deserved it. Also made the tournament feels fresh and more interesting in the process, we see this as an absolute win!

[@joeysummers8644]

happy for him but imagine the community if a similarly aligulac ranked (he was ranked ~2800 before) protoss or zerg like Lambo or Skillous had won against Reynor, herO and Maru to win the world championship

[@RD-rm6qm]

That speech at the end almost got me to tears. Truly an inspirational moment that goes far beyond the game.

[@davideloi9176]

That speech did get me into tears. I had to reach for some tissues 😆😆

[@llllllllllllllIIlIllIIllIIIIll]

@@davideloi9176 same

[@fluffydohunuts8997]

what do you mean almost? i totally bawled....

[@jeffreytan2948]

I didn't know a game (and an e-sports game at that) could get me this emotional. Well played Oliveira, well played.

[@MrDdz]

Almost? Lies. You were bawling weren't you.

[@sirsaltzalot9369]

My wife’s first time watching an sc2 tournament. I’d counted Oli out just like all of us I’m sure. I remember coming home and missing the reynor series but my wife telling me how he went down 0-2 and made an insane comeback. Then to be glued to the tv to watch that insane run vs hero and Mari. Thank Oli for getting my wife hyped about sc2, you’ve got a fan!

[@ianlarm1588]

Feels good to see him finally win. Been one of his fans since I started watching starcraft in 2019. I didn't know the scene well, so I chose some random players: Serral, Solar, Maru, Time, Hero, Classic. 2 of each race. I just chose these players based on which games in IEM Katowice 2019 (my very first tournament) I liked and followed them hard-core without looking back. I have been blessed to see Maru win number 5, Hero win a premier event, Solar win a few premier events, Serral win many and become World Champion. And now I have finally seen Oliveira become World Champion. Now I just need a Classic victory to complete my infinity guantlet.

[@EsportsStoryteller]

I hope classic will do better this year. His performance at IEM Katowice was quite impressive :)

[@ghosthamster6521]

I haven't cried from emotions for over 4 goddamn years. But when Olivera really warmed my heart. What a truly inspiring story. Even if you are at the lowest point you could be doing the worst ever good things could be just around the corner and you have to do your very best.

[@burgerdaveee]

olivera made amazing read after amazing read throughout iem 2023. his scv pull against hero is as legendary as it gets,

[@Norrieification]

DUDE! This was so good! Easily your best work so far. The freeze frames and arrows with your insight really add a lot. I'm gonna show this to some of my friends who don't follow sc2 so much. Well done!!

[@EsportsStoryteller]

Thank you!

[@Dainurian]

The only thing I'm sad about in this story is that I didn't get to watch it live. Oliveira's decisiveness, aggressiveness, and play were top notch; watching him stim and stutterstep forward with absolute confidence reminded me of when Byun was on top of the world.

[@bz2857]

Byun was teammate (X team created by F91) with Time in China in 2014-2016. Byun was the major trainer for Time (Innovation and TY also helped) at that time. This made Time's play style quite Korean, more specifically Byun-like. But Time's micro is never as strong as Byun (Byun's micro deals damage to enemy in game and to himself out of game...).

[@alltat]

Anyone saying that matches were fixed or that he was lucky didn't watch the games. At times it felt like watching a Terran Serral, where it's hard to say what he did right or what his opponents did wrong, except that he clearly just played *better*.

[@FenixBG]

Great video. I still remember am game between TIME and Serral when Serral was untouchable. I don't remember the name of the map. Only how it looked. And TIME almost won. It sounds weird to say, as if it is special and I thought it was. Everybody else was being crushed and he had a long game where it looked like he can win. He must have possesed all the qualities even back then, great that he didn't quit.

[@snaffu1]

Even just in the first 25s, I'm reminded of something that popped for me recently while watching True Sight with some friends, and to be honest it has come up time and again in all the years I've followed competitive gaming: the stereotype of esports athletes being referred to as "machinelike", almost exclusively east asian players. A goofy, idiotic, harmful trope that couldn't be the furthest thing from the truth, as any player or fan worth their salt will tell you. We're all human, no matter how focused and disciplined we may be in the match. I mean just look at this guy! I see someone overwhelmed with emotion and disbelief, crying with joy at what he's just accomplished, wrapping his head around the moment of victory, and proudly hoisting a well earned trophy over his head as champion. This is the way, that's the shit, this right here is what we love most about esports. Cheers, Oliveira, you've damn well earned every bit of it, mate.

