Joona “Serral” Sotala Secures the StarCraft II at the 2025 Esports World Cup Crown Following a Dominant Display

Joona “Serral” Sotala has been crowned the StarCraft II at 2025 Esports World Cup champion, following a 5-2 victory over Virtus.Pro’s Doh-Woo “Classic” Kim in a dominant Best-of-Nine series. 

After a tough result in 2024, Serral returned stronger to take the title. With his 2024 rival Clement “Clem” Desplanches exiting earlier in the event, Serral entered the final as the clear favourite following a flawless 4-0 fight in his semi final bout.

While Serral was expected to perform well, the level of control and dominance across the series caught many off guard. Serral started strong, claiming the first two maps of the series, with Classic able to fight back to claim two games. With the scores at 3-2, however, Serral was able to push on to claim the final two maps and secure the series win.

This victory in StarCraft II at EWC 25, confirmed his place as one of the greatest players in the game’s history. En route to the final, Serral remained unbeaten, dropping only two maps across the entire event. This also marks his third world championship title – he won his first world championship at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice in 2022 and successfully defended that crown in 2024.

“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” Sotal earns 1000 Club Championship points for BASILISK with his victory. The win moves BASILISK up to joint eighth place as Serral manages to secure the side their first points of the Esports World Cup 2025.