One of the best parts about following the professional scene is seeing how your favorite players grow over the years. Their skills evolve as new challengers emergy, and they must keep up with the times or be left in the dust. Of course, for some their peak isn’t quite as high as others, while a special few will blow through all expectations.
I first met Serral in early 2013, and I’ve been following his career trajectory the last five years. He finally started playing full-time in the spring of 2017, and his results have been nothing short of breathtaking, fulfilling his potential in a way no one could have foreseen. There’s just something fascinating about the way he approaches series, how he’s able to nail those clutch moments, and how he just doesn’t die. For me, watching him play is an emotional reminder of why I started following the game in the first place all those years ago. My prediction then isn’t based on anything resembling an objective, unbiased assessment of the remaining eight players. I want Serral to win. In the end I don’t even care who he faces in the finals, because as long as he takes a total of ten games over two days, he will have played the most memorable year of StarCraft in living memory. It will be the most important story in the history of the game for me, overshadowing legacies of the likes of Mvp, soO and INnoVation.
Some might say that dreams don’t really come true, doubly so for StarCraft 2. I’d argue that this year BlizzCon shouldn’t be treated as a logic puzzle, but we should instead embrace the emotional journey of the tournament, no matter where it takes us. If Serral is surprised by Dark in the very first series, it’ll be an utter disappointment, but it’s precisely because of that very chance that we should let ourselves dream. Hope is the emotion our shared humanity is built on, so let's revel in it. This year we've earned it.
Mizenhauer
I can’t speak for everyone, but personally I’m glad to have opening weekend over and done with. Some of the games were fun, others weren’t, but here we are with eight really talented players facing off to decide who becomes the WCS World Champion. The Round of 8 kicks off with what, in my mind, is the most lopsided matchup of the weekend. I’m picking sOs to steal a game that goes horribly awry, but there’s no way he’s gonna piece together three wins against someone like Maru. Stats, meanwhile, is going to have his hands full with SpeCial, but I think his championship pedigree gets him over the hump. Rogue versus TY seems like a good match on paper, but I’m pretty certain Rogue is going to wipe the floor with the struggling Terran. Serral versus Dark is definitely the highlight of the round and, while Dark looked excellent against ShoWTimE, I don’t think he holds a candle to the Finnish Zerg in ZvZ, which has to be considered Serral's bread and butter.
The semifinal between Maru and Stats is perhaps the hardest match to call in the entire tournament and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go either way. Both are transcendent players who have scored wins off each other in the recent past. Maru humbled Stats in season 1 of Code S, but Stats brought him back down to earth in the GSL vs. the World even though the many in the community considered Maru unbeatable. Both players have what it takes to win BlizzCon so it might just come down to who gets the better sleep the night before, but I think, more times than not, it’s Maru who comes out on top. Down in the lower bracket, we get another wonderful ZvZ, with Serral getting the better of an elite Korean for the second straight round.
And here it is! We’ve waited all year for this match and now we finally get. Maru. Serral. Seven games. 280,000 dollars (and a champagne bottle-less celebration) going to the winner. What more could you want. I’m picking Serral 4-3 in a final so great it takes Tasteless a year to get his voice back.
Olli
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned in life, it’s that dreams don't come true. The dream final here is obvious—Maru vs Serral. And I expect both of them to advance past their first round opponents. sOs has frankly looked poor all weekend, and somehow looked like the weaker player even in the series he won. I expect Maru to beat his teammate comfortably. The casting panel largely regarded this part of the bracket as easier, and while I agree with that, it doesn’t mean they should be rolling out the red carpet for Maru just yet. Because we’re all sleeping on Stats. He’s had to show nothing but PvP—in which he looked dominant—and now has nothing but PvT to prepare for. As good as SpeCial looked against Classic, I think Stats is a step above and will shine in a longer series. And Maru? Stats beat Maru in GSL vs The World. Stylistically, there isn’t a single Protoss better equipped to handling Maru. I expect a close series between the two, but I can see Stats taking him out and denying us the grand finals we’re all hoping for.
Serral, on the other hand, I do see in the finals. He’s a better player than Dark at the moment, and if there’s anything Serral doesn’t lack it’s ZvZ practice—top notch ZvZ is required for any Zerg aiming to win any WCS tournament. And because I also believe that Rogue will edge out TY, I see Serral ZvZing his way all the way to the grand finals. The Finn should feel perfectly comfortable with that prospect—it sounds like every WCS ever.
This would set up a rematch of the GSL vs The World grand finals between Stats and Serral. At the time, I thought the scoreline represented their respective skill in the match-up quite well. Stats is probably the best PvZer in Korea, but Serral has the best ZvP in the world. If the two meet in the finals of BlizzCon I expect a similar scoreline, and I expect Serral to win the tournament.
Orlok
BlizzCon has always been about surprises. Most of its champions were never pegged as favorites to win and yet they did, making this tournament a very odd enigma to crack, seeing as all the by the book predictions failed to materialize. However, this year it finally seems as if we’ll be getting a ho-hum scenario for BlizzCon. sOs, whilst being a more cumbersome opponent for Maru than most Protoss, is no real threat this time around to Maru as his lukewarm performances in the earlier rounds have made it so that bar a miracle he’ll go down in flames.
Stats and SpeCial would normally have been touted as another Korean smackdown, but the fact that SpeCial made through Classic to get here is something to take into account. SpeCial easily played the most entertaining and solid series against Classic’s strong PvT to get here, and while Stats still with his overwhelming consistency should pull ahead, it may become a tougher road then expected.
Maru and Stats should be a nail-biter, seeing as Stats was one of the few who managed to turn the tide against Maru’s tsunami. Ultimately, for both hype and dirty Terran biased reasons, I still see Maru blazing through towards the finals. On the lower half, the result is pretty much straightforward; Serral to the finals. Dark despite his bravado has been seen to bleed against foreigners, and Serral is obviously no stranger nor slouch in ZvZ. Rogue should, with his better showing, edge out TY who looked more than mortal in his opening week, leaving us with again a ZvZ for a finals berth. Again, Serral has the upper hand with his momentum and skill in the mirror, although Rogue won’t go down without a fight.
As fate would have it, this would set up the finals match everybody wants, the battle between the regional champions in Maru and Serral. Here, its anybody’s guess as to what might happen. Both have momentum behind them and neither of them lack in skill, so it would be no surprise to see either win. I’ll have to coinflip this.
Soularion
Well, you guys know me; I've never been all that shy to make a bold prediction. So, where's the crazy stuff in my Blizzcon bracket? Well.. there isn't really anything crazy. Which, in itself, is insane. How is predicting a foreigner to win the biggest tournament of the entire year not insane? The fact that we've even got here is bewildering and incredible.