[@pinky797]

I am a Time fan for years. I knew he can be one of the top players one day. But I was not expecting this result. Most of the starcraft player in China are partially retired. They are not getting better, all what they do is to compete with other "retired" players inside of the border. They can make living by doing so (The Casters in china basically babysitting them). But at the same time, they gave up something I would admire. I can remember, there was a tournament called Gold tournament where china orgnizer pays top korean EU players come to China and compete with Chinese players. All the "retired" players are refused to compete against koreans. Every single one of them say "Its a shame because I have no chance against them" Even chinese best casters (one of the orgnizer too) are disappointed of those "partially retired players". Casters say: "You should try it even you know you cant win them. You got to show what you are capable and getting experience from them." But time is different, I guess he is lucky aswell. His family is pretty rich. He grab every single oppotunity to compete and train with koreans. He took the opportunity once to train in Korea with Major and Scarlett. At the time, he definitly learned a lot from major. He would pay drinks and meals for Korean players multiple times for the chance to practice with them. Thats why I was rooting for him. He was not training in the blindfold and waiting til oneday he cant do anything about it. I see the hope and courage in him which none of other chinese player have. From time to time, he became better and better, He can sometimes take a game or two from Serral, Dark, and Maru in past years in big tournaments. And that is all I can expect from him. He is still the player who ask for training with serral and korean players. (he asked clem for training clem told him f**k off) This IEM run is perfect for me. Its the W for the player who really deserved. Its also the W for the race beside zerg. Its a solid journey that no one can say anything against it. Its also the W for my country. SC2 may not be in china anymore; However, time fulfilled his deam together with our's.

[@bunyu6237]

Eh, if you watch his stream after winning this one, he said Clem talk to him a lot, and teach him one strategy which he uses in this tournament. I know you like Oliveira but don't disparage other player please. I don't know if that happened in the past, it might be a different story

[@travisli5632]

@@bunyu6237 I want to say the same. Clem seems to be relatively close to him. Don’t portray Chem as some era gent jerk.

[@lz4737]

Yeah, Time said Clem showed him an awesome tank siege spot that can cover two entrances. I believe they get along. Still, an unbelieve run from Time for sure, he has overcome so much to get here.

[@pinky797]

well, if thats what time want. I wont force it. May RTS great again

[@bluex610]

Everyone else was sweating balls, stressing, and making mistakes. While Oliveira was having fun and already hyped to still be in the tournament playing, with little to no pressure on himself. You can clearly see it after every win and the fist bumps. His opponents probably got more tilted because they were thinking how the fuck am I losing to this noob?!?! 😆 A little bit of luck and amazing reads by Oli was what gave him the edge. It was only fitting that he beat reynor, hero, then Maru to complete his journey. Can't script it better. Amazing tournament, I'll always look back to this as one of the best.

[@chefbrankothespider5094]

@Frank Wang Do you think someone young and full of love for the game would agree on just money, Raynor was visually pissed off he started twitching at one moment, Hero was disappointed and pissed off too, do you think Maru as the best terran player would let someone to take his crown with 4:1 final? + this is not some small organization this is literally the most important event in SC2

[@TempRawr]

@@frankwang9825 considering his skilled history it kind of weak to say this tournament was rigged. Sure lots of history that can make it so but the gameplay he showed and the competition he had with other players even if it rigged could not discredit how well he played against other players playing really good. Maru was unstoppable all tournament and he came with good statergys but Oliveria was just amazing with his timing attacks and end-game.

[@cousinpatsey2471]

@Frank Wang if you really think this was scripted, you're delusional. Point blank. There's no logic, or evidence to think it's scripted. There isn't even a good reason for them to script it.

[@orzcc2008]

@Frank WangLol, losers do what losers do.

[@javikprothean1469]

@Frank Wang You are just a pathetic loser who didn't even watch the games. If you think all those top players were acting then you should get your brain checked. LOL

[@januszkurahenowski2860]

I like this analysis of champions type of content, makes you really appreciate how skilled those players are. There was not enough content like that in the sc2 scene and you're filling the void

[@bob9101]

Thanks for sharing this amazing story.

[@EsportsStoryteller]

Thanks a lot!

