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[WCS 2019] BlizzCon Finals Day - Page 153

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Tournaments
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Xain0n
Profile Joined November 2018
Italy3963 Posts
November 02 2019 21:24 GMT
#3041
On November 03 2019 05:56 Wombat_NI wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 03 2019 05:36 Charoisaur wrote:
On November 03 2019 05:30 BerserkSword wrote:
On November 03 2019 05:17 Anc13nt wrote:
On November 03 2019 04:38 BerserkSword wrote:
On November 03 2019 04:05 Xain0n wrote:
On November 03 2019 03:28 BerserkSword wrote:
On November 03 2019 03:01 Xain0n wrote:
On November 03 2019 02:36 Obamarauder wrote:
all this "serral wouldve beaten dark" talk is so cringe honestly.


So cringe, so cringe, you are right. How cringe were all the "Maru would have nomatched Serral" last year, instead?

Also, I see all these experts sure that Dark would have beaten Serral for sure, isn't that cringe?

Dark 4-1 Reynor is in contrast with Dark's results in ZvZ in the last 15 months; he dominated this time and totally deserved to win but I think we need many more examples to both say that koreans have solved EU ZvZ and that Dark is at ease in the matchup. Dark built his victory on always being one step ahead of Reynor, who was outmatched strategically way more than mechanically.


Both "serral wouldve beaten dark" and "maru wouldve beaten serral" are cringe lol.

What we do know is that dark looked better than serral overall and against the same opponent. Reynor was blown out of the water both strategically and mechanically.

Dark was playing like a GOD. He had Maru dancing on the palm of his hand and fended off beast mode Classic (i think any other zerg in the world loses to classic playing like that)

He made the prodigy reynor, who had just toppled serral and is the prince of european zvz, look like a nobody. Literally drone rush in blizzcon finals. that's how "at ease" he is with the matchup

sweep maru without breaking a sweat, sweep classic without breaking a sweat. completely style on the prince of the vaunted european ZvZ

unbelievable


I already posted stats, EU ZvZ is real.

Dark played with absolute swag in these, but could you really recognize the Reynor who beat Serral twice this year(let's be real, it was Serral throwing terribly hard this time, not Reynor proactively taking his victory)? I am quite sure Reynor choked in his first final on such a big stage and that Dark, for once, looked like the champion he is and was always expected to be. Mechanically, Dark lost g3 and won g5; he was very ahead in all the other games.

Dark in 2016 seemed to be destined to take over Sc2, his victories should not surprise you at all; still, I am not sold on the fact that he'll be able to keep winning and reach ten Premier titles. He is absolutely on fire right now but it seems to me that you might be reading too much into it.

On a side note, last week you were convinced that Showtime played better than Dark, and the general consensus is that Dark would have had a very hard time beating Classic with a balanced PvZ; you spent months(rightfully) complaining, now Dark is apparently having the "strongest peak ever" and no words about balance? Weird to say the least.


to be honest i didn't watch all the WCS circuit reynor vs serral matches. I dont like ZvZ. I just watched this time because it's blizzcon.

All I saw was a massive gulf between dark's and reynor's mechanics

Maybe dark seemed destined to take over sc2 in 2016, but we are talking about today not 3 years ago.

Yes I still do believe showtime outplayed dark in that series. Showtime was playing out of his mind. That doesnt take away from Dark's skill, generally speaking. And it doesnt take away from how absurdly well dark played in the playoffs.

I agree that Dark would have a very hard time beating classic if protoss wasnt a defanged race. Doesnt take away from Dark's display of ability in the playoffs.

Ive gotten banned several times in the last few weeks because of "balance whining" ....I'm tired of getting banned so I dont talk about balance much anymore.