So, let's get into the meat of the prediction. One, I expect there to be a lot of blood; Maru vs Stats will be awesome and tightly-contested, and TY vs Serral will be a legitimate test for the foreign prodigy. But I feel like destiny has brought Serral this far, and him failing at the very last hurdle wouldn't make as beautiful a narrative as him finally overcoming it all would.
In terms of 'lighter' sets, SpeCial vs Stats is not a set to sleep on. Seriously, SpeCial showed pretty nice form in groups and has always been one of the most driven players in the league, and Stats is just all-around awesome. I expect either that or Serral vs TY to be the best set of the tournament. I think TY will beat Rogue, partially because I believe TY is really good (although he didn't show up fully to groups) and partially because it'd just be goddamn lame for Serral to make finals purely on the back of ZvZ and I think not-lame predictions are ideal. In terms of the ugly, Serral vs Dark is likely to be one-sided but I do think Dark will steal game 1 to make foreigner fans everywhere panic, and I think Maru utterly stomps sOs to give us a good dose of sadness to start things off.
TheOneAboveU
At this point it looks like Super Tournament was no more than a bug in the matrix, and so far BlizzCon miracle sOs hasn’t shown up either. So, assuming everything goes smoothly—which, of course, is never guaranteed with sOs involved—Maru’s course to the semis should be rather straightforward. As for SpeCial and Stats, the Mexican’s upset against Classic surely built up his confidence, but Stats is a different kind of beast. SpeCial surely will put up a good fight, could even bring Stats to the brink of defeat if everything goes well, but in the end Stats is more experienced and more solid in my eyes. Rogue and TY have both dropped maps to their foreign counterparts in the group stage, but overall Rogue looked much more solid and confident than TY did so far. That said, this should be an interesting ZvT series, with two such brilliant minds put up against each other. For the next match, I’ll clearly state that my heart is certainly with Dark—and should he prevail, I’m with him all the way—but at this point no one can deny the power that is Serral. In fact, the only person being better at doing what Dark normally does—killing dreams and hopes—is Serral. The Finnish giant is vulnerable in ZvZ, and Dark certainly has the capabilities to use that, but more often than not he gets into his own way in situations like these.
Going into the semis, while Stats certainly could pull through here and advance into the finals himself, Maru seems like the safer bet. He’ll be able to make some on the fly adaptations to his plans by watching Stats and SpeCial battle it out, while Stats probably won’t be able to learn much from sOs. In the other match, Rogue may be the defending champion, but more often than not this year he fell flat when it really mattered. Serral on the other hand stayed calm and collected in even the diciest ZvZ situations, a useful talent to have for this scenario. Which brings us to the potential Grand Finals most viewers dream about. It’s possible that Serral is the meteor ending the age of the great Korean predators. But I think their age is not quite over, yet. Both Maru and Serral are proven stone cold killers with ice water for blood, but in all the years of watching StarCraft 2 I have learnt one thing: of all the icy veined killers on this planet, Korean Terrans are by far the scariest.
Ziggy
Predictions have never been my forte. Though, perchance, that might be a good thing - for that very reason I haven't given in to the allures of sports betting. And, although there's technically nothing at stake, I always dread having to draw bracket predictions. Yet, somehow, 2018's professional StarCraft II competition has (for the most part) delivered fewer upsets than years past.
With two clear favourites on opposite sides of the bracket, there's a genuine chance I might actually get this BlizzCon's outcome right. Not for my own clairvoyant abilities (or lack thereof), but for the sheer air of immortality exuded both by Maru and Serral. The established storyline would have us believe a reality where the two don't meet in the finals is about as probable as Sean Bean's character living to see the end of the film.
In my mind's eye, there's no better example of proper career development than Maru. Following up on his TV debut in the very first GSL, the then Prime Terran established himself as a cheesy version of his contemporary, MKP. A mere three years later, the youngster went on to undergo a massive shift in the way he approached competitive StarCraft II, taking down the cream of the crop in the last OSL ever held. From there on, Maru kept delivering. With three GSL victories and a hefty $200,000 picked up at WESG in 2018, the Hamster Terran seems all but unstoppable. Could Serral turn out to be the one to take him down? For the past eight and a half years I've been watching Koreans take tournament after tournament, trophy after trophy, making use of arcane RTS knowledge begotten in darkened alleys lit only by the faint neon glow of PC Bang signs. That's the natural order of things. Koreans always win. Serral will most likely end up making it into the finals off his ZvZ pedigree. But in the end, the mantle of World Champion has to go to a Korean. I'm not ready for the spell to be broken.
TL writers disappoint me. We've seen more than enough Zerg in the final of BlizzCon that I'd take any other matchup as long it doesn't have Zergs in it. Oh, what's my dream finals? sOs vs TY.
Is this the stupidest prediction? Maybe. Only time will tell.
On November 01 2018 20:14 EzioAs wrote: TL writers disappoint me. We've seen more than enough Zerg in the final of BlizzCon that I'd take any other matchup as long it doesn't have Zergs in it. Oh, what's my dream finals? sOs vs TY.
Is this the stupidest prediction? Maybe. Only time will tell.
Voting with my heart is precisely what led me to my prediction.
Lol... its extremely doubtful that Serral will even get to the finals, but even if somehow, there is absolutely no way he beats Maru. If we get Maru vs Serral finals its going to be 4:0 in 20 minutes. Hope we get that Maru vs Rogue epic best of 7 that everyone really should be longing for !
Olli as usual trying his hardest to be a dissenting opinion just for the sake of it.
I used to think it was just his thing, but now I understand that he was just being a modern "hot take" sports writer before they really became a thing everywhere.
On November 01 2018 20:48 Vindicare605 wrote: Olli as usual trying his hardest to be a dissenting opinion just for the sake of it.
I used to think it was just his thing, but now I understand that he was just being a modern "hot take" sports writer before they really became a thing everywhere.
A dissenting opinion would be if someone actually dared to not put Serral in the finals. What Olli showed is just mild disagreement over details.
On November 01 2018 20:43 Kikirik1 wrote: LOL no one bet on SOS, people really belive Maru just give free money to him in Super Tournament.How naive....
HeRoMaRinE should have won this series. sOs is utter bad.
On November 01 2018 20:14 EzioAs wrote: TL writers disappoint me. We've seen more than enough Zerg in the final of BlizzCon that I'd take any other matchup as long it doesn't have Zergs in it. Oh, what's my dream finals? sOs vs TY.
Is this the stupidest prediction? Maybe. Only time will tell.
Voting with my heart is precisely what led me to my prediction.
On November 01 2018 21:13 The_Red_Viper wrote: We all know how this works, every single TL writer predicted serral in the finals, gl buddy. Olli saved Maru at least so that's nice!
