Gabriel ‘HeroMarine’ Segat is in a unique position within the StarCraft 2 scene. Having joined the high profile professional team Mousesports in 2011 at the age of only 14, HeroMarine has been a professional gamer for most of his teenage years. Juggling school and StarCraft, the German Terran has been absent for most of 2016. He’s returned in a big way though, claiming a Semi-Finals finish at the WCS Summer Championships during Dreamhack Montreal. I was lucky enough to talk to HeroMarine about his past and future in esports, the state of the game, and more.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me! What lured you in to SC2? Why did you dedicate yourself to this game instead of LoL or CS:GO or anything else?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: At the time StarCraft: Brood War started to grow bigger outside of Korea (around 2008) I got my first real computer. In addition, my brother used to follow some Warcraft 3 and SC:BW. Therefore, it was a logical decision that the first games I played on computer were SC:BW and WC3. Then SC2 lured me more than WC3 and SC:BW because it had a competitive component for me in contrast to the predecessor since I played mostly fun games there. In fact, I did not even know LoL or CS:GO at that point.

You were very young when you joined your current team, Mousesports. Only 14. How did you reach such a high level of play at such a young age?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: When I started playing SC2 competitively I have always been within the top 5% of ladder. However, I barely played the game. For this reason, I did not improve until I got to know Miou (old WC3 progamer) who saw some potential in me and he inspired me to play more. During Gamescom 2011 I actually met Mondragon (old SC:BW progamer) who was a player/manager for Acer during that period. Afterwards he was a bit of a coach for me and I finally improved exponentially. The skill boost gave me the confidence to apply to Mousesports and because of my tournament results in online tournaments and potential they decided to recruit me.

Before WCS Summer at Dreamhack Montreal, it seems that you weren’t on many people’s radar. Despite a strong showing at Homestory Cup 13 earlier in the summer, and the announcement that you would be playing full time, many people were saying that it was surprising for you to have made it as far as you did in WCS Summer. Why do you think that is?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: I think a lot of people outside of Germany forgot about me in Legacy of the Void because I did not play any tournaments until HSC. I was writing my A level exams when most of the tournaments happened (Dreamhack Leipzig, Tours, IEM Katowice etc.). Personally, I did not expect to make it this far but I saw an opportunity after beating ShoWTimE since I had a bracket which I felt comfortable with. Furthermore, nobody knew how I was going to play at that tournament which is a huge advantage. Additionally, being fulltime helped me a lot because I was able to put all my effort and experience into that one tournament. As a result, I was able to overcome my mental block I had in a lot of offline tournaments because of school concerns since it has always been my main priority. That being said I was one of the best in school and I was still managing my career properly. Now that I play fulltime for the rest of the year I can manage my career even better which has already paid off in WCS.

How does it feel to be on that radar now? Do you feel any pressure?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: I play for the competition and fun. Therefore, I do not think that I need to prove anything to anyone. I like to have a free mindset which is easy to get when you do not feel any pressure. Putting pressure on yourself only slows down your progress as a player.

Like I said, you had a strong showing in HSC 13 this summer, actually beating PSISTORM’s True quite definitively with a 3-0 map score. In WCS Summer, True was the one who came out ahead defeating you 3-1. Would you say that a rivalry is forming between the two of you, similar to Hydra and Neeb, or Bomber and Scarlett?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: In my opinion, it does not come close to a rivalry since we only met 2 times. Also, at HSC we met in an insignificant round. For example, Hydra and Neeb played in single elimination playoffs and even in a final. It might form into a rivalry but it seems highly likely that we won’t meet in any tournament this year anymore. Even if I played against him again it would not come close to my rivalry with ShoWTimE for instance.

You consider ShoWTimE to be the best German player at the moment, is that right? How close are the two of you in skill right now?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: In terms of results the German scene is split. ShoWTimE has by far the strongest results. Because of my recent success I am the second best. Nevertheless, my results do not come close to ShoWTimE's. GunGFuBanDa, Lambo and TLO are also top German players in terms of skill but according to the results this year they do not come close to me or ShoWTimE since they did not even qualify for WCS. Undoubtedly, ShoWTimE is the best and because of my recent success I am the second best in Germany. However, there is still a huge difference between me and ShoWTimE. I consider him to be top 3 outside of Korea and I might be top 15 at the moment.