But since you find it weird, I will clarify my position - I think ZvT is terran favored and ZvZ is obviously balanced. Zerg is only OP vs Protoss imo (Protoss was overnerfed imo). Dark not only trashed protoss players but dominates literally Maru and ZvZ monsters like soo and reynor. Which makes it more impressive

in Blizzcon he 3-2 soo, 3-0 maru, 3-0 classic, and 4-1 reynor (1 came from troll drone rush)

in ST2 he 3-1 Maru, 3-1 stats, 3-0 soo, 4-0 TY......another insane list of victims in the face of dark

Code S3 he 3-2 TY. Loses to Rogue, eventual champion. OK

Code S2 - dominates hero, trap and innovation en route to winning zerg's first code s ever in LotV

so yes based on watching him play and the accolades he collected, i think this is the greatest peak in lotv


Personally, I like to draw a distinction between LotV peaks in terms of skill and in terms of the quality of tournament results.

In terms of dominance and win rate, I would say:
1. Serral in 2018
2. Dark in 2019
3. INnoVation in 2017
4. Rogue in late 2017 to early 2018
5. Maru in 2018

In terms of results, I would say:
1. Maru in 2018
2. Serral in 2018
3. Rogue in late 2017 to early 2018 (tied with Dark)
3. Dark in 2019 (tied with Rogue)
5. INnoVation in 2017

I now think that Dark is the GOAT of LotV though. Followed by Maru, Stats, Serral and Rogue in no particular order.


Dark is greatest peak in terms of skill imo

Then in terms of tournament results:

1. 2018 Maru
2. 2019 Dark
3. 2017 Innovation

Rogue and serral arent even worth mentioning compared to those 3 tournament results imo

Maru was exposed in 2018 blizzcon though, which is why I dont consider his skill high at all. Maru's 2018 skill is a tier below 2019 dark's, 2017 innovations, 2018 serral's for example imo.



I don't get the distinction between skill and results since skill is what leads to results so I will only make 1 list:

1. 2018 Maru
2. 2017 Innovation
3. 2019 Dark
4. 2017-2018 Rogue
5. 2018 Serral





It’s frustrating, I like Dark a lot as a personality and a player, he’s one of the greats. The current meta Zerg are incredibly strong

I don’t think this devalues what he’s achieved this year when he’s outperformed his Zerg contemporaries, but I’d have a hard time putting his 2019 ahead of others historically.



That's because Dark's peak is impressive, but not as impressive as the others if you look at the results.

Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33706 Posts
November 02 2019 21:44 GMT
#3042
how is unlarva holding up? I was away ;o
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
BerserkSword
Profile Joined December 2018
United States2123 Posts
November 02 2019 22:33 GMT
#3043
On November 03 2019 05:38 Anc13nt wrote:

I think that's fair opinion. It really depends on how WCS Circuit victories are weighed to be honest. Thinking of it a bit more, I think I'm leaning more to it being a three-way tie between Rogue, Serral and Dark in terms of results.

Edit: If I were to make just one list though (since that is more conventional), it would be:

1. Maru
2. Serral
3. Dark
4. INnoVation (tied with Rogue)
5. Rogue (tied with INnoVation)


Mine would be

1. Dark
2. Innovation
3. Rogue
4. Serral

Honestly looking back the eye test says serral > rogue though so serral vs rogue is a toss up for me though

On November 03 2019 05:36 Charoisaur wrote:

I don't get the distinction between skill and results since skill is what leads to results so I will only make 1 list:

1. 2018 Maru
2. 2017 Innovation
3. 2019 Dark
4. 2017-2018 Rogue
5. 2018 Serral



aside from maru being no. 1 i think this is a fair list

and it's consistent with your criteria.
TL+ Member
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27461 Posts
November 02 2019 23:43 GMT
#3044
On November 03 2019 06:24 Xain0n wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 03 2019 05:56 Wombat_NI wrote:
On November 03 2019 05:36 Charoisaur wrote:
On November 03 2019 05:30 BerserkSword wrote:
On November 03 2019 05:17 Anc13nt wrote:
On November 03 2019 04:38 BerserkSword wrote:
On November 03 2019 04:05 Xain0n wrote:
On November 03 2019 03:28 BerserkSword wrote:
On November 03 2019 03:01 Xain0n wrote:
On November 03 2019 02:36 Obamarauder wrote:
all this "serral wouldve beaten dark" talk is so cringe honestly.


So cringe, so cringe, you are right. How cringe were all the "Maru would have nomatched Serral" last year, instead?

Also, I see all these experts sure that Dark would have beaten Serral for sure, isn't that cringe?

