Player Spotlight: ItzWil, when Grandmaster Dreams become a Reality

My StarCraft Journey

Hello Legends, my name is William “Itzwil” Dufour, a 27-year-old Terran player from the French province of Québec in Canada, and I am here to share my experience with a game that has been part of my life for the past 16 years.

Part 1: The Discovery

We are in the summer of 2010. My little brother and I are at home, enjoying our summer break, when my dad suddenly asks us to come to the kitchen, where he has set up his desktop and two laptops. On the screens: the menu of StarCraft: Brood War. He challenges us to a 2v1, me, a 10-year-old, and my brother, who was 8 at the time. My dad, who had played back in the day, even before I was born, picks Terran. My little brother chooses Zerg, and I go with Protoss. As you can imagine, against two kids with no clue how the game worked, we were no match for the legions of tanks and battlecruisers he sent across the map. In the weeks that followed, we played almost every day. Tired of losing, my brother and I went online to look for strategies that could give us the upper hand. On some random site, I learned about the different units in the game and their roles. The next time we played, I built a fleet of carriers worthy of the Golden Armada. From that point on, I never lost to him again, and I became the one playing 2v1 against my dad and my little brother. A few months later, on the morning of December 25, 2010, my brother and I unwrapped three copies of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. This is where it all began.

Part 2: The Dream

With a few games under my belt against my family, I decided I needed a greater challenge. With a bit of anxiety, I finally clicked “Play” on the 1v1 ladder. Stomp after stomp, I lost my five placement matches and got placed into Bronze. Wanting to climb to Silver, I quickly went on YouTube to find tips and tricks to help me get there. One of the first results I found was a VOD from Pomf et Thud, two French casters covering a game between pro players. I was immediately in awe as I watched marines being perfectly stutter-stepped, cutting down waves of Zerglings, or sentries placing flawless force fields to trap retreating armies. That was the moment I discovered esports, and I instantly wanted to be part of it.

For the next few years, SC2 VODs and livestreams were all I watched. I actively searched for matches featuring my favorite players, like MarineKingPrime, the god of micro; Stephano, the French superstar; and KiWiKaKi, the absolute chad from Québec who could Archon Toilet your entire army and win in spectacular upsets. Watching those players and trying to emulate their play quickly pushed me to the Diamond league. Every time I logged in to play, I would take a few minutes to check the Grandmaster league, imagining my name on that prestigious list of the 200 best players in North America. Being part of that list became one of my biggest dreams. That orange star became my guide for the next few years.

In 2015, I finally reached the Master league. I was ecstatic when I saw that shiny badge for the first time. I jumped out of my chair and ran to brag to my brother. The dream felt more alive than ever. I was now just one league away from the very top of StarCraft II. Now that I was a big shot, at least in my own mind, in the hardest game on earth, I signed up for LAN ETS, a major tournament in Montréal where some of the best players in North America would compete for cash and glory. I had about four to five months to prepare, and I played more than ever before.

On the day of the competition, I was starstruck more than once. I met the legendary Temp0, and I was lucky enough to be seated right next to NoRegret and HuK. The whole experience felt surreal. On top of that, I performed surprisingly well. I made short work of other Master-level players in the early rounds. At one point, with a father and his son watching over my shoulder, I was playing faster than ever against a Zerg opponent, kiting Ultralisks while dropping his base in multiple locations. Eventually, I saw the classic “GG” and the victory screen. Impressed, my two spectators congratulated me and commented on how fast my hands and screen were moving. Glancing to my left and seeing the two pros sitting next to me, I felt like I was almost one of them.

My next match was against HuK. I had watched him compete in the GSL against the best players in the world, so I knew it would take a miracle to advance. Still, with all the momentum I had, I believed I could at least put up a fight. Oh boy, was I wrong. For the first time in my life, I experienced what happens when the top 1% faces the top 0.01%. The skill gap was enormous. It felt like I had never played StarCraft before. He defeated me twice with a 4-Gate Blink Stalker timing, a build I had countered hundreds of times before. I’m not even sure he lost a single Stalker. That wake-up call was brutal. After years of grinding and feeling on top of the world, I realized that becoming a pro was much further away than I had ever imagined.