[@ososanity52]

That interview brought me to tears. What a champ!

[@Guitarainer]

awesome video - i was never so excited for a final since stephanos major win and serral being blizzard world champ or reynors big win - was very happy for oliveira - what a nice surprise and what a kind dude with english skills and showing finally emotions - i missed this for example on maru or serral or most korean player , great they are but not too relateable and stoic for me - so thanks so much for covering and even so smart analyze it with such great details to the games of oliveira - you videos are getting better and better , exspecially your storylines, own word summeries - deluxe work , thanks for reviving and the passion for da game - grateful greetings

[@EsportsStoryteller]

Thank you!

[@xHomu]

Your coverage of iem and enthusiasm for sc2 got me tune in the tournament for the first time in almost a decade! This old game still got it! Thank you!

[@EsportsStoryteller]

Thanks!

[@周馳浩]

Because of someone's stupidity and greed (Kotick, you!), we lost the StarCraft 2 game server, but we got a SC world championship for the first time in 25 years (from SC1 to SC2). Ironic, right?

[@walden6272]

Who is Kotick? What happen?

[@narg1998]

CEO from Activision Blizzard, and the whole Blizzard games server was just retreated from China last month due to some issue between Blizzard and Netease.

[@周馳浩]

@@walden6272 Isn't Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard right now? This guy proposed a sky-high new contract to the Chinese agency after the old contract expired, and all the game revenues were heavily favored by Blizzard.The new terms also include the development of new games for Blizzard, but Blizzard has to monopolize all revenue sharing except for the Chinese market. Kotick wanted to prove that his Blizzard could generate excess revenue. After the contract expires, the Chinese agent cannot accept the new terms, and no other company dares to accept such a stupid overlord term. So Blizzard games withdrew from the Chinese market.

[@tomatoeggs7932]

Oliveria/Time mentioned how he prepared the 2023 IEM after the 2022 Atlanta failure in a Chinese interview. - Woke up around 12pm. - Went to the gym from 2 - 4pm. - Practiced until 4am (sometimes even 6am) - Woke up around 12pm and repeat this everyday He practiced from 4pm to 4am not only to practice with the best players in Europe, but more importantly to make his bio/SC2 clock get used to Katowice time zone.

[@iMasturb8ed]

Damn nice tidbit. That's dedication right there

[@sssolventless7105]

dude thank you for all your videos man, the time you take to make these is awsome, each one is super interesting and gives another view of sc2. Everything about this years IEM Katowice tournament was awsome. The production was amazing, I love they had all the little games and had extra clips so we could see how each player talks and is, the casters on all streams were all top notch and the games amazing. Oliveira and this tournament injected new life into the scene. lets go!!

[@J9045hello]

20:05 "... you can still be world champion, [even] when no one trusts you" . Epic. I needed to hear that.

[@2482jamie]

amazing day. I am so happy i got to experience that win with the community. So Happy for Oliveira. Truly inspiring

[@Wanderer1991]

Hope Oli/Time keeps evolving because all these sc2 pros will start reading his gameplays. I mean for the last game with both Reynor and Maru, they both were shocked and stressed out. Reynor was scratching his head like crazy toward the end, and Maru was showing so many facial expressions 😮😮😮

[@walden6272]

I honestly think Oliveira will not win another title again. Reynor, Maru, and Hero will play him differently next time with more respect. But it was amazing run nonetheless.

[@Devillionaire]

@@walden6272 I dunno about never again… He has the mindset of a champion now. Knows how to think, stay calm under pressure, and visualize the win. Also he clearly has a real talent for sensing the kill shot moment - something only the best of the best have.

[@Nomadsc2]

A few years ago I got back into watching esl, and didn't know hardly any of the players anymore. It was a katowice, and time and serral went at it. I knew serral was the goat already, but times highly aggressive play style made me love watching him, and made him one of my favorite players to watch. Hero is still my favorite player, but time is just the terran hero.

[@ElSolRacNauj]

Yep, when I saw live how he ignored the siege tank and instead went for the double auto turret in the ramp, I instantly knew why he was going to win, and why he deserved it. Such a quick, brilliant, and unortodox play.

[@Vici0uSquirrel]

Crazy to think everyone went into this expecting a ZvZ finals but then we got this…

[@sguevar87]

Superb video, catching and well done. Great editing.

