On October 25 2019 18:45 Poopi wrote: It's surrealist how we won't ever see the match we are waiting for lol. Funny waking up in the middle of the night and seeing that Maru lost to TIME though. Gratz Maru, all hopes are on you now for terrans. Tomorrow the protoss hope will arise!
in the middle of the night? so you're not in France right now?
Yes I am, and at like 7am or even earlier Maru lost to TIME.
"middle of the night". enjoy that lifestyle while it lasts, guessing you're in Uni or smth? i was preparing for my first business call of the day when Maru lost to Time.
Well my alarm clock was set-up for 7:50am which is respectable I'd say. You are free to choose your own chains but don't expect others to follow the same path.
haha that's quite the dramatic line there :D i meant it when i said enjoy that lifestyle. if you find a way to enjoy it for your whole life, congrats. at my job i don't even have to show up at a certain time, i just need to get my work done in time for deadlines and i'm good. but i frequently have calls with customers rather early in the morning so yeah, obviously gotta be awake for those.
Well it wasn’t that easy for Maru, losing the first bo5. Then against Stats it was two close games he could have lost, only the Thunderbird game was a stomp against Stats. Same for TIME, two close games then a stomp ; the score doesn’t tell the whole story.
On October 25 2019 21:03 IshinShishi wrote: Maru didnt seem upset at all after the first loss to TIME, I wouldnt say he threw, but he probably didnt try hard either
Why would he not try? Maru is the only one whose losses are because of "not trying". I find this absurd.
There's no way Maru was "not trying" against Time in the first match, getting second in this group makes Blizzcon much harder for him as now it's very likely he gets one of Dark or Rogue/Trap as his RO8 opponent. Also groups were released far enough in advance for the round of 16 to be considered a "preparation" format, even if classic delayed finalized groups for a few weeks.
If I had to guess, Maru focused most of his prep on Stats and Serral (which is perfectly understandable), and Time brought some really good builds to bear and played better than expected, but by the time they got to the deciders match Time didn't have any hidden builds left and Maru adapted to his playstyle.
On October 25 2019 23:16 dysenterymd wrote: There's no way Maru was "not trying" against Time in the first match, getting second in this group makes Blizzcon much harder for him as now it's very likely he gets one of Dark or Rogue/Trap as his RO8 opponent. Also groups were released far enough in advance for the round of 16 to be considered a "preparation" format, even if classic delayed finalized groups for a few weeks.
If I had to guess, Maru focused most of his prep on Stats and Serral (which is perfectly understandable), and Time brought some really good builds to bear and played better than expected, but by the time they got to the deciders match Time didn't have any hidden builds left and Maru adapted to his playstyle.
Yes it was very obvious that Maru wanted to advance from first place and was very well prepared for that. Shame we could not see his TvZ, I am sure he practiced his heart out to be prepared for the winners match against both Stats and Serral. He just underestimated Time. On the other hand it was apparent from Times plays today and even from the interview that his only goal today was to beat Maru, and he managed to surprise him and snipe him with quality prepared builds (Inno you bastard! )
Intresting thing is, Maru is regarded here as a very heavy prep. reliant player. Well he adjusted to Times play perfectly in just an hour or 2, and showed that he is a far superior player in the rematch.
Bottom line anyone who thinks Maru wanted to dodge Serral on purpose is out of his mind. Maru is the best TvZ player of all time. Even with this balance, he would be more than a match. Even Serral mentioned numerous times that he would rather not play Maru
Serious question though, if Maru and Serral can only play each other in the finals, who can stop Maru? I'd say Dark would be the worst draw for Maru, Rogue should be easier but it's his teammate so quite risky. Trap will probably not qualify as first seed / reach ro4. Overall Maru has a decent shot at going further should he dodge Dark and pray for him to be eliminated in a ZvZ.
On October 25 2019 23:49 Poopi wrote: Serious question though, if Maru and Serral can only play each other in the finals, who can stop Maru? I'd say Dark would be the worst draw for Maru, Rogue should be easier but it's his teammate so quite risky. Trap will probably not qualify as first seed / reach ro4. Overall Maru has a decent shot at going further should he dodge Dark and pray for him to be eliminated in a ZvZ.
