Demonstrating elite concentration and consistency, Joona “Serral” Sotala from team BASILISK has won the StarCraft II tournament at the Esports World Cup 2025. In the Grand Final Serral secured a commanding win against team Virtus.pro’s Kim “Classic” Doh-woo in a best-of-nine match. Serral had already beaten Classic 3-0 earlier in the tournament, when the pair faced off in the group stage.
Showing consistent form and focus from the first match Serrel remained unbeaten throughout, losing only two maps in the entire tournament. Entering the Grand Final as the favorite, Serral delivered a display of precise control and dominance during the series, winning 5-2.
“To be honest, after a 2-0 start, I was extremely confident. A couple of hiccups did not bother me too much,” said Joona “Serral” Sotala. “It feels absolutely fantastic, this is what I came for, and this is what I got. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
Joona “Serral” Sotala overcame challenges from 17 other players to win the tournament, claim a $200,000 prize and secure 1,000 Club Championship points for team BASILISK.
This also marks Serral’s third world championship title; he won his first at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice in 2022 and successfully defended the title in 2024.
“I improved a lot for this year, I trained hard, I put a lot of effort into it,” explained Serral when asked about his preparations before returning to Riyadh for the Esports World Cup 2025.
“This is the highest achievement you can get every year. I’m kind of speechless. Just incredibly happy.”
The third week of EWC 2025 continues until Sunday 27 July with finals across Honor of Kings and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
For more information and tickets, including access to all tournament days and festival experiences, are available now at esportsworldcup.com.
