Serral gave WCS Valencia 2018 a historic ending as he won his third WCS Circuit championship in a row. Once again, Serral entered the tournament as the heavy favorite to lift the trophy, and once again Serral lived up to expectations as he defeated all challengers who came his way. Canada's Scarlett came closest to ending Serral's reign, even taking a 2-1 lead in their RO16 match. The momentary deficit did not rattle Serral, who showed flawless execution and mechanics to close the series 3-2. Reynor—the young Italian who caused the upset of the Code S season by eliminating Classic—was dismissed in quarterfinal sweep. HeRoMaRinE—perhaps a title contender in a world without Serral—saw his mech-Terran eaten alive by locusts in the semifinals.
As in the previous WCS Circuit stop in Austin, Serral ceded much of the spotlight to his finals co-star. If MaNa had been a champion-of-yore making a miraculous late-career comeback, then Has was a veteran who had never even sniffed a major championship. Known for his single-minded dedication toward uniquely cheesy strategies, Has had spent much of his career as both a polarizing underdog and as a cult-hero to a subset of fans who appreciated his eccentricity.
Has' tricks had rarely been enough to steal more than a map off the 'true' contenders' in the past, but WCS Valencia saw Has make the tournament run of his career. Opponent after opponent found themselves vexed by an onslaught of bizarre builds they fully expected to come. More than once, Has' own mistakes saw him blow a winnable game. But by hook and by crook, Has progressed through the bracket. 3-2 vs Kelazhur. 3-2 vs Nerchio. 3-2 vs ShoWTimE. Then, Serral.
Perhaps Serral was too powerful a foe, or perhaps Has had exposed too many of his strategies by the time he reached the finals. In any case, the grand finals represented a return to normalcy (or what passes for normalcy in Has' world). Has was good enough to grind out a single map win in a bizarre double-cheese game. The rest of the games—though made entertaining by Has' commitment to all-ins—ended with Serral's swarm trampling over a huddled, ragged Protoss force.
After a valiant last stand from Has on Redshift, it was all over. Serral has made his point: he was the most dominant player in the WCS Circuit's brief history, sealed with a third consecutive trophy. And though Has left the finals stage without any silverware, the cheers from the crowd suggested he had earned that rarity among rarities in StarCraft: A moral victory.
Thanks for the summary and the video of the victorious moment. Had to leave to hang out with friends during the Neeb vs Showtime match so missed the rest of the games!
Congratulations to Serral. What a god damn beast of a player. Getting even more exited for GSL vs the World now. I missed all of the ro16 and onward of Valencia. Any significant games you would recommend to watch?
On July 15 2018 21:41 Dynge wrote: Congratulations to Serral. What a god damn beast of a player. Getting even more exited for GSL vs the World now. I missed all of the ro16 and onward of Valencia. Any significant games you would recommend to watch?
Honestly most of it. One of the most hype and watchable tournaments in a long time, it earned its 60K viewers. Games 1 to 4 of Has vs Serral were properly amazing though, game 2 and 3 especially.
On July 15 2018 21:41 Dynge wrote: Congratulations to Serral. What a god damn beast of a player. Getting even more exited for GSL vs the World now. I missed all of the ro16 and onward of Valencia. Any significant games you would recommend to watch?
Definitely watch the finals, it was just really fun despite the 4-1 score.
Has was in some excellent positions, to say he threw might be a bit harsh but it's kind of surreal to think he could actually have beaten Serral in a bo7. The games were on the edge of a knife and it was extremely entertaining.
I watched a lot of Has' games (except the finals which I have still to catch up on, and the group stages) and I'm not so sure cheese is adequate anymore. Sure, there is the occasional cannon rush, and proxy whatnot, but more often than not he simply started half normal, but instead of saturating three full bases he turned on full aggro with some 47 probes. That hardly classifies as bona fide cheddar though? The fact that he had scared his opponents to stop droning up long before that kind of makes it anti-cheese.
On July 15 2018 21:41 Dynge wrote: Congratulations to Serral. What a god damn beast of a player. Getting even more exited for GSL vs the World now. I missed all of the ro16 and onward of Valencia. Any significant games you would recommend to watch?
All of Has' games, including his group victories over Elazer & Special, were amazing. He beat Nerchio without a single cannon-rush! It was especially funny to see his opponents' confidence before the matches
On July 15 2018 22:18 Latr02 wrote: Has was in some excellent positions, to say he threw might be a bit harsh but it's kind of surreal to think he could actually have beaten Serral in a bo7. The games were on the edge of a knife and it was extremely entertaining.
If not for a few critical mistakes (losing the immortal in G3 and losing the prism in G4) He would probably lead 3-1.
As much as I like it when a player has some creative builds, Has' playstyle just feels like a series of relentlessly expected early game full-bore offensive "cheese", most of which is not even very creative (probe push through the minerals on Redshit notwithstanding), to which I watch solid players fall like "How could you possibly not see this coming? Where is your scouting?". It sucks the fun out of the game for me.
I had fun watching Has for probably the first 2 series of his that I saw, way back in 2014, but now, I feel like I already get the same tired joke that he keeps repeating, and its long since stopped being entertaining. I feel like every game of his just drags both players through the muck and makes both him and the players look bad. It's ugly to watch.
EPT
Serral gave WCS Valencia 2018 a historic ending as he won his third WCS Circuit championship in a row. Once again, Serral entered the tournament as the heavy favorite to lift the trophy, and once again Serral lived up to expectations as he defeated all challengers who came his way. Canada's Scarlett came closest to ending Serral's reign, even taking a 2-1 lead in their RO16 match. The momentary deficit did not rattle Serral, who showed flawless execution and mechanics to close the series 3-2. Reynor—the young Italian who caused the upset of the Code S season by eliminating Classic—was dismissed in quarterfinal sweep. HeRoMaRinE—perhaps a title contender in a world without Serral—saw his mech-Terran eaten alive by locusts in the semifinals.
The fact that he had scared his opponents to stop droning up long before that kind of makes it anti-cheese. 