So the semis are gonna be sOs - Special - TY - Dark, right?
Dread it, run from it, TL predictions arrive all the same.
All jokes aside, I feel like you are really sleeping on Dark. I agree Serral is a ZvZ god but if Reynor could take 3 games off of him then Dark could definitely beat him.
Should Maru vs Stats happen it should be the most exciting match before the finals, the best P vs the best T in the world and both have practiced and proved their strength in the matchup. Really hope sOs wouldn't mess it all up (I don't think Special beats Stats in bo5).
TY's gonna either throw a 2-0 lead or get straight up swept.
On November 01 2018 21:13 The_Red_Viper wrote: We all know how this works, every single TL writer predicted serral in the finals, gl buddy. Olli saved Maru at least so that's nice!
So the semis are gonna be sOs - Special - TY - Dark, right?
Nah TL writers aren't that strong, that's artosis territory you are talking about.
On November 01 2018 20:48 Vindicare605 wrote: Olli as usual trying his hardest to be a dissenting opinion just for the sake of it.
I used to think it was just his thing, but now I understand that he was just being a modern "hot take" sports writer before they really became a thing everywhere.
Is predicting Stats to beat Maru again really such a hot take? He won the last time they played, which was also in the semifinals of a weekend tournament.
As for dissenting opinions: yes, that's largely what I do. I'm not interested in pandering to the crowd, and I'm not interested in having to adjust my opinion to some imaginary norm. Where's the value in that? I'm not dissenting for the sake of it, I just don't find writing anything that doesn't offer an alternative perspective on things worth the time in the first place. So if there's a consensus in the community about something and I agree with it, I won't write about it because consensus already exists and I'm adding nothing to the discussion.
These predictions seem to come from the heart, I guess there's no law against that. Personally I can't agree that Serral's ZvZ is too good to beat. At the last foreigner tournament, he barely beat three foreigners in ZvZ. You could argue that he won that tournament because of Reynor's nerves, as it was Reynor's first finals. Rogue and Dark are both much better ZvZ than those players, and so while Serral can beat them, I think it's quite unlikely that he beats both of them.
Btw even if these are dreams and not analysis-based predictions, I think that it would have been cool if you guys weren't all so similar in your feelings. Why is it always a Serral vs Maru finals? This could have been an article where you tell stories about different dream scenarios from different perspectives. Instead they are all about Serral/Maru acheiving destiny or something. I mean what about sOs vs Rogue/Serral/Dark? Stats vs Dark? I mean there are lots of great, epic stories you could tell here.
On November 01 2018 21:37 Rodya wrote: These predictions seem to come from the heart, I guess there's no law against that. Personally I can't agree that Serral's ZvZ is too good to beat. At the last foreigner tournament, he barely beat three foreigners in ZvZ. You could argue that he won that tournament because of Reynor's nerves, as it was Reynor's first finals. Rogue and Dark are both much better ZvZ than those players, and so while Serral can beat them, I think it's quite unlikely that he beats both of them.
Btw even if these are dreams and not analysis-based predictions, I think that it would have been cool if you guys weren't all so similar in your feelings. Why is it always a Serral vs Maru finals? This could have been an article where you tell stories about different dream scenarios from different perspectives. Instead they are all about Serral/Maru acheiving destiny or something. I mean what about sOs vs Rogue/Serral/Dark? Stats vs Dark? I mean there are lots of great, epic stories you could tell here.
You could also argue that Serral is incredibly clutch. He has so many strategies for every map in ZvZ and can pick the right one to execute perfectly when it comes down to the ace match. And bringing up Reynor is actually a bad example. I love watching Reynor play, but he seems to always lose ZvZ in tournament best ofs.
On November 01 2018 21:37 Rodya wrote: These predictions seem to come from the heart, I guess there's no law against that. Personally I can't agree that Serral's ZvZ is too good to beat. At the last foreigner tournament, he barely beat three foreigners in ZvZ. You could argue that he won that tournament because of Reynor's nerves, as it was Reynor's first finals. Rogue and Dark are both much better ZvZ than those players, and so while Serral can beat them, I think it's quite unlikely that he beats both of them.
Btw even if these are dreams and not analysis-based predictions, I think that it would have been cool if you guys weren't all so similar in your feelings. Why is it always a Serral vs Maru finals? This could have been an article where you tell stories about different dream scenarios from different perspectives. Instead they are all about Serral/Maru acheiving destiny or something. I mean what about sOs vs Rogue/Serral/Dark? Stats vs Dark? I mean there are lots of great, epic stories you could tell here.
I don't think any of us went purely by heart in these predictions. If I did, Dark would be champion in my bracket. Here's my head reasoning for Dark not getting through Serral (albeit barely): While Serral looked more vulnerable in ZvZ than any other match-up, he still always edged out a win in the end. Nerves of steel. Dark - at least at the moment - can't seem to match that in high pressure situations. Serral simply makes less mistakes.
i was rooting otherwise anyway, but at this point i really wish that the maru/serral final doesnt happen, since it never could life up to the hype its getting right now.
especially with the draw the way it is, i think said final is not a very likely thing to happen. and i fear a little, that the dissapointment about that might spoil the actual final
is just my opinion though, maybe i'm wrong with that
Both Maru and Serral are proven stone cold killers with ice water for blood, but in all the years of watching StarCraft 2 I have learnt one thing: of all the icy veined killers on this planet, Korean Terrans are by far the scariest.
This made me grin, great writeup.
I kind of agree with most writers but I think the most likely alternative if the favorites gets upset is actually Special vs Rogue. I think Special has a good chance against Stats and I believe Special has a better chance against Maru than Stats, just because of how volatile TvT can be. Maybe I'm just too awed by Specials play vs Classic to make decent calls but also consider that Special was the one helping TY prepare for the GSL finals against Maru that went 4-3 in an incredibly close series.
On November 01 2018 22:23 uummpaa wrote: i was rooting otherwise anyway, but at this point i really wish that the maru/serral final doesnt happen, since it never could life up to the hype its getting right now.
There's a very real chance of the final not happening, it's just hard to guess where the upset will happen.
I think at this point calling it extremely unlikely that serral makes the finals is crazy. He looked insanely good in the group stages (though that was in a matchup hes not likely to play again). The dude looks strong. Im still pulling for Maru in my heart but the fact that he likely has to face 2 of the scariest protoss in the world in what has looked like his most vulnerable matchup is definitely something to worry about. On the other hand Serrals path is no less treacherous. Dark is capable of a monstrous zvz..and regardless of who he meets in ro4 if he manages to beat Dark he has his work cut out for him. Ty looked mortal vs lambo which speaks well for Serral. Rogue on the other hand I still think has an excellent shot to win the whole thing. If he can get by Serral i personally like his chances better than anyone to take out the King Maru. Hes no doubt played 1000s of practice games with him and weve all seen how the series between them normally goes. Maru putting on insane aggression and if rogue is able to absorb it he pulls out the W. I think in a bo7 this goes to Rogue as an advantage.. so im calling it maru over sos/stats over special / maru over stats. Rogue over ty serral over dark rogue over serral and rogue over maru 4 3 in an epic finals that will make me cry myself to sleep!