[@Supersmallpig]

He really inspiring me. Although I play a different game as TEKKEN and also not pro player but this year Oliveira and Ghirlanda these 2 person from different ESPORT game show the same thing ----- There is nothing impossible there is no limit. As an ESPORT player who loves the ESPORT and the game there is no excuses for being weak anymore. Maybe you could not achieve something like them but that is not important if you don't wanna win just wanna try your best and enjoy your show you won't fall that is what I learned from them. 只要你不想贏你就不會輸，你只需要盡全力去享受你的比賽。

[@keizan5132]

Ok, I'm going to be honest here. Sure I never thought that Oliveira would win the tournament, sure literally no one could've predicted that; but I wouldn't say that there was "nothing special" in his way of playing the game. My favourite dynamic and more "keen to aggression" terrans in the beginning of the 2020's were Clem, Bunny and Time (in that order). I always found funny that they were all from different regions and, specially, how that influenced their playstyles despite all of them being aggressive, dynamic and just keen to play fun games in general (For example: Clem is always in your face but he's so macro-oriented nonetheless, Bunny has so many wacky builds and the killer instinct you develop playing in Korea, especially in TvT and Time was just all over the place, also more macro-oriented than in KR but not quite like Clem and not necessarily that fast, he got his own taste to it). Even casters spoke about how entertaining Time's games generally were and, actually, one of my favourite games of 2021 was Dark - Time (no pun intended) game 1 at DH Fall group stage (the one that Serral won that year). I remember I recommended that game to anyone who asked me what to watch from that tournament. Dark won that game with the most stubborn mass muta I have ever seen but man did Time took him to his limits. So of cuorse he wasn't amongst the elite of that moment formed by the top Koreans (Maru, Rogue, Dark, Trap) and The Holy Trinity in Serral, Reynor and Clem. I wouldn't have even counted him between those top players just outside of the aforementioned ones at that time like Zest, Parting, Cure... Let alone a player of world champion caliber. But I didn't see him as someone too far from that level; which, despite having some features that made his playstyle always cool to watch, it's something special in itself. Sure I couldn't have ever imagined he'd end up being world champion and it was quite literally the most unexpected moment in his career to do so but idk, I would've never called him a player with "nothing special" either. Aside from that, great mini-documentary as always. It's a great sign to see quality content becoming an everyday thing for this channel. You tell the stories that matter the most in a way that makes the reasons why they matter pop out and it makes it even more educational, inspiring and entertaining. Also; speaking of what you said about high-risk-high-reward, it really felt even more hardcore. It felt as if he did a whole lot of stuff that shouldn't work but he made them work somehow. Everything out of his tactical sense or killer-instinct, almost flawless decision making and, of cuorse, microing his soul and his heart out of his body and all of that made possible because of his insane switch of gears that granted him mental strength, determination, decisiveness and pure tenacity to keep going until the very end.

[@danialturner6343]

On his post victory stream, he said: it was a painful practice enduring 20+ loss streak against Serral on a map. If you can't endure the pain in practice, you don't deserve the joy of a champion. I swear, Time is full of quotes.

[@dannyc.8696]

It was unbelievable that Maru looked defeated even after his first loss, and then it was 1-1, so it was actually "even", but he still looked so destroyed. I think its because Maru sensed it was like David vs Goliaths. David just took off the 2 other Goliaths heads, and now David is coming for the last final boss Goliath. The final Goliath saw what David did to the other 2 goliaths, and therefore he was scared. He was scared of David and didn't want to be there. He knew David was coming for him, and take his head off too. David did it.

[@apeist]

After watching the Reynor and Hero matches, Maru was probably thinking "what is going on? are they just choking or is Oliveira playing out of his mind?" That first game probably made him think "oh they were just choking... i'm gonna crush this" but then Oliveira started his S-tier decision making and swatted away Maru's aggression while executing counters with perfect timing. Going from that certainty to "oh no, what is happening?" really threw Maru into a tailspin, exactly how it did to Reynor and Hero. It really is incredible how the pressure weighed down this trio of opponents, while Oliveira's play was light as air, as if nothing in the world mattered except for enjoying the current moment. Such a beautiful story, and we are all lucky to have witnessed it.

