Yoan Merlo
Encyclopedia
Yoan "ToD" Merlo is a French
professional player of the real-time strategy
games Warcraft III, playing as the race Human, and Starcraft II
playing as Protoss; he was signed to the top electronic sports
team in the United Kingdom
: Four Kings, until November 7, 2007 when he decided not to renew his contract for unspecified reasons. He later explained in one of the interviews that dissatisfying results of 4K team were the real reason for his departure. After much speculation, Merlo unexpectedly joined the team Mousesports
on December 1, 2007.
He is one of the most successful Warcraft III players ever, holding among other achievements first places at the World e-Sports Games
, Blizzard Worldwide Invitational
and Cyberathlete Professional League
competitions. He is also a World Cyber Games
silver and bronze medalist. He was recognized
as the Warcraft III player of 2007.
Yoan recently gave an interview with GOMTV.net, an e-sports organization based in Seoul, Korea. During the interview, he hinted that his e-sports career is not over, and that has begun to compete in Starcraft 2, in which he has achieved moderate success, winning some small tournaments and qualifying for World Cyber Games 2011.
Merlo currently resides in his native France
.
and Counter-Strike
, he cites twofold Starcraft World Cyber Games champion Lim Yo-Hwan
as the reason he plays the Human race. He started high level competitive Warcraft III after joining French based ArmaTeam, at the time a high level competitive gaming team sponsored by Intel. While representing the team he took fourth place at the 2003 Electronic Sports World Cup
.
Following this strong result he joined SK Gaming
around August 2003 as ArmaTeam was facing internal problems at the time. Around this time he was competing in tournaments around the globe such as those organized by the Cyberathlete Professional League and Cyber X Games, something which he continues to do until today. After six months he returned to ArmaTeam because he preferred to compete with his friends in Paris rather than the globally diverse members of SK Gaming.
and Merlo joined several televised competitions such as those hosted by Ongamenet
and MBCGame
. He was the most successful Four Kings player in these televised leagues.
His reputation grew strongly during his time in the country, Merlo took third place at the 2004 World Cyber Games and second place at the 2005 Samsung European Championships and would stay in South-Korea for almost a full year competing in two seasons of the World e-Sports Games following the closing of the before mentioned televised leagues. At this time the Warcraft III squad of Four Kings became known as the world's premier competitive Warcraft III team, going undefeated in the Warcraft 3 Champions League for over a full season and being recognized
as the eSport Team of the year in 2005.
in the finals.
His successes still mainly came from international competition however. In early 2007 he once again took second place at the Samsung European Championship as well as first place in the Electronic Sports League's Extreme Masters. He would win one of the biggest tournaments of the year in the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational and also quite notably declined to compete in several competitions.
He declined to participate in the Electronic Sports World Cup because he would have to travel between China and France twice in order to qualify. He also declined to participate in the World e-Sports Games eStars in Seoul, South-Korea. Before agreeing to compete, he specified two conditions, which he claimed were agreed to but not met when he arrived to compete. Claiming to be pressured into a response after this apparent miscommunication, he declined to participate, dissatisfied with the organisation of the tournament, a feat which received both criticism for his demanding nature yet also praise for not accepting the false promises of the tournament organisers.
He was recognized
as the player of the year 2007.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
professional player of the real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
games Warcraft III, playing as the race Human, and Starcraft II
StarCraft II
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A sequel to the award-winning 1998 video game StarCraft and its expansions, the game was released worldwide on July 27, 2010...
playing as Protoss; he was signed to the top electronic sports
Electronic sports
Electronic sports comprises the competitive play of video games. Other terms include competitive gaming, professional gaming and cybersports...
team in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
: Four Kings, until November 7, 2007 when he decided not to renew his contract for unspecified reasons. He later explained in one of the interviews that dissatisfying results of 4K team were the real reason for his departure. After much speculation, Merlo unexpectedly joined the team Mousesports
Mousesports
Mousesports, , is a professional gaming organization based out of Germany. Mousesports fields teams in many different games and are particularly known for the company's successful Counter-Strike team...
on December 1, 2007.
He is one of the most successful Warcraft III players ever, holding among other achievements first places at the World e-Sports Games
World e-Sports Games
World eSport Games is a competitive, international video game league with elite amateur and pro gamers from around the world battling to be crowned world champions...