Looking at the Aligulac predictions, it's actually quite impressive how it has virtually no opinion of Serral. It gives 1:4 to any possible placement of his. Basically, if you ask Aligulac how Serral is going to do, the answer is: nah, whatever.
I am curious whether that is a coincidence or whether it also works with some uncertainty?
On November 01 2018 22:50 opisska wrote: Looking at the Aligulac predictions, it's actually quite impressive how it has virtually no opinion of Serral. It gives 1:4 to any possible placement of his. Basically, if you ask Aligulac how Serral is going to do, the answer is: nah, whatever.
I am curious whether that is a coincidence or whether it also works with some uncertainty?
I'm pretty sure it's because his first round is almost even (#2 aligulac vs #3 and comparable ZvZ elo), and the future matches as well, because his path opponents are at the top as well. Whereas Maru has an easier "aligulac" path to the finals.
On November 01 2018 21:47 frazzle wrote: Looks like there is a mistake, Student meets Master Special vs TY sleeper prediction seems to be missing!
I think the best Semi we can hope for is Maru Special and TY Serral. Because then any final will be at least 90% max hype level.
I disagree.
TvP has seen a meta shift all thanks to Maru. I want to see Stats show us how Protoss are supposed to play in this new meta. I suspect that sOs will have his own take on this but that it will ultimately fail. If he weren't going up against Maru (so that Maru and Trap would help him prepare) then I'd have more faith.
TvP is the matchup to watch right now, in my opinion. I wish there was a protoss on the bottom side of the bracket.
On November 01 2018 21:47 frazzle wrote: Looks like there is a mistake, Student meets Master Special vs TY sleeper prediction seems to be missing!
I think the best Semi we can hope for is Maru Special and TY Serral. Because then any final will be at least 90% max hype level.
I disagree.
TvP has seen a meta shift all thanks to Maru. I want to see Stats show us how Protoss are supposed to play in this new meta. I suspect that sOs will have his own take on this but that it will ultimately fail. If he weren't going up against Maru (so that Maru and Trap would help him prepare) then I'd have more faith.
TvP is the matchup to watch right now, in my opinion. I wish there was a protoss on the bottom side of the bracket.
You probably won't like what you see since Stats said he's trying to avoid terrans because "he hates proxies"
On November 01 2018 23:14 Fango wrote: This must be the least amount of faith people have ever had in Dark (in the last you years at least)
He's in an absolutely disgusting bracket against the best ZvZ player in the world, and then if he manages that, either last year's world champion or the man who took Maru to the absolute brink in a bo7.
He might be getting slept on just a little, but not a ton to be completely honest. If dark makes the finals I wil be very surprised.
Surprised nobody expects sOs to win over Maru considering the last tournament they fought, GSL Super tournament 1 month ago, sOs won 3 - 1 over Maru in the round of 8 and eliminated him from the tournament.
A lot of magic can happen when two teammates fights, especially when they are such strong meta/strategy influencers as Maru and sOs. Also lets not forget that at blizzcon sOs tends to be in $O$ mode.
On November 01 2018 23:17 Neneu wrote: Surprised nobody expects sOs to win over Maru considering the last tournament they fought, GSL Super tournament 1 month ago, sOs won 3 - 1 over Maru in the round of 8 and eliminated him from the tournament.
A lot of magic can happen when two teammates fights, especially when they are such strong meta/strategy influencers as Maru and sOs. Also lets not forget that at blizzcon sOs tends to be in $O$ mode.
I agree. I'm not sure I'd go as far as to favor sOs over Maru, but I certainly do give him a fighting chance.
On November 01 2018 23:17 Neneu wrote: Surprised nobody expects sOs to win over Maru considering the last tournament they fought, GSL Super tournament 1 month ago, sOs won 3 - 1 over Maru in the round of 8 and eliminated him from the tournament.
A lot of magic can happen when two teammates fights, especially when they are such strong meta/strategy influencers as Maru and sOs. Also lets not forget that at blizzcon sOs tends to be in $O$ mode.
I watched Sos last weekend, and I'm still surprised that he advanced past Heromarine, never mind Maru.
On November 01 2018 23:14 Fango wrote: This must be the least amount of faith people have ever had in Dark (in the last you years at least)
He's in an absolutely disgusting bracket against the best ZvZ player in the world, and then if he manages that, either last year's world champion or the man who took Maru to the absolute brink in a bo7.
He might be getting slept on just a little, but not a ton to be completely honest. If dark makes the finals I wil be very surprised.
Serral being the absolute best ZvZer is still debatable. He probably is, but if Lambo, Scarlett, and Reynor can all take him to the edge, Dark can certainly do more.
Rogue hasn't done much of anything in the last six months, and Dark would almost certainly be favoured over TY given he usually does.
Now I still think Serral will make the final, and likely win. But people seem to be counting out Dark entirely. He's still made 2 finals and 3 ro4s this year, and those were all events with other koreans. That's more than TY, Rogue, or Serral.
On November 01 2018 23:17 Neneu wrote: Surprised nobody expects sOs to win over Maru considering the last tournament they fought, GSL Super tournament 1 month ago, sOs won 3 - 1 over Maru in the round of 8 and eliminated him from the tournament.
A lot of magic can happen when two teammates fights, especially when they are such strong meta/strategy influencers as Maru and sOs. Also lets not forget that at blizzcon sOs tends to be in $O$ mode.
I watched Sos last weekend, and I'm still surprised that he advanced past Heromarine, never mind Maru.
But you have to remember heromarine is not his teammate and that every time Maru and sOs fights, it is batshit crazy. Every single time. One cannot extract anything from previous performance at blizzcon of how he weill do against Maru. If it were against any other player I would agree, but not against Maru.
I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins the Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
If there is no Maru in finals I doubt I'd watch, except maybe if TY is in there. So not everyone wants Serral to win thankfully :o.
Seriously? Every single prediction has Serral reaching the finals? I mean I'm rooting for the guy, I'm liquibetting for him, but I've been around long enough to know there's a VERY good chance he doesn't make it past Dark, let alone making it through the semi-finals.
