The eldest of three brothers, Jos was born in Scheveningen, The Netherlands and unlike most of Liquid spent his formative years away from the glow of a computer screen. A hockey and tennis fan, Jos competed at the regional level during his mid teens and though being drawn to video games at the age of twelve only got into the pastime towards his late teens.
More...
Though he got to #1 on the Command and Conquer and Red Alert 2 ladders early on, he found Starcraft in 2002 and thereafter dedicated the next few years of his life to getting good at the game. In 2003 he took part in his first World Cyber Games and thereafter appeared in a long list of online Starcraft: Broodwar competitions, winning many of them.
His Starcraft: Broodwar career culminated in him taking part in the 2008 WCG Grand Finals in Colgone, Germany, winning Dreamhack 2009 and then flying to South Korea to be a part of the eStro professional gaming team. Though he spent a few months in Seoul practicing hard, he later returned home to ready himself for the eventual release of Starcraft 2.
The SC2 Beta started in February 2010, and while Jos didn’t appear on the scene immediately, he did enjoy some success in showmatches like Team Liquid’s SC2 Liquibition #1. After the release of Starcraft 2, Ret returned to professional gaming in form and was successful in several online tournaments.
Moving to the Liquid-oGs team house in Incheon, South Korea in late 2010, he took part in several seasons of the Global Starcraft II League before deciding to return to The Netherlands in early 2011 to pursue his professional gaming career closer to home. His first major Starcraft 2 title came at the Assembly Winter 2011 LAN, where he cruised through a very competitive bracket to take 1st place.
Known for his heavily macro-management based play, Ret is seen as one of the best Zerg players in the world today. A seasoned contender, Jos is highly competitive by nature, and even today loves and frequently takes part in non-computer sports such as Hockey and Football. Powered by a unrelenting passion to do his very best at everything, he approaches every event with only one goal in mind - winning. This attitude sits perfect with his teammates and is one of the reason he feels so at home here on Team Liquid.