This 72-year-old mom loves playing Starcraft II

David Adam Monroe didn’t know his post in the Starcraft subreddit about his 72-year-old mom who plays Starcraft II would go viral. David, better known by his gamertag, VaST, says he was “absolutely stunned” recounting that the post had recently accrued over half a million views. In fact, the post entitled “My 72-year-old mom plays StarCraft every day and competed in the last Cheeseadelphia” is the top post on the Starcraft subreddit this year with over 5,000 upvotes, over 300 comments and counting.

VaST noted that viral posts on the Starcraft subreddit (and Reddit posts in general) tend to be more controversial, but not this one.

“Instantly someone said, ‘That's cool,’ then ‘That's cool.’ ‘Oh, wow.’ ‘Oh, wow,’” VaST said. “And then once my mom started interacting as well, there were some cool conversations. Overall, the vibe was just super encouraging.”

It’s a very wholesome post that has attracted a lot of positivity around a topic that seems to have piqued the curiosity of a lot of people. After all, it’s not every day that you hear about a septuagenarian playing a video game, especially not a competitive video game as complex as Starcraft II.

Starcraft II, the sequel to Starcraft, released in 2010 by Blizzard Entertainment and is a real-time strategy game set in a science-fiction-like future. Players control one of three races -- Terran, Protoss and Zerg -- and must quickly build up their bases and armies to defeat their opponent.

Sarajane jumps into Starcraft

Sarajane’s journey in Starcraft started when VaST had a party a few years ago in which he had his mom play Starcraft against his dad.

“I had no idea how to play, and I lost, but it was fun,” Sarajane said.

“It was fun. I still lose all the time!” Sarajane added, laughing.

VaST was trying to get his dad interested in Starcraft, but after he died, Sarajane took up the mantle. At first, VaST thought his mom was just trying to make up for the fact that he and his dad never got a chance to really bond over Starcraft.

“And she said, No. She just wants to spend time with me and have something in common,” VaST said. “And then she ended up just taking such a shining to it, like I can't stop her if I want!”

Like any gamer, Sarajane has a gamertag, MangoRoc, which is a bit of tribute to her late husband. MangoRoc was randomly chosen for her by Blizzard when creating her gaming profile, but it turned out to be a serendipitous name.

“He could pick the best mangoes, and we would always have … mangoes for dessert, a lot with ice cream in the middle. And he just knew how to make a good dessert out of mangoes. And we live in Rochester, and the airport code is ROC, so the two kind of went together for me,” she said.

MangoRoc moves up the ladder

MangoRoc plays pretty much every day now and even streams on Twitch! She’s not shy about streaming her gameplay to an audience on Twitch because she has a singing background, so she’s used to performing in front of people. MangoRoc is a Terran player like her son. She’s no grandmaster, but she’s good enough to have reached the gold level after grinding the game for a few years.

“I was a bronze for a year, then silver for a year. Now I'm gold, still gold, but I don't think the year is up yet. I don't think I've played for three years yet, so I guess I'll have to practice more,” she said. “I do practice every day, but not a lot, because I can't. I can't do four hours or whatever most people do. It's too much for me. I get to a point where, all right, that's it, I'm done. Although that's getting longer -- it used to be two hours was my limit. I think now three hours is my limit.”

MangoRoc has even competed at an in-person tournament. Earlier this year, VaST and MangoRoc both competed at Cheeseadelphia, Nerd Street’s long-running Starcraft LAN tournament series. She came in last, but she still enjoyed being there and meeting other competitors in person. There was nobody near her age competing, but there was one other woman, and they did face each other in one match.

MangoRoc watches VaST compete at Cheeseadelphia. Photo credit: David Adam Monroe

“The people at Cheeseadelphia -- I think everybody I encountered there was very nice to me and very kind at my being my first tournament,” she said.

Read more: Future wins Cheeseadelphia 2025 Starctaft II tournament

Her age and the fact she’s a woman are two things that certainly made her stand out at Cheeseadelphia, but there’s one other thing that really makes her a unicorn in the competitive Starcraft scene. She plays left-handed.

A golden left hand

In fact, there aren’t many lefty gamers who play competitive video games, aka esports. It’s so unique that Zhuo "Knight" Ding, who is one of the best League of Legends players in the world, has earned the nickname “The Golden Left Hand.” Many people who saw VaST’s subreddit post, which included photos of MangoRoc playing, commented on how young she looked for 72, but many others were impressed by the fact she was playing left-handed.

Because she’s a lefty who uses her left hand to click the mouse and her right hand to use the keyboard, VaST thought it would be helpful for MangoRoc to play with a keyboard setup known as the core. It’s one of a few different keyboard setups for Starcraft players, including the grid and standard.

The core emphasizes hotkeys, and VaST thinks it’s more intuitive. MangoRoc has a computer programming background, so she understood hotkeys.

“I think the reason I can play is because I was a computer programmer for what? 40 years before I retired,” MangoRoc said. “So I know all about hot keys. I grew up with how computers work, so the mechanical part is fairly easy for me. It's the strategy part that I fail at.”

Bonding over Starcraft

MangoRoc continues to play and improve her strategy. She (and her son) even get coaching from notable North American Terran player Matthew "FoxeR" Harris. MangoRoc and VaST will be at Nerd Street’s next Starcraft tournament, SC4ALL, which takes place this weekend, Nov. 1-2. But going to these events is about so much more than competing.

“The events that Nerd Street throws are amazing. I had a super blast,” VaST said. “I just want to encourage anybody that is maybe on the fence about going to an event or trying to connect more with people in the community, or like putting themselves out there, that it can be really rewarding.”

Players at Cheeseadelphia 2025 pose for a photo onstage at Localhost Philadelphia. Photo credit: Ben Beaver / Nerd Street

Just like Starcraft has brought VaST and his mom closer together, these in-person meetups serve a similar role for the Starcraft community. The North American Starcraft community has grown and become very tight-knit over the years alongside the Cheeseadelphia tournament series which has been taking place for the past decade.

“Everyone's super friendly. I've gotten an opportunity to make and create tons of cool memories and great relationships and just hoping the more the merrier,” VaST said. “That's what it feels like, and I think that my mom is a testament to that as well.”

We’ll see who wins SC4ALL this weekend, but regardless of results, Starcraft is a resounding win for both David and his mom.

Lead photo credit: David Adam Monroe