[@walden6272]

Oliveira said during a stream that for some odd reason Maru was making mistakes that he normally doesn't make in practice. For example, in the 2 racks proxy. Maru would normally send his scv in to his opponent base to scout if they are building a reactor if so he would deny it with the first reaper instead of waiting for the second reaper to come out. That would prevent the opponent from being able to produce enough unit to stop his harass from doing big damage. Oliveira said he would lose 100% of the time when Maru does that but Maru didn't do it in the final so Oliveira had his reactor finished so he was able to produce just as much unit as Maru and defend and gain economic lead. I think the problem is all Oliveira opponent underestimate him so it threw their game judgement off. When Oliveira wins games, they tilted.

[@msubasic64]

​@@walden6272 after reviewing the history it does seem that Maru has a history of choking in the last stages here.

[@walden6272]

@@msubasic64 Not just Maru, but Hero as well make some mistakes like in the final match, Hero chase after Oliveira and even when his army was not strong enough to defeat Oliveira he engaged and lost. Hero was not that behind. He should have back off after he started his 3rd expansion rather than try to kill an opponent that has a better army. Reynor too was making careless mistakes throwing waves of lings at Oliveira without trying to be more efficient. What interesting is Oliveira said after he defeated Maru for the first time, Maru shake his hand with two hands and give a slight bow. In Korean culture that is full respect. Oliveira recalled a time when he shook Maru's hand, Maru would only use one hand to shake. So Oliveira was happy about receiving Maru's approval.

[@lz4737]

@@walden6272 herO also put his force field way off in the first game. The pressure was real.

[@jmgutierrez962]

Truly,.in all my years as a starcraft 2 fan, this is the greatest underdog story..noone could have expected it.

[@zanac76]

Great video. Amazing speech full of emotion at the end. Take all the chances live gives you! Good stuff!

[@thomaschang7996]

19:10 Smix struggling w tears 🥺

[@reallyidrathernot.134]

Really enjoy the still frame explanations; I often can not keep up with the commentators/game when things get very busy in climactic moments.

[@bboyjmillz-g2g]

1st Tournament I was able to watch and follow from the start. What an awesome Champion.

[@he1986]

Really good event all together! Sc2 at it's best. To quote Oliveira; "Starcraft 2 is not a dead game" :D

[@drawnsequence]

Fantastic video! That actually made my eyes water. I'm really happy for TIME/Oliveira. What a great story and those plays were stunning!

[@RaterisimoCBA]

His speech had me in tears once again 😭 I love Oliveira

[@kingsalver]

This was surprising I only knew Olivara through a few matches through lowkotv But.... Dam he did it He did it

[@madumlao]

Can we also give a shoutout to ZombieGrub's amazing hype generating performance here as a caster. Couple years ago she'd often be the B or even C stream that you watch to chillax but she is also on the rise

[@robertmcknightmusic]

What a great story. There's a lot of stereotypical ideas about Asian parents, but Oliveira's acceptance speech at the end was really touching. Every parent should tell their child, "you'll always be number 1 in my heart."

[@AndresRodriguezIGN]

Great content! Thank you for sharing

[@EsportsStoryteller]

Thanks!

[@benumbrardor8708]

Wow, I absolutely did not recognize exactly how shaken Hero was in that game 4.

[@thesultan1212]

Amazing run, amazing tournament, great video keep it up!

[@akiyamach]

This was a brilliant cover of Oliveira's recent career. I'm so happy for him!

[@AlejandroMuro0tto]

You are not just the best player in your fathers heart. You are the best player. Go on playing king of games.

[@Neloish]

The apm battle between Reynor and Time was the craziest thing I have ever seen.

[@uzioo]

Oliveira’s speech always makes me tear up🫶😿🙏

[@XmarkedSpot]

Quite the competent breakdown, very much enjoyable. Well, a subscription is overdue, i guess :D

[@manueldelbono202]

Damn... The speach... I'm not crying, there's just a world cup in my eye

[@jaetoshu]

i was awake all night to watch this esl sc2 tournament. And then i got flu and fever the next day. But its all worth it. This sc2 tournament is one of the best in e-sport history imo. :)

[@recarsion]

This man has read The Art of War for sure

[@Ciowan]

Another fantastic video my friend. Keep em coming.

[@sc2youtube744]

I think time played outstanding but I also think that at the end of the day, the super top sc2 players are all nearly the same level so it basically all comes down to how they perform under the stress and who is going to get energized by the tournament vs who's going to get thrown off. Time clearly had the edge with his super positive attitude and probably low expectations and outrageous practice before the games

[@gyppygirl2021]

He won the psychological battle, and that was the most important one.