Part 3: Growing Up

After LAN ETS, StarCraft started to take a smaller and smaller place in my life. As I grew older and began college (CEGEP), a lot of new things entered my world. During that time, I discovered something that would become my main passion for the next decade: road cycling. What drew me in at first was how similar it felt to StarCraft. Like in SC2, you could train and improve mostly on your own. When I started racing, I quickly recognized the same learning curve. I got completely stomped at first, then slowly learned the tactics and strategies needed to survive in a race.

A few years later, I was competing for wins in high-level races, and I even earned some prize money along the way.

By then, StarCraft had become a distant memory. Every couple of years, I would come across a video from Harstem or uThermal, feel a wave of nostalgia, and jump back on the ladder for a few weeks, trying to reach Master again. Most of the time, I would get close, lose a bunch of games, and stop playing for another long stretch. Still, I remained grateful for the game. I truly believe it taught me important life skills that helped shape who I am today.

Part 4: Full Circle

Around October last year, my YouTube algorithm recommended a video from Harstem. Remembering how funny he was, I watched a few more over the following weeks. The urge to play kept growing stronger, so I finally reinstalled the game. Looking at my match history, my last game had been about three years earlier. Seeing my SCVs mining again after all that time felt incredibly nostalgic. As soon as my first Reaper engaged with my opponent’s Zerglings, the adrenaline rush hit hard. With shaky hands and a heart rate easily over 160, I managed to win my first game and landed around 3.5K MMR in Diamond 2.

Playing two to three games a day, which was about all I could handle, and still finishing each session with my heart racing, I quickly climbed to 4.1K. Seeing that I was close to Master again, I fell back into my old habits. I went online, studied uThermal’s guides, and started playing more and more. Around that time, I discovered the StarCraft II Amateur League on Discord. With the added motivation to perform in their tournaments, I hit Master faster than ever before. Riding that momentum, I checked the bottom of the Grandmaster league. The cutoff was around 4.7K MMR, only about 500 above where I was. For the first time in years, the dream felt realistic again. I set myself a goal: reach GM within a year.

As I kept playing, I realized my understanding of the game was limited. I was relying on old habits, and I knew that would eventually hold me back against stronger opponents. Through Amateur League, I found the Ladder Legends Discord. After a few days, I asked my first question about how to deal with mass Charge Zealot styles. Gamer Richy jumped into a call with me and walked me through it. Shortly after, I started coaching sessions with him, and later with Nico.

With their help, and the support of the community, I realized my understanding of the game was even weaker than I thought. Strangely, that was exciting. After nearly 16 years with the game, I felt that sense of discovery again. Every discussion, every replay review, every question opened a new layer of understanding. After a key session with Coach Nico, everything clicked. I went on a massive win streak, around 15 to 20 wins with only a few losses. In just a few days, I climbed from 4.3K to 4711 MMR. After beating a 5.2K Terran in the final game of that run, I hit Master 1 and placed 8th on the GM contender list. I knew this was it.

It was still early in the afternoon, but I immediately stopped playing. Promotions happened at 11 PM. I usually go to bed at 10, but not that night. I watched the clock, trying to keep myself busy as time crawled forward. At exactly 11, I logged in. And there it was.

After 16 years of dreaming about it, I finally saw the Grandmaster promotion. I was one of them. Listening to “When I’m Grandmaster” while staring at my own orange star hit unbelievably hard.

Now, a new dream is beginning.

In about 17 weeks, my daughter will be born. Hopefully, in a few years, I’ll be the one setting up a small LAN at home, just like my dad did, to show her the greatest game in the world.