Things you might not know:
- Goossens chose the nickname Nazgul from his ardent Lord of the Rings interest and because it sounded mean.
- Goossens founded Team Liquid as a clan at the end of 2000.
- Goossens was the face of Team Liquid which acted as the face of non-Korean StarCraft for many players.
- Goossens played protoss.
- Goossens became friends with Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier when he came to Korea for half a year to play StarCraft.
- Goosens was introduced to poker at the WorldCyberGames when he observed Saft winning and losing $400 pots left and right without being affected by it.
- Goossens gave Saft $50 and he transferred some money on PartyPoker to get started.
- Goossens first year was spent grinding the lowest possible levels of cash games, playing a very nitty style and bankroll management.
- Goossens struggled to succeed in Korea but was the main influence for ElkY to start playing poker.
- Goossens gave Lex Veldhuis his first $10 to play online in 2003, and a second $10 which led to his success. He mentored Veldhuis and they lived together for a while.
- Goossens also recommended and backed a number of TeamLiquid StarCraft players to play poker like Ryan Daut, James "mig.com" Mackey and others.
- Goossens feels that managerial vision, instant decision making, multitasking skills carry over from StarCraft. Being open minded and able to understand and think about the views and opinions of others is something he gained from the social contact of a gaming community.
- Goossens made hundreds of thousands playing cash games, but then lost his passion and drive for the game, turning his focus to the Liquidpoker community and TeamLiquid community.
- Goosens has managed Team Liquid for years.
- Goossens feels you need to play 12-14 hours a day to be a top SC2 gamer.
Victor "Nazgul" Goossens has been playing StarCraft2, working his way up the ladder. He initially had reservations on the long term viability of the game. He felt StarCraft2's lifespan would run considerable shorter than its famously persistent predecessor.
“That’s unfortunate for the future of e-sports. The future needs a game suitable for non-gamer viewers to be in awe over moves done by top players without understanding the strategy behind the builds.
“There is so little difference possible between two players when they’re attacking each other that the games just play out as build order vs. build order. Once you’re ahead it’s really hard to give away your advantage because even if your units get caught off guard they will still do the right thing in battle. Zergling surround and worker micro is something that was so important to the early game of Brood War, that decided games based on how you performed it. That element is completely gone now. If you have enough Zerglings you’ll just kill your opponent almost regardless of what he does.”
Goossens has since seen the growth of SC2, with the various patches and embraced it more fully.“There is so little difference possible between two players when they’re attacking each other that the games just play out as build order vs. build order. Once you’re ahead it’s really hard to give away your advantage because even if your units get caught off guard they will still do the right thing in battle. Zergling surround and worker micro is something that was so important to the early game of Brood War, that decided games based on how you performed it. That element is completely gone now. If you have enough Zerglings you’ll just kill your opponent almost regardless of what he does.”
It's purposedly dumbed down because Blizzard feels like that appeals to a wider audience.
SC2 is a great game, but you can see at a top level it is very hard for anyone to separate themselves from the pack. It's hard to establish true dominance because there are fewer factors to set players apart. The more factors determine skill the more possibility players have to make a difference which is good for esports and the professional scene.
I personally would not have minded if the game was a little harder but it's not like that will happen so it's useless to say anything else about it. SC2 is great and players will have to do what they can to make their plays work.
SC2 is a great game, but you can see at a top level it is very hard for anyone to separate themselves from the pack. It's hard to establish true dominance because there are fewer factors to set players apart. The more factors determine skill the more possibility players have to make a difference which is good for esports and the professional scene.
I personally would not have minded if the game was a little harder but it's not like that will happen so it's useless to say anything else about it. SC2 is great and players will have to do what they can to make their plays work.
Goossens videos shows Victor playing at the 2007 EPT Baden tournament and a semifinal StarCraft2 match against TheLittleOne:
Poker EPT 4 Baden Thierry van den Burg Vs Victor... by mastersseriesofpoker
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