Dark 4-1 Reynor is in contrast with Dark's results in ZvZ in the last 15 months; he dominated this time and totally deserved to win but I think we need many more examples to both say that koreans have solved EU ZvZ and that Dark is at ease in the matchup. Dark built his victory on always being one step ahead of Reynor, who was outmatched strategically way more than mechanically.


Both "serral wouldve beaten dark" and "maru wouldve beaten serral" are cringe lol.

What we do know is that dark looked better than serral overall and against the same opponent. Reynor was blown out of the water both strategically and mechanically.

Dark was playing like a GOD. He had Maru dancing on the palm of his hand and fended off beast mode Classic (i think any other zerg in the world loses to classic playing like that)

He made the prodigy reynor, who had just toppled serral and is the prince of european zvz, look like a nobody. Literally drone rush in blizzcon finals. that's how "at ease" he is with the matchup

sweep maru without breaking a sweat, sweep classic without breaking a sweat. completely style on the prince of the vaunted european ZvZ

unbelievable


I already posted stats, EU ZvZ is real.

Dark played with absolute swag in these, but could you really recognize the Reynor who beat Serral twice this year(let's be real, it was Serral throwing terribly hard this time, not Reynor proactively taking his victory)? I am quite sure Reynor choked in his first final on such a big stage and that Dark, for once, looked like the champion he is and was always expected to be. Mechanically, Dark lost g3 and won g5; he was very ahead in all the other games.

Dark in 2016 seemed to be destined to take over Sc2, his victories should not surprise you at all; still, I am not sold on the fact that he'll be able to keep winning and reach ten Premier titles. He is absolutely on fire right now but it seems to me that you might be reading too much into it.

On a side note, last week you were convinced that Showtime played better than Dark, and the general consensus is that Dark would have had a very hard time beating Classic with a balanced PvZ; you spent months(rightfully) complaining, now Dark is apparently having the "strongest peak ever" and no words about balance? Weird to say the least.


to be honest i didn't watch all the WCS circuit reynor vs serral matches. I dont like ZvZ. I just watched this time because it's blizzcon.

All I saw was a massive gulf between dark's and reynor's mechanics

Maybe dark seemed destined to take over sc2 in 2016, but we are talking about today not 3 years ago.

Yes I still do believe showtime outplayed dark in that series. Showtime was playing out of his mind. That doesnt take away from Dark's skill, generally speaking. And it doesnt take away from how absurdly well dark played in the playoffs.

I agree that Dark would have a very hard time beating classic if protoss wasnt a defanged race. Doesnt take away from Dark's display of ability in the playoffs.

Ive gotten banned several times in the last few weeks because of "balance whining" ....I'm tired of getting banned so I dont talk about balance much anymore.

But since you find it weird, I will clarify my position - I think ZvT is terran favored and ZvZ is obviously balanced. Zerg is only OP vs Protoss imo (Protoss was overnerfed imo). Dark not only trashed protoss players but dominates literally Maru and ZvZ monsters like soo and reynor. Which makes it more impressive

in Blizzcon he 3-2 soo, 3-0 maru, 3-0 classic, and 4-1 reynor (1 came from troll drone rush)

in ST2 he 3-1 Maru, 3-1 stats, 3-0 soo, 4-0 TY......another insane list of victims in the face of dark

Code S3 he 3-2 TY. Loses to Rogue, eventual champion. OK

Code S2 - dominates hero, trap and innovation en route to winning zerg's first code s ever in LotV

so yes based on watching him play and the accolades he collected, i think this is the greatest peak in lotv


Personally, I like to draw a distinction between LotV peaks in terms of skill and in terms of the quality of tournament results.

In terms of dominance and win rate, I would say:
1. Serral in 2018
2. Dark in 2019
3. INnoVation in 2017
4. Rogue in late 2017 to early 2018
5. Maru in 2018

In terms of results, I would say:
1. Maru in 2018
2. Serral in 2018
3. Rogue in late 2017 to early 2018 (tied with Dark)
3. Dark in 2019 (tied with Rogue)
5. INnoVation in 2017

I now think that Dark is the GOAT of LotV though. Followed by Maru, Stats, Serral and Rogue in no particular order.


