Heroes: The Moments We Cherish
May 16 2017
Every competitor in esports has that moment when all that hard work finally pays off and the idea of being a professional gamer doesn’t seem so distant. The Liquid crew is no different.
The predominantly German team has been forged in the fires of competition together, but their origins are like webs of timelines leading to the present. The core of the team—Nurok, Blumbi, and darkmok—banded together to form Team Alternate Fancy (later known as Team Spartanien) in 2015. After a few months of mediocre performance, HasuObs and Splendour joined the team under the sponsorship of mYinsanity. Since then, the squad has quickly climbed the ranks to become one of the top teams in Heroes of the Storm.
What brought them to this moment? What was their inspiration? We wanted to know, so we asked them!
My favourite personal esports memory is qualifying for the Spring Global Championship [Read his IEM Katowice interview] in 2016, as no one expected us to qualify, so it was a huge upset. It felt even better because it was the first time we achieved something that meaningful, and it was the first time that I performed really well offline.
Well firstly, for me, just succeeding in what I'm doing right now is probably the best and most motivating memory I have. I tried hard to be a good player, and for quite some time I wasn't really recognized, so the fact that I'm part of such a great team and able to share so many competitive games with my teammates is truly great!
Apart from that, I can also say how happy I was when we beat MVP Black on Infernal Shrines back in the Summer Global Championship. We literally played our best game and crushed them on that map. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep it up and fell 1:3 to them, but regardless of the outcome, it felt really good to be up against the most feared team and able to compete head to head with them. At least it felt like we had a chance!
It’s hard to pick a single one. For sure, winning my first EPS title in Warcraft3 (also winning my last EPS title in WC3) is one of them. I broke the never ending winning streak of Miou. Also, attending all those SC2 offline events, meeting the same people over and over again, hanging out and becoming friends (worldwide), and all of that because we are playing the same game. Feels awesome.
I’ve played in many different tournaments throughout my career, but probably the most important win was back in 2013. I was playing on a German LoL team [n!faculty] in our national league (EPS). We prepared for the tournament by playing Pudge Wars, a Warcraft 3 mod, until 3 A.M. in the morning.
We had to get up early, and eventually in the grand final we were down 0-1 in a Bo3. The pressure was on our shoulders, and we stepped up and stomped them twice in a row because
we just played our own meta in the following two games. This was the deciding tournament for me to actually stay in the scene. It also showed my parents that I was able to make money with this profession.
My favourite esports moment was winning my first major LAN event, Road to BlizzCon, in 2015 [with Na`Vi]. It's hard to describe the feeling I got when my team was crowned champion. It was amazing...at that moment, I was on top of the world. I felt satisfied and happy thinking back on all the hard work I put into the game, and felt like it was all worth it.
The predominantly German team has been forged in the fires of competition together, but their origins are like webs of timelines leading to the present. The core of the team—Nurok, Blumbi, and darkmok—banded together to form Team Alternate Fancy (later known as Team Spartanien) in 2015. After a few months of mediocre performance, HasuObs and Splendour joined the team under the sponsorship of mYinsanity. Since then, the squad has quickly climbed the ranks to become one of the top teams in Heroes of the Storm.
What brought them to this moment? What was their inspiration? We wanted to know, so we asked them!
Markus “Blumbi” Hanke
My favourite personal esports memory is qualifying for the Spring Global Championship [Read his IEM Katowice interview] in 2016, as no one expected us to qualify, so it was a huge upset. It felt even better because it was the first time we achieved something that meaningful, and it was the first time that I performed really well offline.
Simon “darkmok” Tabin
Well firstly, for me, just succeeding in what I'm doing right now is probably the best and most motivating memory I have. I tried hard to be a good player, and for quite some time I wasn't really recognized, so the fact that I'm part of such a great team and able to share so many competitive games with my teammates is truly great!
Apart from that, I can also say how happy I was when we beat MVP Black on Infernal Shrines back in the Summer Global Championship. We literally played our best game and crushed them on that map. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep it up and fell 1:3 to them, but regardless of the outcome, it felt really good to be up against the most feared team and able to compete head to head with them. At least it felt like we had a chance!
Dennis “HasuObs” Schneider
It’s hard to pick a single one. For sure, winning my first EPS title in Warcraft3 (also winning my last EPS title in WC3) is one of them. I broke the never ending winning streak of Miou. Also, attending all those SC2 offline events, meeting the same people over and over again, hanging out and becoming friends (worldwide), and all of that because we are playing the same game. Feels awesome.
Nils “Nurok” Gebhardt
I’ve played in many different tournaments throughout my career, but probably the most important win was back in 2013. I was playing on a German LoL team [n!faculty] in our national league (EPS). We prepared for the tournament by playing Pudge Wars, a Warcraft 3 mod, until 3 A.M. in the morning.
We had to get up early, and eventually in the grand final we were down 0-1 in a Bo3. The pressure was on our shoulders, and we stepped up and stomped them twice in a row because
we just played our own meta in the following two games. This was the deciding tournament for me to actually stay in the scene. It also showed my parents that I was able to make money with this profession.
Lyubomir "Splendour" Kozlovski
My favourite esports moment was winning my first major LAN event, Road to BlizzCon, in 2015 [with Na`Vi]. It's hard to describe the feeling I got when my team was crowned champion. It was amazing...at that moment, I was on top of the world. I felt satisfied and happy thinking back on all the hard work I put into the game, and felt like it was all worth it.