The dream finals, Maru vs Serral, is the most likely of the 16 possible finals, but even then realistically I don't think it has more than a 20-25% chance of happening.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
The biggest storyline ever in sc2 has nothing to do with the actual games or tournament run. It's just nationality of course.
Or that's what blizzard seem to want to push anyway.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
Don't forget MMA! His win against MVP was still my second-favorite moment in all of SC2 (as a Canadian, I'm sorry but I can't help but have my favorite moment be at a Barcraft in Calgary, eating "mutalisk" chicken wings and drinking "stim packs" --think it was vodka + monster energy drink?-- watching HuK win MLG Orlando against the Boss Toss himself).
I can understand some of the hype for Serral, but it wouldn't top MMA vs DRG, MMA vs MVP, or HuK's MLG Orlando win. In my eyes anyway.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
The biggest storyline ever in sc2 has nothing to do with the actual games or tournament run. It's just nationality of course.
Or that's what blizzard seem to want to push anyway.
Big storylines happen when you give people something to root for. It isn't really Blizzard's fault that nationality is the one lasting thing in SC2 that partisanship formed around. As for tournament run, part of it is also that we have the undefeated GSL champion vs the undefeated WCS champion.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
So nobody is allowed to root for Serral because racism?
On November 01 2018 23:30 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: sOs is going to win the entire thing. His crap performance in group stage is a next level mind game
It was no crap performance, he try to surprise Serral because he know it almost inposibal to beat him in PvZ standart game, but he fail, and few hours later Zest try to play normal PvZ game and look like a bronze player vs Serral.Them SOS beat Zest who is one of best PvP players.
On November 01 2018 23:45 TheDougler wrote: Seriously? Every single prediction has Serral reaching the finals? I mean I'm rooting for the guy, I'm liquibetting for him, but I've been around long enough to know there's a VERY good chance he doesn't make it past Dark, let alone making it through the semi-finals.
You have to keep in mind that this is "most likely" guessing. So let's say Serral has a 60% chance to beat Dark. Everyone would likely put Serral down as beating Dark even though everyone acknowledges it's far from certain.
Life vs Flash, PartinG vs Flash, PartinG vs Life... watching Scarlett play Flash for the first time... sadly I dont think this tournament or any other can live up to these matches of the past. But maybe that is why we are rooting for Serral and Maru: they are the only ones who have a chance at approaching the legacy of the best ( for Serral the legacy of Scarlett and Snute and Idra and for Maru the legacy of Life Mvp PartinG and Inno).
Don't think any Blizzcon will ever come close to how good the 2014 one was which had several of the best games of the year, but this is still pretty hype. Lots of cool outcomes here in terms of storyline.
On November 01 2018 23:47 ZigguratOfUr wrote: The dream finals, Maru vs Serral, is the most likely of the 16 possible finals, but even then realistically I don't think it has more than a 20-25% chance of happening.
Aligulac agrees with you at 23%.
Man, there is so much fun to be had with that service
On November 01 2018 23:45 TheDougler wrote: Seriously? Every single prediction has Serral reaching the finals? I mean I'm rooting for the guy, I'm liquibetting for him, but I've been around long enough to know there's a VERY good chance he doesn't make it past Dark, let alone making it through the semi-finals.
You have to keep in mind that this is "most likely" guessing. So let's say Serral has a 60% chance to beat Dark. Everyone would likely put Serral down as beating Dark even though everyone acknowledges it's far from certain.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
The biggest storyline ever in sc2 has nothing to do with the actual games or tournament run. It's just nationality of course.
Or that's what blizzard seem to want to push anyway.
Big storylines happen when you give people something to root for. It isn't really Blizzard's fault that nationality is the one lasting thing in SC2 that partisanship formed around. As for tournament run, part of it is also that we have the undefeated GSL champion vs the undefeated WCS champion.
I mean blizzard actively promoted this korean vs foreigner rivalry with the region-lock and stating it's cool to see local heroes standing up against koreans - then organizing tournaments like GSL vs the world etc
I have always liked making bold predictions based on my gut, and at first look this bracket should provide many close matches. And yet, sadly, the best I've got right now is slightly favoring Stats over Maru. I'm genuinely struggling to see a world where it's not one of the two facing Serral in the finals.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
Honestly for me Serral winning would mostly be amazing because it would top what is by far the longest winning streak in SC2 history with his 5th straight premier win a 6 months periods with an almost 90% match win rate for the year. Maru winning would equally be amazing, but we have seen him lose a lot more often then Serral this year, against much harder opposition of course but it's always nice to follow the story of someone who just seems totally unbeatable. But anyway with all that said, I still wish sOs win and we get to see him lift that trophy one more time.
I would honestly cheer for everyone winning this tourney because i like all the players still in, but i really want Serral to reach the final so people finally stop doubting him just because hes not korean and doesnt play GSL. If he looses to Maru/Stats thats fine. I can agree with every one of the predictions in some way.
On November 02 2018 02:15 Nakajin wrote: For every one doubting sOs I would advice going back to watch the pre-show of the 2013 Blizzcon final, it's one of the funniest things in the world.
is it as funny as TL last year before and during the second super tournament and sOs could still qualify?
On November 02 2018 02:15 Nakajin wrote: For every one doubting sOs I would advice going back to watch the pre-show of the 2013 Blizzcon final, it's one of the funniest things in the world.
is it as funny as TL last year before and during the second super tournament and sOs could still qualify?
No but it's as funny a single stalker and zealot walking all the way across the map into MKP main and killing him
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
So people aren't personally allowed to find the idea of the "under dog" region rising to the ocassion and winning it all to be the most satisfying storyline because you personally find that ridiculous? Don't you see how hypocritical and lacking in self-awareness that is?
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
The biggest storyline ever in sc2 has nothing to do with the actual games or tournament run. It's just nationality of course.
Or that's what blizzard seem to want to push anyway.
Big storylines happen when you give people something to root for. It isn't really Blizzard's fault that nationality is the one lasting thing in SC2 that partisanship formed around. As for tournament run, part of it is also that we have the undefeated GSL champion vs the undefeated WCS champion.
I mean blizzard actively promoted this korean vs foreigner rivalry with the region-lock and stating it's cool to see local heroes standing up against koreans - then organizing tournaments like GSL vs the world etc
What other rivalry would you rather have Blizzard try (and fail) to promote?
Like it or not, foreigner vs Korean is the one rivalry that can be counted on to get people to care, and with their performances this year Serral vs Maru is the epitome of that.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
The biggest storyline ever in sc2 has nothing to do with the actual games or tournament run. It's just nationality of course.
Or that's what blizzard seem to want to push anyway.
Big storylines happen when you give people something to root for. It isn't really Blizzard's fault that nationality is the one lasting thing in SC2 that partisanship formed around. As for tournament run, part of it is also that we have the undefeated GSL champion vs the undefeated WCS champion.