Dark is greatest peak in terms of skill imo

Then in terms of tournament results:

1. 2018 Maru
2. 2019 Dark
3. 2017 Innovation

Rogue and serral arent even worth mentioning compared to those 3 tournament results imo

Maru was exposed in 2018 blizzcon though, which is why I dont consider his skill high at all. Maru's 2018 skill is a tier below 2019 dark's, 2017 innovations, 2018 serral's for example imo.



I don't get the distinction between skill and results since skill is what leads to results so I will only make 1 list:

1. 2018 Maru
2. 2017 Innovation
3. 2019 Dark
4. 2017-2018 Rogue
5. 2018 Serral





It’s frustrating, I like Dark a lot as a personality and a player, he’s one of the greats. The current meta Zerg are incredibly strong

I don’t think this devalues what he’s achieved this year when he’s outperformed his Zerg contemporaries, but I’d have a hard time putting his 2019 ahead of others historically.



That's because Dark's peak is impressive, but not as impressive as the others if you look at the results.


When the LR narrative of a player of Classic’s calibre is of wily old fox past his prime hoping to spring an upset through sheer balls and force of his will, just kind of puts a negative spin on things for me.

Not Dark’s fault of course and this isn’t at all a Serral>Dark point but last Blizzcon had a PvZ final where both players went more toe to toe in macro games.

Yeah sure it was hype as hell, but I mean Classic shouldn’t have to be having to do incredibly risky builds that rely on not being scouted every other game just to have a shot. Cannon rushing being a semi-consistent opener at Blizzcon of all places in the matchup.

I’d definitely say Dark has had the best year all things considered, but ZvP especially being in the state has been for quite a stretch now I don’t think one can put him above some of the other great years we’ve seen.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
TL+ Member
Xain0n
Profile Joined November 2018
Italy3963 Posts
November 03 2019 00:16 GMT
#3045
I liked the groupstage's matches being bo5, I'd like to see that next BlizzCon; however, groupstages played in the USA and playoffs split in two days are much better.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27461 Posts
November 03 2019 01:01 GMT
#3046
On November 03 2019 09:16 Xain0n wrote:
I liked the groupstage's matches being bo5, I'd like to see that next BlizzCon; however, groupstages played in the USA and playoffs split in two days are much better.

Yeah the format was great, really liked it. Better player tends to advance in a Bo5
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
TL+ Member
tigon_ridge
Profile Joined March 2019
482 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-11-03 02:27:20
November 03 2019 01:35 GMT
#3047
On November 03 2019 03:56 MyLovelyLurker wrote:
Update on vKor offline winrate (in series) for 2019 :

1. Dark 81.4%
2. Classic 78.4%, what a sendoff !
3. Serral 75.0%
4. Rogue 73.7%
5. Stats 66.7%

Trap 62.2%, Maru 61.5%, Reynor... 38.5%

Dark second player ever to break 80%+ after last year's 84.6% for Serral.

I just painstakenly manually parsed through the offline data for both Dark and Serral for their run in 2019, and ran my selected data through Excel. Using the data from Aligulac, if you:

1. remove all the results of Dark that were from matches against Koreans below rank 30 (at the time of their match),
2. include the results of Dark vs foreigners >= rank 30,
3. include the results of Serral vs foreigners >= rank 30,

then what you'll get is 68.4% winrate for Serral, vs 66.4% for Dark; and 77.5% in matches for Serral, vs 78.6% for Dark.

All in all, their results for 2019 are roughly equal. Serral is 2% higher in winrate, whereas Dark is 1% higher in matches.

Haven't done the same algorithm for Classic, but a quick look through his history shows the result would yield much worse percentages for him.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27461 Posts
November 03 2019 01:43 GMT
#3048
On November 03 2019 10:35 tigon_ridge wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 03 2019 03:56 MyLovelyLurker wrote:
Update on vKor offline winrate (in series) for 2019 :

1. Dark 81.4%
2. Classic 78.4%, what a sendoff !
3. Serral 75.0%
4. Rogue 73.7%
5. Stats 66.7%

Trap 62.2%, Maru 61.5%, Reynor... 38.5%

Dark second player ever to break 80%+ after last year's 84.6% for Serral.

