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4 Posts
The best StarCraft II player in the world is not a Korean. If not an undeniable reality, it has at least become a fiercely debatable point following Serral's 4-3 victory over Stats in the finals of GSL vs. The World. The victory capped off an incredible tournament run that saw the Finnish phenom go 3-0 vs Kelazhur, 3-0 vs INnoVation, 3-1 vs Dark, and even 1-0 vs Maru in a not-quite showmatch.
Serral's utter domination over the WCS Circuit—combined with a smattering of wins versus notable Korean pros in international competitions—left many fans and players to wonder how he would fare in the GSL. While the answer turned out to be 'pretty damn well' in RO8 and RO4 drubbings of INnoVation and Dark, Korea lived up to its reputation as StarCraft's adopted homeland with an impressive showing from Stats in the grand finals.
Stats had reached the finals stage by winning a shocking upset versus back-to-back Code S champion Maru but was considered the underdog yet again. Serral had already crushed INnoVation and Dark—surely he would inflict even greater humiliation in his best match-up of ZvP? Yet, Stats was able to show the resourcefulness and intelligence that made him one of the most consistent players of Legacy of the Void. An Archon-Chargelot attack caught Serral by surprise in game one, while a clever Redshift Cannon-rush vexed Serral in game two. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Serral was down 0-2.
However, Serral was not one to be shaken by giving up an early lead, as he had already shown when he came back from a 1-2 deficit versus MaNa in the WCS Austin finals. Serral put on macro-management masterclasses in games three and four, tying the series back up at 2-2.
The balance of the series tilted back in in Stats' favor after an exhilarating game five (an instant, best-game-of-the-year candidate). Stats proved that the series wasn't as simple as Protoss trickery versus Zerg macro, as he matched Serral's strength and then overpowered him in an all-out, full-map war.
Despite being one game away from elimination, Serral refused to crack. He ceded a macro advantage to Stats in game six, but was able to focus on attacking relentlessly with Hydralisks and Banelings to extract the series-tying GG from his opponent. Then, with everything on the line in game seven, Serral fell behind once more after a clever Adept mix-up from Stats took out a number of Drones. There was no indecision in Serral's response: a massive Roach-Queen-Ravager all-in lurched across the map to decide the series once and for all. Stats scrambled to prepare his defenses and microed with all his ability, but it was to no avail. The Zerg Swarm could not be stopped, leaving Stats with no choice but the surrender a historic GG to Serral.
The best StarCraft II player in the world is not a Korean. If not an undeniable reality, Korea's progamers must act as if it is, if they are to bring the WCS Global Championship home again.
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Phenomenal play, phenomenal player, well deserved. The upcoming months will doubtlessly be very exciting
Also lol, forums are very quiet right now as everybody who stayed up for GSLvTW is now catching up on sleep
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I have to congratulate serial for displaying great perseverance/prowess to win the tournament, but winning one tournament does not make him a god.
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congrats serral. Good days for zerg fanboys......... Correction.... GREAT days for zerg fanboys. ggs serral!!!
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On August 06 2018 00:01 Riner1212 wrote:
I have to congratulate serial for displaying great perseverance/prowess to win the tournament, but winning one tournament does not make him a god.
Winning one tournament doesnt make you a god. So how many tournament he have to win? He won 4 tournaments this year.
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JUST PLAY LIKE SERRAL!
All jokes aside. Serral has brilliant decision making..which is the most important attribute for a zerg player. Perfect macro and Korean Zerg level multitask. Going to be interesting to see if Maru can kill him before 10 minutes or not at blizzcon or we might have a foreigner champion this year.
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Seriously impressive plays from both Serral and Stats. I was sad that we couldn't see a bo7 Maru vs Serral but Stats vs Serral delivered.
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That 360 degree flank was insane. The swarm like it was an ingame cinematic :o
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This is great, congratulations to the best foreigner of all time!
Stats fought great as well.
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What a showing that was. Massive congratulations from Sweden to our Scandinavian brothers in the east! :D
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Is there a case for Stats being a kong now?
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On August 06 2018 01:08 Fango wrote:
Is there a case for Stats being a kong now?
No
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Russian Federation80 Posts
On August 06 2018 00:23 flijten wrote:
That 360 degree flank was insane. The swarm like it was an ingame cinematic :o
Yeah, it was crazy. At first it even seemed that there's too little of zerg, and they don't come coordinated, but then more and more poured in from other angles, and "too little" turned out to be "too much". Awesome engagement no doubt!
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Serral Made Finland Great Again!
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On August 06 2018 01:13 Elentos wrote:Show nested quote +On August 06 2018 01:08 Fango wrote:
Is there a case for Stats being a kong now? No
I dunno. He's lost to literally everyone who isn't known for choking in finals.
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Very impressive by Serral. This proves that he is on the same level as the top Koreans, truly significant for a foreigner. But he has definitely NOT proved that he is the best in the world. One premier tournament does not do that. It is ridiculous to hold Serral to a different standard than other top (Korean) players.
Also, this was not GSL! No more than the Super Tournaments are (which, by the way, are more competitive than this was).
It is quite ironic that TL, which recently complained about overhyping by casters, would write these things.
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On August 06 2018 02:02 sneakyfox wrote:
Very impressive by Serral. This proves that he is on the same level as the top Koreans, truly significant for a foreigner. But he has definitely NOT proved that he is the best in the world. One premier tournament does not do that. It is ridiculous to hold Serral to a different standard than other top (Korean) players.
Also, this was not GSL! No more than the Super Tournaments are (which, by the way, are more competitive than this was).
No, Serral beating 3 koreans (that all lost in the ro16 last GSL) in an invitational proves he is the best in the world. Consecutive GSL titles just doesn't compare.
And it's literally liquipedia's fault that people call this a GSL. I don't who started it but this and the GSL world championhips/Supertournaments of the past are listed as GSL titles there. I don't think anyone actually agrees with it other than those who want to claim Mvp and INno have 4 titles.
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On August 06 2018 01:55 Fango wrote:Show nested quote +On August 06 2018 01:13 Elentos wrote:On August 06 2018 01:08 Fango wrote:
Is there a case for Stats being a kong now? No I dunno. He's lost to literally everyone who isn't known for choking in finals.
So there's only people who are kongs and people who aren't kongs and there's literally nothing in-between?
On August 06 2018 02:13 Fango wrote:
And it's literally liquipedia's fault that people call this a GSL..
Afreeca literally called Inno's GSL vs the World win a GSL title last year so don't blame Liquipedia.
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EPT![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/WCS2018/gslworldbracket5.png)