[@sc2youtube744]

@@gyppygirl2021 exactly

[@kjwong4730]

Unbelievable. Absolutely astonishing.

[@upsetkidpanda1869]

wow look at this guy! practicing really hard and pushing things a little by little everyday and tells people that they can all do it! what a humble champion this guy is. tbh i was rooting for maru. but seeing this guy play i was like - maru is not going to make it out alive. well deserved! please do not change oliveira!

[@Damogron]

Love your videos, keep sharing SC2 history!

[@EsportsStoryteller]

Thanks!

[@milletmongoose]

I started tearing up when smix did. That speech was really something.

[@FredrikLarssonPhoto]

Same here.

[@xiaoemo231]

He is amazing, last time he got 0-6, he deleted his social media account and practised really really hard every day. He deserves this. There are no shortcuts for a genius in a game full of geniuses, and success is still only achieved by practising harder than everyone else❤

[@jasontodd2331]

Man, it is so tear dropping watching him winning it. We lost our server in China, we lost millions of players who used to play SC2, and we have a champion now...

[@mabechard]

I chose a good year to start watching SC2 again.

[@FriendKale]

What a crazy event!

[@Momo-96]

Probably one of the greatest underdog story. I’ve never seen such an underdog win a grand finals in any sporting history. It’s like the jags winning the Super Bowl this year …

[@startraderpaulus4294]

You know guys, I see much more in Oliveiras performance, it shows us that it does not matter how big your skill level is, when your mental game sucks Oliveira sad, that in his mind he was greatful that he went so far in this tournament, so he just wanted to play his best game, doesn't matter win or lose.... I feel a lot of people can learn from this outside of starcraft.... Just to focus on the execution and not the result (easier sad then done heh)

[@startraderpaulus4294]

Amazing, thanks

[@hanifloka130]

Out of the three pros that were beaten, I have this mindset that her0 underestimated Oli/Time the most. In all of his games against the champ, he didn't even bother upgrading. It's especially noticeable in the third game where her0 went for his usual blink stalkers but they're 0-0 and he wasn't mining gas. I was like "dude, what are you doing? He's got 1-1 on his marines & marauders are you not gonna tech up?".

[@Telopead]

I wouldn’t say that he underestimated Oli, because Hero’s in suboptimal position after Reynors defeat actually. He’s caught in an unexpected PvT, which he didn’t really prepare for. He definitely had some builds for Maru, but that’s for the finals. And Oliveira, could have been the worst surprise Terran for him, because he’s been practice partner with Oli prepping for the tournament. It sucks. Your opponent probably knows your builds for PvT, and he probably knows how you play your generic games. And most importantly, he’s carrying so much momentum that’s almost like a freight train… I’d lose my mind after that disastrous first game(unexpected counterattack that shouldn’t have happened) too.

[@hanifloka130]

@@Telopead I agree with you that the counterattack might have broken him but he did manage to equalize on the next game so her0 would've at least felt some sort of relief to ease the pain from the first game and get him back on track, right?

[@Telopead]

@@hanifloka130 idk. But I’d say thats what momentum does. As a psychology phenomenon, momentum has such a weirdly powerful effect in sports and esports that don’t make sense sometimes. Once you really have it and you opponents felt it, everything goes your way. According to Oli in his recap stream, he was feeling weirdly calm that day, all he wanted was to play one more game on that stage. And that he could actually feel the tilt every time he toke a game off his opponents that feeds his confidence. That’s the perfect mentality for riding the momentum. And in my life of watching sports, it’s exciting but not that surprising to see great competitors got crushed by the mysterious power.

[@hanifloka130]

@@Telopead I'm curious, where'd you see this recap stream? Was it here on KZbin or Twitch?

[@Telopead]

@@hanifloka130 someone had it transcribed on Reddit.

[@hectatusbreakfastus6106]

What a class act! I think the entire starcraft 2 community is proud of him! WAY TO GO!!!!

[@gyppygirl2021]

In the end, to win, all it takes is a bit of TIME. He proved that this year.

[@Ellinobrasil]

Last time i was exited about a player was MarineKing ....he plays so risky and nice

[@n0madfernan257]

"Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up." -Alfred to Bruce Wayne Congrats to the Normal person, Oliveira.