I mean blizzard actively promoted this korean vs foreigner rivalry with the region-lock and stating it's cool to see local heroes standing up against koreans - then organizing tournaments like GSL vs the world etc
What other rivalry would you rather have Blizzard try (and fail) to promote?
Like it or not, foreigner vs Korean is the one rivalry that can be counted on to get people to care, and with their performances this year Serral vs Maru is the epitome of that.
It is kind of sad that Blizz put their promotion so much on the foreigner winning tho, it would be nice to also have some emphasis on the Korean too, especially since a lot of the crowd watching isn't very familiar with how they have been doing now that they only play in Korea at 3 am.
I understand it's probably a lot better for thr viewership to do that since there isn't a huge korean fanbase who will ever watch those english spot/commentary, but it would be nice to see some of the Koreans getting some spotlight too.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
So people aren't personally allowed to find the idea of the "under dog" region rising to the ocassion and winning it all to be the most satisfying storyline because you personally find that ridiculous? Don't you see how hypocritical and lacking in self-awareness that is?
Thing is Serral shouldn't be considered an underdog.
It's not like europe is a deprived region when it comes to pro gaming either. Pros struggling to get as good as koreans is due to the amount of work they put in. Serral put in the work and is getting the results. He should be taken as seriously as Dark or Rogue, not as some incredible underdog doing the impossible.
It's cool that a european player is competing at the highest level. It's not the best storyline of all time. If he wins blizzcon I don't see how it's any better than Rogue's story from last year. In fact I'd argue Rogue's was better because of how much harder it was for him to qualify.
I'm right there Olli. As bad as I want the dream Maru vs Serral finals I think this whole thing is basically just going to be a repeat performance of GSL vs The World.
Serral winning would make it an insane year for him. Of course, it was already an incredible year for him. If you ask me Serral winning two tournaments in a row against koreans would make it the best achievement of any foreigner so far for me, especially considering this is Blizzcon.
I find it so funny that people are hating/doubting Serral. Every time he plays people doubt him and he delivers every time. I fully expect him to make the finals and I can't see him losing to anyone but Maru.
I think Serral is a favourite over Dark, but not a huge favourite, and anything can happen in a bo5 ZvZ. With all the hype, people seem to be ignoring the very real possibility that he goes out in the quarters.
On November 02 2018 08:51 HolydaKing wrote: Serral winning would make it an insane year for him. Of course, it was already an incredible year for him. If you ask me Serral winning two tournaments in a row against koreans would make it the best achievement of any foreigner so far for me, especially considering this is Blizzcon.
For me, regardless of the outcome of this tournament, Scarlett is still the best foreigner of all time with Idra number two. 2018 doesn't outdo Scarlett's long resume of taking out top Koreans at their peak and competing in GSL.
On November 02 2018 13:04 ssg wrote: If betting, would you take serral and Maru, or the field of 6
The field of 6. People keep going on about Blizzard rigging the brackets...if that was the case they should've rigged it better tbh.
Serral probably has to go through double Korean ZvZ (a mu he's been slipping in lately) and Maru likely has to go through the 2 Protoss players who beat him in their last encounters with him. Not to mention Maru is also against his teammate...and not just any teammate but one of the greatest strategical players we've ever had in the game who might already have a ton of snipe builds in his pocket specifically tailored for Maru.
Swap Maru with Serral then I'd find both of them reaching the finals a lot more likely.
On November 02 2018 13:04 ssg wrote: If betting, would you take serral and Maru, or the field of 6
The field of 6. People keep going on about Blizzard rigging the brackets...if that was the case they should've rigged it better tbh.
Serral probably has to go through double Korean ZvZ (a mu he's been slipping in lately) and Maru likely has to go through the 2 Protoss players who beat him in their last encounters with him. Not to mention Maru is also against his teammate...and not just any teammate but one of the greatest strategical players we've ever had in the game who might already have a ton of snipe builds in his pocket specifically tailored for Maru.
Swap Maru with Serral then I'd find both of them reaching the finals a lot more likely.
Everyone here seems to be underrating the fact that the current PvT meta was defined by Maru in the last season of GSL. It is unlikely that any protoss have been able to come up with a perfect answer to it yet. I guess if anyone has done it it would be sOs though. I think Maru will clean sweep his side of the bracket, to be honest, although it all depends on how sOs deals with the proxies.
On November 02 2018 08:51 HolydaKing wrote: Serral winning would make it an insane year for him. Of course, it was already an incredible year for him. If you ask me Serral winning two tournaments in a row against koreans would make it the best achievement of any foreigner so far for me, especially considering this is Blizzcon.
For me, regardless of the outcome of this tournament, Scarlett is still the best foreigner of all time with Idra number two. 2018 doesn't outdo Scarlett's long resume of taking out top Koreans at their peak and competing in GSL.
On November 02 2018 08:51 HolydaKing wrote: Serral winning would make it an insane year for him. Of course, it was already an incredible year for him. If you ask me Serral winning two tournaments in a row against koreans would make it the best achievement of any foreigner so far for me, especially considering this is Blizzcon.
For me, regardless of the outcome of this tournament, Scarlett is still the best foreigner of all time with Idra number two. 2018 doesn't outdo Scarlett's long resume of taking out top Koreans at their peak and competing in GSL.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
So people aren't personally allowed to find the idea of the "under dog" region rising to the ocassion and winning it all to be the most satisfying storyline because you personally find that ridiculous? Don't you see how hypocritical and lacking in self-awareness that is?
Thing is Serral shouldn't be considered an underdog.
It's not like europe is a deprived region when it comes to pro gaming either. Pros struggling to get as good as koreans is due to the amount of work they put in. Serral put in the work and is getting the results. He should be taken as seriously as Dark or Rogue, not as some incredible underdog doing the impossible.
It's cool that a european player is competing at the highest level. It's not the best storyline of all time. If he wins blizzcon I don't see how it's any better than Rogue's story from last year. In fact I'd argue Rogue's was better because of how much harder it was for him to qualify.
"Foreigner" was a term the Koreans started using for a reason, and it's not because they saw those outside the region as equals. Serral himself isn't an under dog, but it's quite the feat in and of itself that he has managed to get on an even playing field with the Korean region, the region that has dominated the field of play without question for nearly 2 decades.
Serral had plenty of reason to not rise to the ocassion: lack of a teamhouse environment still enjoyed by JAGW and the teachings and skills that environment provided the other Koreans before its collapse, lacking practice partners as skilled as the Koreans in Europe, refusing to train in Korea to play the best when that was a viable option this year with the foreigner teamhouse, the pressure of being the foreigner carrying the torch getting to him, and more. Serral had plenty of reasons to buckle and become like all the other foreigner "hopes," but he didn't buckle. In fact, he flourished and he very well could upset the long established order of the Starcraft world. That might not be the best storyline to you, but to others, like me, it is.