I just painstakenly manually parsed through the data for both Dark and Serral for their run in 2019, and ran my selected data through Excel. Using the data from Aligulac, if you:

1. remove all the results of Dark that were from matches against Koreans below rank 30 (at the time of their match).
2. include the results of Dark vs foreigners >= rank 30.
3. include the results of Serral vs foreigners >= rank 30.

then what you'll get is 68.4% winrate for Serral, vs 66.4% for Dark; and 77.5% in matches for Serral, vs 78.6% for Dark.

All in all, their results for 2019 are roughly equal. Serral is 2% higher in winrate, whereas Dark is 1% higher in matches.

Haven't done the same algorithm for Classic, but a quick look through his history shows the result would yield much worse percentages for him.

That’s pretty interesting to see represented statistically for sure.

Basically everyone who isn’t a lunatic knows that when Serral plays Koreans it’s the best Koreans, this really isn’t arguable given the current tournament structure we have.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
TL+ Member
tigon_ridge
Profile Joined March 2019
482 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-11-03 02:26:28
November 03 2019 02:02 GMT
#3049
A bit of extra statistics for those who assume Dark would be favored against Serral in a Bo7:

1. Since 2018 (That's when Serral reached peak mode), Serral's record vs Dark is 9-2 games, 3-0 matches.
2. Since 2018, Serral's record vs Korean zergs is 35-12 (74.5%) games, 14-3 (82.4%) matches.
3. Since 2019, Serral's record vs Korean zergs is 18-6 (75%) games, 7-1 (87.5%) matches.
4. Since 2019, Dark's record vs Korean zergs (minus DRG and Leenock) is 12-9 (57.1%) games, 4-1 matches.
5. Since 2019, Dark's record vs Serral + Reynor + Elazer is 10-8 (55.5%) games, 3-2 matches.

Obviously, Serral's record vs Reynor is significantly weaker than his record vs other top zergs.

Note: All data points are from offline matches.
parksonsc
Profile Joined May 2019
175 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-11-03 02:41:43
November 03 2019 02:41 GMT
#3050
On November 03 2019 11:02 tigon_ridge wrote:
A bit of extra statistics for those who assume Dark would be favored against Serral in a Bo7:

1. Since 2018 (That's when Serral reached peak mode), Serral's record vs Dark is 9-2 games, 3-0 matches.
2. Since 2018, Serral's record vs Korean zergs is 35-12 (74.5%) games, 14-3 (82.4%) matches.
3. Since 2019, Serral's record vs Korean zergs is 18-6 (75%) games, 7-1 (87.5%) matches.
4. Since 2019, Dark's record vs Korean zergs (minus DRG and Leenock) is 12-9 (57.1%) games, 4-1 matches.
5. Since 2019, Dark's record vs Serral + Reynor + Elazer is 10-8 (55.5%) games, 3-2 matches.

Obviously, Serral's record vs Reynor is significantly weaker than his record vs other top zergs.

Note: All data points are from offline matches.


base on HISTORICAL statistics Dark would never have lost to a foreigner but he actually did. Since GSL vs TW Dark had never played a foreign Zerg until he stomped Reynor yesterday, sure he lost to Rogue in GSL s3 but looking at the forms, not the passed numbers, Dark and Rogue are looking equal or better than Serral, let alone other EU Zergs.
tigon_ridge
Profile Joined March 2019
482 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-11-03 03:14:32
November 03 2019 03:13 GMT
#3051
On November 03 2019 11:41 parksonsc wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 03 2019 11:02 tigon_ridge wrote:
A bit of extra statistics for those who assume Dark would be favored against Serral in a Bo7:

1. Since 2018 (That's when Serral reached peak mode), Serral's record vs Dark is 9-2 games, 3-0 matches.
2. Since 2018, Serral's record vs Korean zergs is 35-12 (74.5%) games, 14-3 (82.4%) matches.
3. Since 2019, Serral's record vs Korean zergs is 18-6 (75%) games, 7-1 (87.5%) matches.
4. Since 2019, Dark's record vs Korean zergs (minus DRG and Leenock) is 12-9 (57.1%) games, 4-1 matches.
5. Since 2019, Dark's record vs Serral + Reynor + Elazer is 10-8 (55.5%) games, 3-2 matches.