, Blizzard Worldwide Invitational
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
and Cyberathlete Professional League
Cyberathlete Professional League
The Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
competitions. He is also a World Cyber Games
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
silver and bronze medalist. He was recognized
ESports Award
The eSports Award is an annual award ceremony held since 2004 by Turtle Entertainment in which individuals, teams and organisations are recognized in several categories for their contribution or achievements to or in the field of competitive gaming....
as the Warcraft III player of 2007.
Yoan recently gave an interview with GOMTV.net, an e-sports organization based in Seoul, Korea. During the interview, he hinted that his e-sports career is not over, and that has begun to compete in Starcraft 2, in which he has achieved moderate success, winning some small tournaments and qualifying for World Cyber Games 2011.
Merlo currently resides in his native France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Rise in France (2002-2003)
Prior to playing Warcraft III Yoan played such games as Starcraft: Brood WarStarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War is the expansion pack for the award winning military science fiction, real-time strategy video game StarCraft. Released in 1998 for Windows and Mac OS, it was co-developed by Saffire and Blizzard Entertainment. The expansion pack introduced new campaigns, map tilesets, music,...
and Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
, he cites twofold Starcraft World Cyber Games champion Lim Yo-Hwan
Lim Yo-Hwan
Lim Yo-Hwan , known by the pseudonym SlayerS_`BoxeR` , is one of the most successful players of the real-time strategy computer game StarCraft to date...
as the reason he plays the Human race. He started high level competitive Warcraft III after joining French based ArmaTeam, at the time a high level competitive gaming team sponsored by Intel. While representing the team he took fourth place at the 2003 Electronic Sports World Cup
Electronic Sports World Cup
The Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
.
Following this strong result he joined SK Gaming
SK Gaming
SK Gaming is a professional German electronic sports organization founded in 1997 by a small group of Quake players living in Oberhausen. SK Gaming retains teams across different genres and are particularly known for their success in Counter-Strike tournaments...
around August 2003 as ArmaTeam was facing internal problems at the time. Around this time he was competing in tournaments around the globe such as those organized by the Cyberathlete Professional League and Cyber X Games, something which he continues to do until today. After six months he returned to ArmaTeam because he preferred to compete with his friends in Paris rather than the globally diverse members of SK Gaming.
A year in South-Korea (2004-2005)
Several months after re-joining ArmaTeam he was asked to join the European based Warcraft III squad of the United Kingdom based team Four Kings in order to stay in and compete in the "mecca" of professional gaming: South-Korea. On September 16, 2004 the team consisting of Manuel Schenkhuizen, Dae Hui Cho, Sebastian "FuRy" Pesic and Ivica "Zeus[19]" Markovic took residence in SeoulSeoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
and Merlo joined several televised competitions such as those hosted by Ongamenet
Ongamenet
Ongamenet is one of two South Korean cable television companies , that specializes in broadcasting video game-related information and matches, which include StarCraft, Warcraft III and others. It is a subsidiary of On-Media, an owner of several cable channels....
and MBCGame
MBCGame
MBC Game is the South Korean non-'free-to-air' television network, which is well-known for its E-sports broadcasting.- Contents :...
. He was the most successful Four Kings player in these televised leagues.
His reputation grew strongly during his time in the country, Merlo took third place at the 2004 World Cyber Games and second place at the 2005 Samsung European Championships and would stay in South-Korea for almost a full year competing in two seasons of the World e-Sports Games following the closing of the before mentioned televised leagues. At this time the Warcraft III squad of Four Kings became known as the world's premier competitive Warcraft III team, going undefeated in the Warcraft 3 Champions League for over a full season and being recognized
ESports Award
The eSports Award is an annual award ceremony held since 2004 by Turtle Entertainment in which individuals, teams and organisations are recognized in several categories for their contribution or achievements to or in the field of competitive gaming....
as the eSport Team of the year in 2005.
Return to France (2005-2006)
Upon returning to France in late 2005 he finished the 2005 season by qualifying for and competing in the 2005 World Cyber Games where he took fourth place. The following year he would once again take second place at the Samsung European Championship before embarking on a one month tournament in Hangzhou, China: the Master edition of the World e-Sports Games. Merlo would surprise many by taking home the first place prize of 31,000 USD, at the time the biggest prize ever awarded for a Warcraft III competition. He would continue to show strong results throughout the season as he took second places at major tournaments in China such as the World e-Sports Festival and KODE5. He finished the year by taking second place at the 2006 World Cyber Games, losing to Li XiaofengLi Xiaofeng
Li "Sky" Xiaofeng , who also goes by the pseudonym "Sky" or "WE.Sky" is a Chinese professional gamer of the popular Blizzard Entertainment real-time strategy game Warcraft III, the Frozen Throne. He is currently playing for the Chinese based World Elite team...
in the finals.