I'd say Dark-Rogue-Trap-Reynor and maybe Classic all have a decent shot
On October 25 2019 23:49 Poopi wrote: Serious question though, if Maru and Serral can only play each other in the finals, who can stop Maru? I'd say Dark would be the worst draw for Maru, Rogue should be easier but it's his teammate so quite risky. Trap will probably not qualify as first seed / reach ro4. Overall Maru has a decent shot at going further should he dodge Dark and pray for him to be eliminated in a ZvZ.
I'd say Dark-Rogue-Trap-Reynor and maybe Classic all have a decent shot
Reynor :D Good one. Classic also a big no, Maru completely roflstomped him in his PvT peak. He is struggling against the likes of Heromarine right now. Dark and Rogue. Trap seems to be in a slump so I don't think so...
On October 25 2019 23:49 Poopi wrote: Serious question though, if Maru and Serral can only play each other in the finals, who can stop Maru? I'd say Dark would be the worst draw for Maru, Rogue should be easier but it's his teammate so quite risky. Trap will probably not qualify as first seed / reach ro4. Overall Maru has a decent shot at going further should he dodge Dark and pray for him to be eliminated in a ZvZ.
I'd say Dark-Rogue-Trap-Reynor and maybe Classic all have a decent shot
Reynor :D Good one. Classic also a big no, Maru completely roflstomped him in his PvT peak. He is struggling against the likes of Heromarine right now. Dark and Rogue. Trap seems to be in a slump so I don't think so...
Well Maru is 2-2 in tvz since the last patch so I'd say any very good zerg has a shot and Reynor has a good tvz
You guys are underestimating the fact BlizzCon is a weekender(actually, a tournament played in a single day this year) and won't be played in Asia: Maru never won a similar tournament in his whole career, under these conditions I could easily see herO snipe him out in the ro8.
If we ignore this consideration, the most dangerous opponents for Maru are Dark, Trap(if he qualifies and I'm not sure of that) and Rogue.
On October 26 2019 00:26 Xain0n wrote: You guys are underestimating the fact BlizzCon is a weekender(actually, a tournament played in a single day this year) and won't be played in Asia: Maru never won a similar tournament in his whole career, under these conditions I could easily see herO snipe him out in the ro8.
If we ignore this consideration, the most dangerous opponents for Maru are Dark, Trap(if he qualifies and I'm not sure of that) and Rogue.
herO is a good shout. For no particular logical reason it just feels absolute typical herO to knock out Maru here if he gets out.
It’s quite a good tournament for Maru IMO, his vP can be stellar at times but he seems to falter when he has to run a potential gauntlet of Protoss players, all with their particular styles and quirks.
Given the state of PvZ and the quality of the Zergs at the tournament I feel it’s more likely that the Protoss contingent will be squeezed out before they become much of a factor, although hopefully not.
On October 25 2019 23:49 Poopi wrote: Serious question though, if Maru and Serral can only play each other in the finals, who can stop Maru? I'd say Dark would be the worst draw for Maru, Rogue should be easier but it's his teammate so quite risky. Trap will probably not qualify as first seed / reach ro4. Overall Maru has a decent shot at going further should he dodge Dark and pray for him to be eliminated in a ZvZ.
I'd say Dark-Rogue-Trap-Reynor and maybe Classic all have a decent shot
Reynor :D Good one. Classic also a big no, Maru completely roflstomped him in his PvT peak. He is struggling against the likes of Heromarine right now. Dark and Rogue. Trap seems to be in a slump so I don't think so...
That series was closer than it appeared, fine margins at that level. Artosis and NoRegret did a good job breaking it down on In Depth and Classic was pretty genuinely unlucky at some key moments of that series.
Maru was still better but my perception shifted a bit from it being a stomp to Classic being outplayed, but not by a huge amount.
It’s Classic, he’s been performing against expectations for a good chunk of the year, I wouldn’t have him favoured against Maru but I’d still give him a shot. Especially given Maru hasn’t really brought his best form to tournaments like this in the past.
Reynor is eventually going to bring his best form against a top Korean when it matters. Whispers are that his vP is pretty terrifying at the minute, but from what I’ve seen from him in the past and when they played against each other I’m not sure Maru would be a scalp he could take now, especially given Maru’s vZ chops.
On October 26 2019 00:26 Xain0n wrote: You guys are underestimating the fact BlizzCon is a weekender(actually, a tournament played in a single day this year) and won't be played in Asia: Maru never won a similar tournament in his whole career, under these conditions I could easily see herO snipe him out in the ro8.