Obviously, Serral's record vs Reynor is significantly weaker than his record vs other top zergs.

Note: All data points are from offline matches.


base on HISTORICAL statistics Dark would never have lost to a foreigner but he actually did. Since GSL vs TW Dark had never played a foreign Zerg until he stomped Reynor yesterday, sure he lost to Rogue in GSL s3 but looking at the forms, not the passed numbers, Dark and Rogue are looking equal or better than Serral, let alone other EU Zergs.

You can certainly argue form, but that's where it gets very subjective. Out of all the zergs, I think Serral has the best mechanics; and while I used to believe he was also #1 in strategy, his throws vs Reynor that were due to poor decision making have made me reconsider. Versus Koreans, it might be more about mechanics than strategy. Strategy is where Reynor has been able to gain a foothold against Serral on many occasions.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27461 Posts
November 03 2019 05:49 GMT
#3052
On November 03 2019 12:13 tigon_ridge wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 03 2019 11:41 parksonsc wrote:
On November 03 2019 11:02 tigon_ridge wrote:
A bit of extra statistics for those who assume Dark would be favored against Serral in a Bo7:

1. Since 2018 (That's when Serral reached peak mode), Serral's record vs Dark is 9-2 games, 3-0 matches.
2. Since 2018, Serral's record vs Korean zergs is 35-12 (74.5%) games, 14-3 (82.4%) matches.
3. Since 2019, Serral's record vs Korean zergs is 18-6 (75%) games, 7-1 (87.5%) matches.
4. Since 2019, Dark's record vs Korean zergs (minus DRG and Leenock) is 12-9 (57.1%) games, 4-1 matches.
5. Since 2019, Dark's record vs Serral + Reynor + Elazer is 10-8 (55.5%) games, 3-2 matches.

Obviously, Serral's record vs Reynor is significantly weaker than his record vs other top zergs.

Note: All data points are from offline matches.


base on HISTORICAL statistics Dark would never have lost to a foreigner but he actually did. Since GSL vs TW Dark had never played a foreign Zerg until he stomped Reynor yesterday, sure he lost to Rogue in GSL s3 but looking at the forms, not the passed numbers, Dark and Rogue are looking equal or better than Serral, let alone other EU Zergs.

You can certainly argue form, but that's where it gets very subjective. Out of all the zergs, I think Serral has the best mechanics; and while I used to believe he was also #1 in strategy, his throws vs Reynor that were due to poor decision making have made me reconsider. Versus Koreans, it might be more about mechanics than strategy. Strategy is where Reynor has been able to gain a foothold against Serral on many occasions.

It’s one series, and he’d totally outplayed Reynor that set before basically throwing.

Serral basically never throws so it’s a bit weird. Nice to see he’s human. He’s very good mechanical but he’s number one strength to me is making the right decisions all the time and this time he did t
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
TL+ Member
LordYama
Profile Joined August 2010
United States370 Posts
November 03 2019 06:13 GMT
#3053
I feel like the level of play Dark has reached for most of this year is about the best I've seen from a Zerg player and among the best I've seen from any SC2 player in that he seems so solid in every matchup and in every type of game. He seems as comfortable and solid defending a cannon rush or bunker rush as he does managing a half hour split map tier 3 units game, and everything in between. As much as I love Serral and think that he's incredible, I feel like Dark does a lot better job defending early game cheese than Serral in my opinion. The somewhat unconventional strategies he prepared against Reynor (and I suspect he planned to use against any Zerg opponent) were impressive.

Dark has been one of the top players for a while now but in the past he always seemed to lack that extra something once getting to a semifinal opponent. Now he's past that and supremely confident all the way through to a final. Winning a GSL season, the Super Tournament and Blizzcon in a year is pretty close to a Grand Slam of SC2, all he needed was to win GSL vs The World. If Rogue hadn't done such a good job assassinating Dark in the final GSL season I feel fairly confident Dark would have won that season as well.

