Every StarCraft 2 fan knows Liquid TLO. A German esports veteran since the mid 2000s when he began playing professional Supreme Commander, Dario Wunsch was marked as one of the top foreign pros early on in SC2’s life. Not just an average skilled player though, TLO brought creative build orders and creative play to the table, utilizing units in ways that people hadn’t thought of.

                As time went on, TLO’s on camera personality drew more and more attention to him. People loved him as much for his skill as for the positivity that he portrayed. He even earned himself the nickname ‘Dr Dario’ thanks to an enormously successful charity stream that he ran in aide of Doctor’s Without Borders.

                TLO’s popularity eventually transcended to meme status, with /r/starcraft’s sister subreddit, /r/starcraftcirclejerk, basing much of its existence around TLO and the way the community perceived him. It was the height of SC2 esports’ popularity, and TLO was loved by almost everyone.

                Since then, TLO has struggled with wrist issues, the community’s perception of him, tournament results, and even community trolls. Somehow though, the Team Liquid Zerg has stayed as relevant as ever. Always a name to watch in any tournament that he attends, one of the most popular SC2 streamers on Twitch, and still a living meme on /r/starcraftcirclejerk.

                With no signs of slowing momentum, I spoke to TLO about his winding journey through esports and his place in the SC2 scene, now and forever.

Time stamps:

1:55 – You started with Supreme Commander. What made that game compelling to you? Why play SupCom rather than Warcraft or Brood War?

3:35 – What faction did you play in SupCom and why did you choose it?

7:05 – Did you have a similar role as a ‘creative’ player in SupCom as you do now in SC2?

8:00 – What was the SupCom esports community like back in the day, and how different are things in the industry now compared to when you first entered?

10:50 – You said in the past that meeting Nazgul sparked your esports dream as a kid. Tell me about that.

15:16 – When did your path cross with Nazgul’s again to make you join Team Liquid?

17:15 – Was esports always your intended career path, or did you believe you were heading in a different direction in life until you found SC2?

19:20 – How do you perceive your own image in the community?

21:48 – Do you ever talk to your TL teammates about your experience in the esports community and offer advice?

22:53 – You remarked in the past that you felt like you were a disappointment to your team. How did you reconcile those feelings and do you ever experience anything similar today?

25:19 – You spoke about performing some of the duties of a team manager, can you speak more about this?

26:38 – Would you ever consider returning to Korea to train?

29:09 – What’s your favourite story about one of your teammates?

32:12 – You’ve said in the past that NA SC2 had no depth compared to EU. Do you think that’s changed, and why?

35:08 – What are your goals for 2017, and now that we’re halfway through the year do you feel that you’ve been accomplishing those goals?

36:47 – Do you consider that professional relationship that you have with Neeb to be a rivalry at this point?

38:00 – You stream quite a bit and have one of the more successful streams in SC2. What do you enjoy about streaming and why do you feel its important?

39:45 – Do you think your results would be affected if you were to never stream and have 100% offline practice?

42:00 – You’ve been having some beef with the streamer Avilo recently. Talk a bit about this situation.

43:12 – You announced that you’d host a balance mod tournament. Why did you make the balance changes that you did in your balance mod?

44:56 – Fan questions

Badrockz asks ‘What do you think about the fast balance changes that we’ve had since Blizzcon?

47:30 - ZizLah asks ‘TLO, your carreer as a SC2 player has always had peaks that showed incredible potential, such as the your early games casted by husky, your WCS run to play offline in Korea, qualifying for a GSL..... but like any good soap opera you've suffered devastating lows and injury's which has hurt you during your career. Where do you pull your energy from to continue to keep picking yourself up and trying again? And can you tell me any times that resolve helped you in ways outside of SC2?’

49:58 – What was your reaction from your family when you started to take your first steps into the esports industry?

51:09 – Marre asks ‘What is your process for implementing the creative tricks that you're so known for into your playstyle? Possible followup: What advice would you give someone who wants to implement more creativity into their playstyle?’

54:15 - MrTea asks ‘Do you think being a StarCraft 2 pro takes more hardwork or talent and which high level pros play the most and the least?’

57:40 - Muscius asks ‘ Do you think you’re currently in your best form so far and how hard it is, to still improve after 7 years of sc2.’

59:07 – Do you ever worry about keeping up with the ever heightening skill cap?

1:00:00 - HypemanQ asks ‘If you had to choose a fellow TL teammate from any game to have a strongly suggestive fanfic made of, who would it be?’

1:00:42 - BeckyBaby asks ‘I’d like to know how definite a boundary he sees between habit & ritual, if he finds superstitions creep into what should be purely logical.’

1:03:36 - JoeLoguidice asks ‘Ask what allows him to be so absurdly consistent?’

1:04:33 - Feardragon asks ‘What is the most *creative* thing you think you've ever done? Your proudest creation of madness.’

1:07:10 – Do you ever think about switching races again to Protoss? It seems that’s the race that most ‘creative’ players gravitate towards.

1:08:12 - Duttles asks ‘Could you ask him who he would like to see join Team Liquid next (if they could pick up any player)?’

1:09:20 - Matt Piekarski ‘ For someone who has been in the scene for so long, can you (TLO) identify any overarching trends in the evolution of the metagame?’

1:10:57 – What are your thoughts on WCS 2017? Are you pleased with it? Would you make any changes to it?

1:12:25 – Are you interested in StarCraft Remastered? Do you have any interest in playing SCR on a competitive/professional level?

1:13:38 – Do you see a coming end to your role as a pro gamer? Would you ever switch to a different non-RTS game?

1:14:44 – Would you ever go full time as a streamer?

1:15:44 – Do you have any advice to anyone trying to rise in esports right now, as a pro player or otherwise?

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