As my original comment suggested, we don't have to agree on what we think is the best storyline, but I think we should at least try and respect differing opinions until we're given a reason not to.
Only TY can upset Serral until the finals. His ZvZ is far far too strong. He will make a mockery of Dark and possibly Rogue. I am far less confident with Maru reaching the finals. sOs has looked awful but he is notoriously erratic and he is the master of mindgames so there's an outside chance of an upset. Stats is perenially underestimated. Amazing all round Protoss. I think it will be very close between him and Maru. If Stats advances he will lose to Serral, if Maru advances I'm fairly sure he will beat Serral handily.
On November 02 2018 08:51 HolydaKing wrote: Serral winning would make it an insane year for him. Of course, it was already an incredible year for him. If you ask me Serral winning two tournaments in a row against koreans would make it the best achievement of any foreigner so far for me, especially considering this is Blizzcon.
For me, regardless of the outcome of this tournament, Scarlett is still the best foreigner of all time with Idra number two. 2018 doesn't outdo Scarlett's long resume of taking out top Koreans at their peak and competing in GSL.
On November 02 2018 15:52 BlingBlang wrote: Only TY can upset Serral until the finals. His ZvZ is far far too strong. He will make a mockery of Dark and possibly Rogue. I am far less confident with Maru reaching the finals. sOs has looked awful but he is notoriously erratic and he is the master of mindgames so there's an outside chance of an upset. Stats is perenially underestimated. Amazing all round Protoss. I think it will be very close between him and Maru. If Stats advances he will lose to Serral, if Maru advances I'm fairly sure he will beat Serral handily.
That is also my prediction. In GSL vs World the match between Maru and Serral vs BO1 and Maru didn't seem to take it that serious. I think that doesn't imply more than Serral being able to win some maps of Maru. But in the ZvT Matchup I expect Maru to have an edge.
On November 02 2018 02:15 Nakajin wrote: For every one doubting sOs I would advice going back to watch the pre-show of the 2013 Blizzcon final, it's one of the funniest things in the world.
Artosis predicted him to win the blizzcon which acutally seals the deal on Maru 3:0ing him.
On November 02 2018 02:15 Nakajin wrote: For every one doubting sOs I would advice going back to watch the pre-show of the 2013 Blizzcon final, it's one of the funniest things in the world.
sOs was underrated back then though. He was good but didn't have any victories yet. Now he's the opposite, big victories in the past but hasn't looked as good recently.
Although the jaedong hype back then really was something. It would be cool for sOs to maintain his title as a hype killer even now.
On November 01 2018 23:38 ParksonVN wrote: I'm so disappointed by how biased some parts of the community are. It's been 8 years of wonderful SC2 with countless fantastic moments and some people still say that it would be the best thing in the history of the game "for them" that Serral wins Blizzcon ??? Best thing for what? A foreigner finally wins? Were you not that entertained when guys like MVP, Life, sOs, Inno, Taeja ... gave us their best games?
So people aren't personally allowed to find the idea of the "under dog" region rising to the ocassion and winning it all to be the most satisfying storyline because you personally find that ridiculous? Don't you see how hypocritical and lacking in self-awareness that is?
Thing is Serral shouldn't be considered an underdog.
It's not like europe is a deprived region when it comes to pro gaming either. Pros struggling to get as good as koreans is due to the amount of work they put in. Serral put in the work and is getting the results. He should be taken as seriously as Dark or Rogue, not as some incredible underdog doing the impossible.
It's cool that a european player is competing at the highest level. It's not the best storyline of all time. If he wins blizzcon I don't see how it's any better than Rogue's story from last year. In fact I'd argue Rogue's was better because of how much harder it was for him to qualify.
"Foreigner" was a term the Koreans started using for a reason, and it's not because they saw those outside the region as equals. Serral himself isn't an under dog, but it's quite the feat in and of itself that he has managed to get on an even playing field with the Korean region, the region that has dominated the field of play without question for nearly 2 decades.
Serral had plenty of reason to not rise to the ocassion: lack of a teamhouse environment still enjoyed by JAGW and the teachings and skills that environment provided the other Koreans before its collapse, lacking practice partners as skilled as the Koreans in Europe, refusing to train in Korea to play the best when that was a viable option this year with the foreigner teamhouse, the pressure of being the foreigner carrying the torch getting to him, and more. Serral had plenty of reasons to buckle and become like all the other foreigner "hopes," but he didn't buckle. In fact, he flourished and he very well could upset the long established order of the Starcraft world. That might not be the best storyline to you, but to others, like me, it is.
As my original comment suggested, we don't have to agree on what we think is the best storyline, but I think we should at least try and respect differing opinions until we're given a reason not to.
So a player that is really good at the game happens to be born in a different country than most other players who are really good at the game. Cool storyline. Don't come with the teamhouse argument - lots of koreans already proved you can become really good without a teamhouse (ByuN, TaeJa)
If sOs can kill both Maru & Serral this blizzcon would be perfect. Teaching kids what being clutch actually means. Since it's prolly not gonna happen I'd just be content with Serral losing horribly to either Dark or Rogue.
On November 02 2018 10:22 ZackAttack wrote: I find it so funny that people are hating/doubting Serral. Every time he plays people doubt him and he delivers every time. I fully expect him to make the finals and I can't see him losing to anyone but Maru.
I was thinking about the bracket for sometime now and I think we will be denied the Maru vs Serral final. Maru can be killed by both Stats and sOs who even thou played pretty badly in group stages he still improved from game to game. On the other side of the bracket both Dark and Rogue are formidable ZvZers who can try to cooparate in finding some weekness in Serrals play. Also wild TY might appear and follow the usual "Korean Terran vs Foregin Zerg" narrative. One way or the another I think there will be at least some surprises.
So a player that is really good at the game happens to be born in a different country than most other players who are really good at the game. Cool storyline. Don't come with the teamhouse argument - lots of koreans already proved you can become really good without a teamhouse (ByuN, TaeJa)
It's pretty daft to act like that isn't a thing that matters to a lot of people, as if Iceland at the Euros didn't happen, or the Jamaican Women's bobsled team. Only watching Brazil play Soccer or Canada play Hockey would be boring as shit which is why it isn't a thing. Harping on the teamhouse point (while ignoring everything else said) doesn't really make your argument either, Byun's story in GSL/Blizzcon that year was a huge deal exactly because of what he accomplished teamless, there were articles about it in places SC2 is barely talked about, if Serral pulls of what is hoped of him the hype about isn't any more misplaced than previous champs. I find it odd that people seem to think everyone who wants Serral to win apparently have never cared one bit about Korean Starcraft and were never probably fans of one and don't have their own past favourite hype finals or something.