Move to China (2006-2007)
China was significantly growing at this time as an important country for Warcraft III competitions and Merlo was frequently visiting tournaments here in 2006 as well as using the country as grounds to train. In September of the year 2006 he took up permanent residence in the country. He would reside in Beijing, China together with Swedish professional gamer Kim "SaSe" Hammar which would allow them to train in China as well as have an easier time competing in the country's many competitions.His successes still mainly came from international competition however. In early 2007 he once again took second place at the Samsung European Championship as well as first place in the Electronic Sports League's Extreme Masters. He would win one of the biggest tournaments of the year in the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational and also quite notably declined to compete in several competitions.
He declined to participate in the Electronic Sports World Cup because he would have to travel between China and France twice in order to qualify. He also declined to participate in the World e-Sports Games eStars in Seoul, South-Korea. Before agreeing to compete, he specified two conditions, which he claimed were agreed to but not met when he arrived to compete. Claiming to be pressured into a response after this apparent miscommunication, he declined to participate, dissatisfied with the organisation of the tournament, a feat which received both criticism for his demanding nature yet also praise for not accepting the false promises of the tournament organisers.
He was recognized
ESports Award
The eSports Award is an annual award ceremony held since 2004 by Turtle Entertainment in which individuals, teams and organisations are recognized in several categories for their contribution or achievements to or in the field of competitive gaming....
as the player of the year 2007.
Achievements
- 4th ESWC Poitiers 2003 --
- 5~8th ESWC Poitiers 2004 --
- 3rd WCG San Francisco 2005 --
- 2nd Samsung Euro Championship 2005 --
- 2nd CIG, Shanghai 2005 --
- 1st WC3L season VII with FourKings, Köln Germany 2006 --
- 1st CPL Summer Dallas 2005 --
- 2nd Clanbase 1on1 Eurocup Amsterdam 2005 --
- 3rd Blizzcon LosAngeles 2005 --
- 4th WCG Singapore 2005 --
- 1st WC3L season VIII with FourKings, Cologne, Germany 2006 --
- 2nd China Internet Gaming Shanghai 2005 --
- 2nd Samsung Euro Championship, Hannover Germany 2006 --
- 3rd GGL transatlantic showdown 2on2 NewYork 2006 --
- 1st WEG Masters invite Hangzhou, China 2006 --
- 2nd E3 Vsportsallstar GGL LosAngeles 2006 --
- 2nd StarsWar 3 With team Europe, Xian, China 2006 --
- 2nd WC3L Season IV with FourKings, Oberhausen Germany 2006 --
- 5~8th ESWC Paris Bercy 2006 --
- 2nd WEF Qing Dao, China --
- 3rd NGL-One Playoffs season I with FourKings, Germany --
- 2nd KODE5 Finals, Beijing, China 2006 --
- 2nd WCG Italy, Monza 2006 --
- 4th Season IV Blizzard playoffs, Cologne, Germany 2007 --
- 1st WC3L season X with FourKings, Cologne, Germany 2007 --
- 1st Extreme Masters playoffs, Germany 2007 --
- 1st Warcraft Worldwide Invitational, Korea 2007 --
- 1st Season V Northrend(Europe) Qualifier, Germany 2007 --
- 2nd WC3L season XI with FourKings, Hamburg, Germany 2007 --
- 2nd Starswar IV with team Europe, Shanghai, China 2007 --
- 4th PGL Invite, Beijing, China 2007 --
- 3rd NGL-One Playoffs, Leipzig, Germany 2007 --
- 1st Extreme Masters Supercup vs Hasuobs, Germany 2007 --
- 2nd IEST, Beijing, China 2007 --
- 2nd WGT, Beijing, China 2007 --
- 1st Super Wednesday, Xi'an, China 2007 --
- 1st IEF Masters, China 2007
- 2nd Extreme Masters playoffs, 2008
- 3rd ESWC Masters of Paris, 2008
- 3rd IEF, Wuhan 2008
- 1st WGT, China 2008
- 1st Atomic RESO, France 2011