ESFI World

The city of São Paulo, Brazil is the site of the latest IEM Global Challenge, and the games have just begun. Twenty-six-year-old Jos de Kroon, better known as Liquid`Ret, is one of ten Zerg players participating in the tournament.

Jos 'Ret' de Kroon

	Name	Jos de Kroon
	Handle	Ret
	Age	26
	Country	The Netherlands
	Team	Team Liquid
	Race	Zerg

After a notable performance in the European qualifiers for the MLG Winter Arena and what he describes as "the best year of [his] life," de Kroon appears to be one of the favorites to win the title and secure a spot at the World Championship in Hanover, Germany.

When asked about what de Kroon is enjoying most in Brazil, he said, "Hanging out with DeMusliM again, as well as Rotterdam and some of the other cool cats that are here. Also, the weather is awesome. It's been cold for too long in Ohio and Europe, so I'm really enjoying the sun."

To prepare for the tournament, de Kroon played custom games, laddered, and participated in both clan wars and online tournaments. "I always compete," he said. "I think that's the best way to get ready for a tournament. "

De Kroon was born and raised in The Netherlands where he satiated his drive to compete with tennis and hockey tournaments during childhood, "always wanting to win." He later learned about online gaming and was hooked, largely because he enjoyed "competing with people from around the world." After a short stint with Command & Conquer, during which he reached the top of the ladders, de Kroon transitioned into StarCraft: Brood War, where he found himself at home.

Liquid`Ret at MLG Providence (Photo: Zhang Jingna)

"The complexity, depth, and difficulty of the game kept me interested for many years," he said. "I was already making some money with Brood War, but you couldn't really call it a career until StarCraft 2 came out and became huge in the western world. Before StarCraft 2, playing StarCraft professionally was only possible in Korea and the competition was killer."

Had he chosen a different path in life, Ret probably would have graduated from university with an economics or law degree and worked at, "a boring job in the mediocrity of society," he said with a grin. "My true passion in life is video games and competing to be the best. I consider myself super lucky I was able to make a career out of it...Being able to [play video games] full-time is obviously so much better than a desk job. The freedom I have with this job to locate myself anywhere in the world and able to do my job is awesome."

He admits that his favorite part about being a professional gamer is "being up on the stage, delivering a strong performance, and hearing the fans cheer for you. Sadly, this only happens every once in a while."

(Photo: Team Liquid Pro)

He noted Assembly Winter 2011 and the BlizzCon European Invitational as his biggest achievements of the year, but considers the entirety of 2011 as, "a whole highlight," of his life. "I was able to travel so much and meet so many cool people. Of course, there were some tough losses in the process, but 2011 was probably the best year of my life and I wouldn't change anything about it," he said. "I think I have established myself as a strong competitor that can't be counted out in any tournament. I have also shown to be a little inconsistent at times."

At Homestory Cup IV eariler this year, de Kroon suffered an unexpected exit in the first group stage of the tournament. He said, "I think I just wasn't in a good state of mind. I had practiced more than ever in December, but right before the tournament, I started putting wrong ideas in my head like 'you have to change up your strats -- the stuff you've been doing has been working on the NA server, but everybody here is a lot better.' So, I tried to play way too fancy instead of keeping it simple. It was a very disappointing tournament for me. There really is nothing worse than crushing defeat when you have high hopes."

Shortly after his defeat at HomeStory Cup, de Kroon bounced back with impressive performances in the ShoutCraft Invitational 4 and the MLG European Qualifier. Reestablishing himself among old fans while gaining new ones, Ret was once again feared for his macro-oriented gameplay and heavy emphasis on drone production, which has earned him the moniker "King of Drones". He said, "I have always really enjoyed making a lot of drones in Brood War and StarCraft 2. I would always try to push the limit of making minimal defense and then having a large economy to overcome my opponent. This play style is very adaptive, scouting is very important, and sometimes you miss a slight detail and you will be caught with your pants down. I've had some embarrassing losses where I misread situations and just kept happily droning when I needed to make units to defend."

