[Code S] Grand Finals 2013 GSL Season 1 - Page 96

On March 13 2013 12:28 never_Nal wrote:
no code a finals?

On March 13 2013 12:22 bittman wrote:


I imagine it would be quite similar to the fighting game genre, but I'd be happy to see some shock in there.

I remember once hearing a great talk from a friend who talked about good CS players either having great "twitch" or "clue". Twitch being great reflexes to react at an instant. Clue being the ability to predict and strategise even within high pressure environments. Most of the best players have both of these.

Same applies for most games, specifically single player games. A player who has great reaction speed and (as Kerrigan puts it) "vision" is usually at the top. Nestea, in all his championships, I'd argue had great vision. He clearly out-strategised and outplayed his opponents. MC for the most part I'd argue was reaction speed during his championships. Sure they both have some great level in the other I couldn't hope to see, but you could make an argument certain players just specialise in areas better.

Also quick question on this topic: Is Nestea the oldest premier tournament winner for sc2? I know he is for GSL at least but I don't know foreigner ages very well. White-ra I'd guess is older?

On March 13 2013 12:38 never_Nal wrote:
So wtf? you just get 3 rounds of code a? and they go into code s?

On March 13 2013 12:38 never_Nal wrote:
So wtf? you just get 3 rounds of code a? and they go into code s?

On March 13 2013 12:45 lichter wrote:


They changed the format because it was too difficult too fall out of the GSL when Code S and Code A were separate tournaments. Now it's just one big tournament, with players who lose in the early stages of Code S falling to Code A, and have to fight to claw back up. There is more change and shuffling of players with the new format. You can fall to Code B from Code S in a single season now. It's more difficult. With the Up and Down matches, the season's actually have more games now than when Code A was a full tournament.

On March 13 2013 15:25 jalstar wrote:


If they hadn't changed the format then Ensnare would have a NesTea trophy by now.

On March 13 2013 16:05 Daswollvieh wrote:


People like to think that "their" sport is super tough and unforgiving as if that "Korean cut-throat competition magic" would somehow rub off on themselves. Like proudly proclaiming to be a Rugby-fan because it´s the toughest sport in the world where people eat nails and shit shuriken, though you´re sitting on a coach watching it like any other sports fan. Lowering the age for success to new arbitrary depths is merely one way to make one´s sport tougher, similar to Korean vs foreigner or ESF vs Kespa arguments.
I think you´re completely right. Though people start declining physically from their mid-twenties on, I don´t believe it´s a governing factor in e-sports. Older players have to deal with motivation issues, career questions, family questions, the need to pay for yourself in the near future, the consequences of the "super-tough" training methods leading to burn-out, military service, the insecurity of not knowing where your life will lead you, thinking about family, alls the many responsibilites of grown-up life. All things that a sixteen year old "bonjwa" has never encountered and will not have to worry about for several years, where people watch him peak and then discard him as too old, when he starts getting confronted with life decisions in his twenties. Sure quick hands are good for Starcraft, but a clear mind is even better in such a cerebral sport.

A study was published a while ago that among German top-athletes, depression and other mental afflictions, occur way above the average. The high pressure of having to win, the risk of injury and the intense training are factors, but not the biggest one. The deciding factor is the financial insecurity that does concern most professional athletes, who don´t play a popular sport. E-sports is in a similar situation, where the career appears sustainable only for a couple of years, leaving you with basically nothing careerwise. And that is something a sixteen year old bonjwa is simply not confronted with, yet.

So being an athlete (esports or otherwise) in your teenage years/early twenties is a whole lot different from doing "the same" in your early thirties. I assume most "fans" themselves have not reached that age to appreciate the struggle.

On March 13 2013 16:50 fluidin wrote:


While the points you brought up are valid and likely also important factors for a player's form, worsening reflexes are as likely to be a significant factor in this decline. In fact, they could be intertwined; declining reflexes leading to increased anxiety regarding future as an example.

On March 13 2013 17:06 lichter wrote:


Until someone shows me scientific studies showing reflexes deteriorate rapidly between the ages of 18 and 24 (when in most sports a player's prime occurs anywhere from 24-27 until around 32), I'm just going to continue believing it is poppycock.

On March 13 2013 17:06 lichter wrote:


Until someone shows me scientific studies showing reflexes deteriorate rapidly between the ages of 18 and 24 (when in most sports a player's prime occurs anywhere from 24-27 until around 32), I'm just going to continue believing it is poppycock.

On March 13 2013 17:06 lichter wrote:


Until someone shows me scientific studies showing reflexes deteriorate rapidly between the ages of 18 and 24 (when in most sports a player's prime occurs anywhere from 24-27 until around 32), I'm just going to continue believing it is poppycock.

On March 13 2013 23:48 ThePrince wrote:
LOL WTF is this derailing.


First of all, I agree it's all poppycock. These are psychological excuses... "age" and other such things are just MENTAL blocks. Period. Obviously if an athlete holds the belief that he is too "old" for something than his performance will decrease.


If anything, the studies show the beliefs of the general population rather than the decrease of anything with age. If you mentally limit yourself your perfomance decreases. Obvious statement is obvious.