HeRoMaRinE is the most successful German Starcraft 2 pro. The 24-year-old is nevertheless already preparing his future after e-sports and shares what is on the mind of many pros in the scene.

Gabriel “HeRoMaRinE” Segat has confirmed his position as the best German Starcraft 2 pro with a top eight finish at Dreamhack SC2 Masters Fall. Nevertheless, he announced that he no longer wants to focus solely on e-sports.

In an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the 24-year-old talks about his plans for the future and the job as an e-sportsman.

Things have never been better for HeRoMaRinE

Question: In terms of your tournament results, things have never been better for you than they are now. Nevertheless, you have recently announced that you will also start studying. How did the decision come about?

Answer: I realized that I have enough time for other things besides e-sports. Especially in Corona Pandemic, where everything is played online. Some tournament days I only have one match, spending the whole day for that is just bad time management.

That’s why I want to advance myself academically with a degree in Data Science. I think right now is the optimal time to do that. My focus is still on Starcraft 2, so I’m more likely to study on the side as fast as I can without sacrificing my performance in e-sports.

Focus still on Starcraft 2

Question: Starcraft 2 is a real e-sports grandpa, do the pros have to start thinking about their time after their career?

Answer: For me personally, it was important that I think about the long term and start something new. I think that many e-sports players see it the same way. The ESL still holds tournaments, but you can already tell that the developer Blizzard is not working much on the game anymore. It’s a bit sad that you play a game and nothing really changes anymore – that makes it difficult to keep the fun in the game.

Keeping the level in Starcraft 2

Question: Will the level of play suffer as more and more pros stop playing full time?

Answer: Starcraft 2 is an old game. Every e-sports player in the scene has played thousands and thousands of games – many are at the peak of their performance. The game has a steep learning curve that then flattens out considerably. Getting significantly better is difficult at some point, but maintaining your level is not as time-consuming.

Only around the big tournaments do I put eight hours a day into training, which then includes watching a lot of games and streams of the other pros. In any case, I’m confident that I can maintain my performance despite my studies.

Personal details: Gabriel “HeRoMaRinE” Segat (24) started his career in Starcraft 2 at the age of 14 for Team Mousesports, where he still plays today. In the current – Season , the Cologne native is the best German player in fourth place in the European ranking of the ESL Pro Tour.