One of the more impressive years anyone's had in SC2 recently and that includes Serral and Maru's 2018 and Rogue's late 2017 runs in my opinion.
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6566 Posts
November 03 2019 06:26 GMT
#3054
blizzcon: we're soo good we're going to make rapid cast the ksl
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
tigon_ridge
Profile Joined March 2019
482 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-11-03 08:00:09
November 03 2019 07:59 GMT
#3055
On November 03 2019 15:13 LordYama wrote:
I feel like the level of play Dark has reached for most of this year is about the best I've seen from a Zerg player and among the best I've seen from any SC2 player in that he seems so solid in every matchup and in every type of game. He seems as comfortable and solid defending a cannon rush or bunker rush as he does managing a half hour split map tier 3 units game, and everything in between. As much as I love Serral and think that he's incredible, I feel like Dark does a lot better job defending early game cheese than Serral in my opinion. The somewhat unconventional strategies he prepared against Reynor (and I suspect he planned to use against any Zerg opponent) were impressive.

Yes, nice to train in a server where super high level players very often throw cannon rushes and proxy raxes at you (Maru, Innovation, Classic, sOs, Parting, etc.). Not so much of that from the european side, which is why you very often see Serral dying to proxy raxes by Korean terrans, and he once or twice caved in to Classic's cannon rush. I have no doubt Serral would match Dark's ability in those areas, if he had the luxury of having Europeans partners who don't play at the level of...Europeans. The fact that Serral's best MU is still ZvZ, even during a meta that favors ZvP and ZvT hard, should tell you everything; ZvZ is his best MU because Reynor is a league above the other foreigners, and is therefore able to provide Serral with quality practice. Having quality practice literally trumps race advantage! lol Poor Serral is handicapped hard by an inferior region. Oh, well, it's not too reasonable to expect him to spend much time in Korea training. We can't have our cake and eat it too, now can we? Serral possesses a freakish level of talent, but lacks the environment to bring out his full potential.
sneakyfox
Profile Joined January 2017
8218 Posts
November 03 2019 09:11 GMT
#3056
On November 03 2019 09:16 Xain0n wrote:
I liked the groupstage's matches being bo5, I'd like to see that next BlizzCon; however, groupstages played in the USA and playoffs split in two days are much better.


Agree that the Bo5 groupstage was excellent but I really liked that they held it in Seoul. A live studio audience just makes for a much better viewing experience, plus it always felt so flat to hear Tasteless roar the players' names in the introduction only to have the camera show us the players sitting in an empty studio by themselves.

It would perhaps be better to have the Ro16 in Seoul two weeks ahead of blizzcon instead of one. That would give the players more time to travel, adapt, prepare etc
"I saw what sneakyfox wrote on TL.net and it made me furious" - PartinG
Liquid`Ret
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Netherlands4535 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-11-03 09:48:48
November 03 2019 09:42 GMT
#3057
I couldn't watch live so I'm watching now, but man I wish they used PiG to cast these ZvZ's like they usually do in WCS
Team Liquid
kyllinghest
Profile Joined December 2011
Norway1607 Posts
November 03 2019 10:09 GMT
#3058
On November 03 2019 18:42 Liquid`Ret wrote:
I couldn't watch live so I'm watching now, but man I wish they used PiG to cast these ZvZ's like they usually do in WCS

Agreed, he really is on a different level when it comes to conveying the whats and the whys!
"NO" -Has
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27461 Posts
November 03 2019 12:39 GMT
#3059
On November 03 2019 18:42 Liquid`Ret wrote:
I couldn't watch live so I'm watching now, but man I wish they used PiG to cast these ZvZ's like they usually do in WCS

Agreed, other folks do a decent job but he has that little bit of extra knowledge one gets from being a higher level of player of a particular race.

Happy birthday too!
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
TL+ Member
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany7421 Posts
November 04 2019 11:54 GMT
#3060
I felt like in Reynor vs Serral, Reynor took action and Serral played reactionary and more defensive
In Dark vs Reynor, Reynor played the defensive style. Wonder why that is
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
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