The Open tournament at Dreamhack Stockholm has been called ”the best in history” by the arrangers themselves, and a hoard of feared GSL players are making their way to Sweden.
But according to Sweden’s top player at the moment, the European players might have an unexpected advantage against the korean players who mainly compete in their home country.
– It’s different playing against them. Even though they’re better they have no idea what you like to do, so it wouldn’t feel impossible playing against any of them, Viktor ”Miniraser” Malmberg says.

It has only been a couple of days since his WCS adventure ended after an unfortunate misclick in the deciding game for a place in the RO8. Now, he explains what happened when he turned his own defenses into mush prematurely.
– I’ve been playing with grid hotkeys and my morph and explode is the same button. I was just gonna morph one or two more banelings when I missed the tab key and accidentally blew them up instead of making new ones.

”It was one in a million”

Viewers could see how a smiling Miniraser could do nothing besides accept defeat as Dmitry ”Happy” Kostins hellbats wreaked havoc.
– I couldn’t do anything besides laugh, it was one in a million. I wasn’t even that nervous, and it was really unlucky that it happened in the WCS of all places. I felt that I was better than Happy, so it was a sad way to lose.

The 19 year old hasn’t been playing as eagerly as before, since he’s spent some time focusing on school where he studies computer science. But even though he hasn’t put in the hours, he still feels he’s become a more complete player.
– I’ve been playing relatively hard, but maybe not as much as the ones who play the most. But I’ve become more efficient and focused even though I’ve practiced less.
One of the reasons is a Skype chat where he and other top names discuss the game and different tactics.
– Earlier I just sat by myself and played on the ladder. Now I talk more to other players about Starcraft. We have a Skype chat where I ask a ton of questions. Mostly it’s me, Zanster, Harstem, Major and Xenocider. Sometimes Scarlett joins in too.

”Good to get a break”

Another reason is the cooperation with Fnatic team member Kevin ”Harstem” de Koning in between games. During the WCS, viewers could see how they approached each other between every game, handing out tips and cheering each other on.
– It’s mostly that you calm each other down. You need to reset your mind because often your stuck in the previous game. Like ”Calm down, you got this”. And it’s good to get a bit of a break.
Now, Miniraser and the rest of Europe’s Starcraft 2 elite face a literal invasion of Korean players, as DreamHack Stockholm kicks off this weekend. The lineup has been called ”the best ever” by the arrangers and no less than 9 former champions and a group of GSL players are coming to dominate Europe’s best. But Miniraser sees an advantage against the players who mainly compete inside Korea.
– It’s different playing against them. Even though they’re better they have no idea what you like to do, so it would feel like an instant defeat playing against any of them.

Harder to prepare for DreamHack

The nightmare would be having to face another zerg straight off the bat, as Miniraser himself says he’s ”completely worthless” against the race. But there are more things that make it difficult to compete at DreamHack compared to the WCS.
– In the WCS you prepare to face an opponent for weeks. At DreamHack you never know who you’re going to face and you can’t hide build orders for the next opponent so it becomes harder to cheese.

Looking at the lineup, he has no higher expectations for this weekend, but still has a pretty good idea what of a performance he would be satisfied with.
– If I place in the top 16 I would be pretty pleased. To be top 8 and play on the big stage in Globen feels a bit unrealistic, but it would be extremely fun.