He said with a laugh: "I think some of these things stick around in the heads of the fans so I became the King of Drones! I am happy with the nickname and I will always be making tons of drones, but I think nowadays there are a lot of Zergs who make just as many drones or more than me."

(Photo: Team Liquid)

But it wasn't the drones alone that attracted de Kroon to the swarm. "Zerg has always looked really cool to me. When I first started StarCraft, my friend and I used to watch Boxer play TvZ and we were in awe at how awesome the Korean pro-gamers at the time were playing. Since he was a total Boxer fanboy, he wanted me to mimic him. There was nothing left for me but to try and mimic the Zerg that Boxer was destroying. But I've always thought Zerg was the coolest race for sure. After eight years of playing Zerg in Brood War, I couldn't see myself betraying them in StarCraft 2."

So, what has de Kroon been up to? "I have been staying with my girlfriend [in Ohio]," he said. "I've just been doing what I always do: playing StarCraft 2 and hanging out."

Aside from his practice regime, which typically includes six-hour game sessions and an additional few hours of watching streams or VODs, de Kroon confessed, "I'm used to being on this computer way too much...so I am most likely doing stuff on my PC like watching movies, chatting, or playing other games like League of Legends. I really like to play tennis, but I haven't been able to in a while because I haven't been home. I've recently also started to enjoy cooking, even though I'm really bad at it. It's something I hope to become better at in the near future."

(Photo: Gosu Gamers)

How does a professional StarCraft player balance his personal life with his gaming career? "[It] has never been an issue because I really don't care about having an amazing personal life as long as I'm happy with what I'm doing, whether it be playing video games all day long or going out with friends all day. I'll do whatever makes me happy," he said with a smile.

When asked if he would consider permanently moving to the United States in the future, he said, "I don't think I'll be moving here, but we'll see. I love The Netherlands too much."

However, with other Liquid members like Liquid`HayprO making moves to the e-sports mecca of South Korea, it's hard not to suspect that plans are in the works for de Kroon himself. "I've thought about it lately, but the tournament schedule is just so packed that it's hard to find a good time to move to Korea. ...but if a good time comes up where I have a month of no tournaments, I'll definitely consider it."

What's next for Ret? "Being a part of Team Liquid is amazing. I will be staying with them in 2012 for sure. We are all really good friends and Team Liquid has always given players a ton of support by sending all of us to MLGs and many of the major tournaments. Team Liquid's management is always there for you if you need help or advice; I am very thankful to them."

De Kroon hopes to attend all of the Major League Gaming events this season and do well at them. He recently qualified for the Winter Arena and will be flying out to New York City later this month to compete. "I want to place high in as many international tournaments as possible. I just want to keep improving as a player and just reach my full potential, and see where it takes me. Overall, as long as I know that I worked hard, I will be satisfied with myself."

(Photo: Team Liquid)

For others looking to pursue a successful gaming career like his, de Kroon advised: "I think that the only way that anyone can do this is if they enjoy it so much that they don't want to do anything else for a long period of time. When I was younger playing Brood War, all I would think about all day everyday in school was build orders, and when I got home I would immediately start playing. Then I'd sneak out of my bedroom at night and stay awake to play more. I never had the goal to become a pro-gamer, but I just wanted to win so badly that it's all I wanted to do. If it's fun to you and you have the talent, becoming a pro-gamer will become a natural process that won't really require much thought. Just play and win lots."

To wrap things up, de Kroon said, "I hope everybody keeps supporting me in 2012 and I hope to see a lot of you at tournaments. Thanks to my team, our sponsors, Razer, TLAF, Twitch, and the team management, Bumblebee and Nazgul. They do a lot for us players behind the scenes. Cheers!"

To learn more about Jos 'Liquid`Ret' de Kroon, follow his Twitter @LiquidRet or go to the official site for Team Liquid.

Emily "NyxRose" Tran

Emily Tran is a StarCraft 2 reporter for ESFI World. Follow her on Twitter at @NyxRose. » ESFI Profile   » Twitter