Well Maru never played that many tournaments outside of Asia to begin with. In his entire career he's left asia for two WCS (back in 2013), then three blizzcons and three katowices.
That's not a lot for a 9 year SC2 career, compared to the 50+ premier events he's attended in korea.
Not saying he doesn't play worse in weekenders, he does, but it's not like he's done a lot of them
On October 26 2019 00:26 Xain0n wrote: You guys are underestimating the fact BlizzCon is a weekender(actually, a tournament played in a single day this year) and won't be played in Asia: Maru never won a similar tournament in his whole career, under these conditions I could easily see herO snipe him out in the ro8.
Well Maru never played that many tournaments outside of Asia to begin with. In his entire career he's left asia for two WCS (back in 2013), then three blizzcons and three katowices.
That's not a lot for a 9 year SC2 career, compared to the 50+ premier events he's attended in korea.
Not saying he doesn't play worse in weekenders, he does, but it's not like he's done a lot of them
Come on, not the weekender argument again. This was the group stage, the Blizzcon main event is 1/4 finals, semifinals, finals, same as WESG for example, which he did win once. Maru's gonna know his first opponent way before the event begins, and should he win that, his next 2 opponents are gonna be Dark and Serral. If he doesnt win it's not because it's a weekender, or he couldnt prepare for specific opponents.
On October 25 2019 23:49 Poopi wrote: Serious question though, if Maru and Serral can only play each other in the finals, who can stop Maru? I'd say Dark would be the worst draw for Maru, Rogue should be easier but it's his teammate so quite risky. Trap will probably not qualify as first seed / reach ro4. Overall Maru has a decent shot at going further should he dodge Dark and pray for him to be eliminated in a ZvZ.
I'd say Dark-Rogue-Trap-Reynor and maybe Classic all have a decent shot
Reynor :D Good one. Classic also a big no, Maru completely roflstomped him in his PvT peak. He is struggling against the likes of Heromarine right now. Dark and Rogue. Trap seems to be in a slump so I don't think so...
Reynor is eventually going to bring his best form against a top Korean when it matters. Whispers are that his vP is pretty terrifying at the minute, but from what I’ve seen from him in the past and when they played against each other I’m not sure Maru would be a scalp he could take now, especially given Maru’s vZ chops.
Reynor just does not hype me at all... Havent achieved anything meaningful aside from sniping Serral a couple of times. Which seems to excite Serral and WCS fanboys, but the reality is that he always got stomped by the first good korean he came across in a serious tournament environment.
Specifically Maru made him look like a total scrub and it wasnt that long ago they played together. So I see absolutely no grounds to claim Reynor would have a shot here, but maybe I will be surprised. Wouldnt be the first time anyway
On October 25 2019 23:49 Poopi wrote: Serious question though, if Maru and Serral can only play each other in the finals, who can stop Maru? I'd say Dark would be the worst draw for Maru, Rogue should be easier but it's his teammate so quite risky. Trap will probably not qualify as first seed / reach ro4. Overall Maru has a decent shot at going further should he dodge Dark and pray for him to be eliminated in a ZvZ.
I'd say Dark-Rogue-Trap-Reynor and maybe Classic all have a decent shot
Reynor :D Good one. Classic also a big no, Maru completely roflstomped him in his PvT peak. He is struggling against the likes of Heromarine right now. Dark and Rogue. Trap seems to be in a slump so I don't think so...
Reynor is eventually going to bring his best form against a top Korean when it matters. Whispers are that his vP is pretty terrifying at the minute, but from what I’ve seen from him in the past and when they played against each other I’m not sure Maru would be a scalp he could take now, especially given Maru’s vZ chops.
Reynor just does not hype me at all... Havent achieved anything meaningful aside from sniping Serral a couple of times. Which seems to excite Serral and WCS fanboys, but the reality is that he always got stomped by the first good korean he came across in a serious tournament environment.
Specifically Maru made him look like a total scrub and it wasnt that long ago they played together. So I see absolutely no grounds to claim Reynor would have a shot here, but maybe I will be surprised. Wouldnt be the first time anyway
Beating Serral twice in meaningful matches is pretty decent anyway.
He’s clearly a hell of a talent but hasn’t really brought it to bear against Koreans this year, weird as his first Code S run was impressive and arguably ahead of schedule.