You announced earlier this summer that you’d be playing full time for the immediate future. You said that you’re fulltime for the rest of the year? What are your expectations and goals for 2017?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: I’ll use this year to see how far I can improve. Currently my plan is not to continue playing fulltime because I do not like the WCS system for many different reasons. For example, I want to have more competition (more Koreans in weekend tournaments), less luck involved (no more single elimination bracket) and for Blizzard to put more effort into this game. In my opinion the game will decrease in popularity even more if Blizzard continues to be slow and timid with changes. Hence, I do not have any Starcraft related goals in 2017. However, I will decide that when it is time. I do not know about Blizzard's plan next year. So, I am going to focus on the presence for now.

Well that transitions very well into the next topic: WCS! What exactly would you change to create a perfect WCS? I know you just mentioned Single Elimination. If WCS studio leagues returned with region lock and the third party tournaments were open again, would that be a better system for you?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: The question about the WCS system is highly disputed. On the one hand you have tournament organizers, the audience and sponsors. On the other hand you have progamers, foreigners/Koreans and Blizzard. All of those parties have different opinions on the system since they share different interests. For this reason, my view on this topic is biased because as a player I prefer a system which does not involve single elimination because you have a second chance (in groupstage or loser bracket). Nonetheless, even if single elimination is merciless for tournament organizers it is much more convenient. I liked the system of 2015 the most because it was fair with 2 groupstages. You can write a book with advantages and disadvantages about this topic, which is too hard to cover in a single interview.

You mention that the competition is important to you and you miss having the Koreans playing in EU. Would you be interested in going to practice and play in Korea if the opportunity came up?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: I think it would increase my skill greatly but I do not feel comfortable moving to Korea since I do not like their culture and I have no connections there. If I wanted to go to Korea I would like to stay in a Kespa teamhouse. However, from what I have heard only MVP offers space which is not the most lucrative team.

 In a 2014 interview with Red Bull gaming, you said that you found it frustrating to see SC2 have lower viewership. Is that still something that bothers you as the game has declined more since then, or are you now more contented with SC2’s size?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: The most frustrating thing about the viewer count is that it used to be much higher. I still think that other eSports did a better job and SC2 has never evolved. Viewer counts are the most important component in the eSports business. I feel like the game is still going strong because Blizzard puts a lot of money into tournaments which prevents players from retiring. When you think about it WCS has never been a big factor in Wings of Liberty because there used to be sponsors and tournament organizers beside Blizzard who were willing to put money into the game. Like I said before, I am not content with the viewer count at all.

Blizzard announced some monumental changes at WCS Summer. Do you think that those changes are necessary? Is there anything that you’re particularly excited for?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: That is exactly what the game needs in order to be alive. I like the changes very much. In fact, I think that will bring some people back to SC2. However, I think it comes too late. They should try to do a huge patch like that every 2-3 months like other eSports do it. I am a little disappointed that they needed 8-10 months to come up with this idea. Nonetheless, I particularly like the cyclone changes because its design is being changed drastically. That will be a lot of fun to explore that.

Image - Blizzard Entertainment

What are your thoughts on the split between the foreign and Korean scene in terms of the metagame? This year it seems to have been highly impactful as Korean Zergs struggled and foreign Zergs were able to find much more success. What do you think is causing that rift?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: I think the number of mediocre Korean Terrans and Protosses is very high but the number of skilled Zergs decreased in Korea. Additionally, the metagame shifted at a point where a lot of qualifiers happened. I think Terran was heavily favored against Zerg until the queen buff. I do not think European Zergs are better than European Terrans. In fact, there were a lot of strong performances from foreign Terrans this year (uThermal, MarineLorD, MaSa e.g.). Therefore, I disagree with the statement that foreign Zergs find more success. Changes in the metagame had a significant impact in Korea.

Currently in SC2, there are some very young players making waves in the scene. Dead Pixel’s Clem and True eSports’ Reynor are both only 14. The same age that you were when you entered the pro scene. What advice would you give to them?

Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat: Hard to answer as I do not know anything about Clem and Reynor. Gaining as much experience as you can is very important and will be helpful later on in your career. Also, you should organize yourself properly because SC2 can take away a lot of time. Focusing on school should be the main priority. It takes a lot of time before you might have a decent result, always keep that in your mind.

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Cover photo courtesy of Team Liquid by Richard "R1CH" Stanway.