[@sebastiansmurawski4676]

it was the greatest final i have evers een in starcraft and.. if you remember matrix3.. there is a moment everybody believed in neo.. and i have a chinese friend.. we saw the spirit of TIME and we knew that he*she*it gonna go trough.. thats somehow like a movie but i believe in the spirit ;>

[@FidelisRaven]

He played really well, however map pool, opponents and most of all the latest patch also played a big role. Only 1 toss in top 12, not a surprise at all since protoss was gutted. New map geometry favors terran in tvz heavily with all the corners to safely tuck in tanks and chokepoints near 4th & 5th bases.

[@loschen_kite]

Nice story. Thumb up

[@Lanzetsu]

I loved the tournament and Oliveira games, incredible, I felt bad for herO, was rooting for him specially after the stomp over Dark but couldn't made it to finals. He at least lost against the champion.

[@soywhitelie2976]

It's cool to see how oliveira defeated all the players that underestimate him

[@lz4737]

"Who said heroes can't be ordinary souls?" Go Go Time/Oliveira!!! GGWP

[@stevef68]

I can't believe you didn't show the fight where Maru pushed into Oliveira's natural and disabled all the tanks on high ground and Oliveira STILL won the fight-it was INSANE.

[@walden6272]

Oliveira said that move into Maru base serve as a tactic to force Maru to defend with all his focus so Oliveira can destroy Maru's economy with 2 liberators send to 2 bases. If you watch the games you will see it. It killed 35 scvs. After that, Oliveira said even if Maru survive the attack, he would be so behind that Oliveira next push will likely end it.

[@voidoli212]

Also if you look close to that battle, while Maru disabled Oliveria's tank, Oliveria's liberator was also firing at Maru's tank and killed 5. Maru lost about the same amount of tanks and scv been hit hard.

[@xQTx]

Awesome Video!

[@MeatMonsterMan]

"When you're ahead, get more ahead." "Nah, I think I'll just win now." It was impressive to see the risks he was willing to take. Full commitment when he smells blood in the water.

[@stephenw4720]

Oliveira (TIME) worked so harder last year. Thats 85-120 hours a week (12-15 hours a day times 7). Almost as much as Elon did. Then he won the championship with flying colors against top players (establishment). Just like Tesla vs OEM auto makers (GM, Ford etc). What a motivating story.

[@harrellt1405]

Congrats champ

[@TheOdeeze]

Because of your video I decided to watch the tournament and all I can say is thank you.

[@EsportsStoryteller]

You're welcome! StarCraft 2 is a great game, hope you'll enjoy it even more in future :)

[@dgasg4304]

for me this ESL is the greatest but most upsetting ESL in years, to see most elite players fall is a kind a hard to watch, but Oliveira earned his win and like Esports Storyteller said no one deserves this more than him. Oliveira's win is good for the community and future of the SC2. i'm looking forward to the next ESL more than ever.... gg

[@The_savvy_Lynx]

what an amazing run!

[@reallyidrathernot.134]

maybe even do the really busy moments in slow-mo and talk through what's going on? eg: with maru and the auto-turrents, i've had to go back 3 times just to see what's going on.

[@mrmistmonster]

What a bracket to fight through. Just a normal man. Just an innocent man.

[@matthewheadland7307]

This is what I was waiting for

[@khmerGuru]

I wanted 3 players to win Bunny, herO, byun. Seeing Olivieras run was insane and inspiring. Couldn’t help to root for him and be happy be won.

[@uciratz]

Was really pulling for oli, byun and creator, these guys try so hard

[@Caldera01]

If someone is wondering how Oliveira was able to pull this off, I have one secret to share with you guys. The person Oliveira had as a practice partner for this tournament was someone little known dude called Joona Sotala, also known as Serral. Before the World Championships, Oliveira was playing a 2v2 tournament with Serral as his partner and in another tournament earlier Serral had just suffered a crushing defeat against Maru. I believe Serral wanted someone to practice TvZ with to crush Maru in the finals with and since he was already friends with Oliveira, he could practice with him, after all... Oliveira learning his new plays and strategies isn't that big of a deal, Serral could easily beat him as he did. It just turns out that it wasn't TvZ Serral needed to worry about and that it would be Oliveira that would get more out of those practice sessions.