Quite strange that (almost) all of the finals predictions are Maru vs Serral, although it is the obvious dream scenario.
If a Maru vs Serral final would happen, I would see Maru taking that series, otherwise I think Rogue or TY actually have good shot at taking the whole tournament.
I hope Serral wins. If not Serral then Special. If one of the Koreans wins I do not really care which one. Normally I would root for Maru but I really dislike the proxy meta.
On November 02 2018 10:22 ZackAttack wrote: I find it so funny that people are hating/doubting Serral. Every time he plays people doubt him and he delivers every time. I fully expect him to make the finals and I can't see him losing to anyone but Maru.
Nobody doubts him in the foreigner events.
This is exactly what I mean, lol. He won GSL vs. the World. He just rolled over Zest and $o$ like they were scrubs. He has not only played foreigners and every time he has to play a Korean people are hoping that this is when he falls apart and he still hasn't. It's blind hate that keeps moving the goal posts forever. Reminds me of people that hate on LeBron because he's in the East.
lol at that hilarious Korean logic leap referring to an Italian 16 year old who almost won his RO16 group in his first ever GSL as a tier 3 Zerg despite attempting the exact thing being held against Serral. And I guess that makes his upcoming RO8 opponent a tier 3 zerg too.
On November 03 2018 03:09 Morbidius wrote: Where are people getting this ''Best ZvZ in the world thing from?'' The guy who was taken to match point by multiple tier 3 zergs in Montreal?
he won a tournament so obviously he's by far the best player in the world and the best player in ZvZ, ZvT, ZvP. Oh and he's also the best in PvP, PvZ, PvT, TvT, TvZ and TvP. Not sure why we're even watching, Serral would never drop a map anyway. Bonjwa.
He could probably switch to other games and instantly dominate them too while continuing to win every single map in sc2 while playing blindfolded, with one hand and without a monitor.
In some ways, I think this sOs win over Maru validates what Lambo said in his interview (and got crucified for it): Maru proxying every game is not a testimony of greatness but of lack of proper preparations. Don't forget the proxy-fiesta started when he was nearly eliminated in GSL round of 32 by KeeN. I kept wondering why no one was simply blind-countering proxies every game against Maru, and I guess the answer is that no one really knew how to counter it when it was backed up by what are possibly the fastest hands in SC2.
Taking sOs's performance in the group stages, Maru would have been the one 3-0ing this series if he came prepared with an actual game plan that goes beyond "1. just proxy every game 2. .... 3. profit"
i think this is simple one of the saddest moment of SC2. Maru's stubbornness (and to be honest a simple terrible performance) robbed us from an all time great match vs Serral. I don't think anyone can challenge Serral from the upper bracket in a BO7.
On November 03 2018 06:18 nadavu wrote: In some ways, I think this sOs win over Maru validates what Lambo said in his interview (and got crucified for it): Maru proxying every game is not a testimony of greatness but of lack of proper preparations. Don't forget the proxy-fiesta started when he was nearly eliminated in GSL round of 32 by KeeN. I kept wondering why no one was simply blind-countering proxies every game against Maru, and I guess the answer is that no one really knew how to counter it when it was backed up by what are possibly the fastest hands in SC2.
Taking sOs's performance in the group stages, Maru would have been the one 3-0ing this series if he came prepared with an actual game plan that goes beyond "1. just proxy every game 2. .... 3. profit"
Could this be the end of the proxy era..?
Cyclones being removed from the game will seal the deal if this doesn't.
On November 03 2018 06:19 midhigh wrote: i think this is simple one of the saddest moment of SC2. Maru's stubbornness (and to be honest a simple terrible performance) robbed us from an all time great match vs Serral. I don't think anyone can challenge Serral from the upper bracket in a BO7.
Stats can. If that's the finals, I expect non-stop scrap and neither player will sweep the other.
On November 03 2018 06:19 midhigh wrote: i think this is simple one of the saddest moment of SC2. Maru's stubbornness (and to be honest a simple terrible performance) robbed us from an all time great match vs Serral. I don't think anyone can challenge Serral from the upper bracket in a BO7.
Cheeser got cheesed out , i say good riddance. Same for TY. I'm not saying watching proxy openers can not be exciting, but having almost every single map opened with proxies after a while just gets boring. Hopefully the meta will switch back in next year and it won't be every game proxy from terrans. What's really sad that they are capable of playing a whole lot varieties still, most games proxies. Well,i guess they will re-evaluate their gameplay after Blizzcon.
the best thing about this is, that the two best terrans in the world proxyed themself out of the tournament, which might help to get rid of this ugly, ugly meta
but stats was gonna win anyway, so no need to be two sad about maru ^^
On November 01 2018 23:17 Neneu wrote: Surprised nobody expects sOs to win over Maru considering the last tournament they fought, GSL Super tournament 1 month ago, sOs won 3 - 1 over Maru in the round of 8 and eliminated him from the tournament.
A lot of magic can happen when two teammates fights, especially when they are such strong meta/strategy influencers as Maru and sOs. Also lets not forget that at blizzcon sOs tends to be in $O$ mode.
On November 03 2018 18:59 uummpaa wrote: the best thing about this is, that the two best terrans in the world proxyed themself out of the tournament, which might help to get rid of this ugly, ugly meta
but stats was gonna win anyway, so no need to be two sad about maru ^^
The funny part is, both of them played against strugling players (sos and rogue), so if they just play standard with maybe one good timed proxy, they could have won easily. It is especially annoying in Maru's case since sOs knows Maru and his proxy's very well, and knows how to counter it.
Maru win 3 consecutive GSLs while proxying a lot, he's a genius and best player ever. Maru loose while proxy-ing at Blizcon, he proxy-ing himself out of the tournament
Maybe, just maybe, he just had a very bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he plays a tons of customs with his teammate sOs, and know, in the current balance and meta, he stands no chance in straight macro game Maybe, just maybe, sOs really did a good and very new strategic choice: his 1base fast blink is probably BO win versus harass-oriented rax+factory proxy, while dying versus heavy early pressure like reactor cyclones or cyclone/marauder... but.. atm no good terran go heavy pressure vs 1 base toss. Maybe, just maybe, he never ever got photon rushed since age and loosed his composure. For information, proxying rax+facto is maybe the best build versus photon rush on photon-rush favored maps.
So yeah he BO-loose on first map versus a BO never even seen vs terran proxy. Then map 2 his build is totally fine, if he proxy cyclone he win, but again he probably never ever played this situation. Game 3 his build was fine (fact at home), but simply played terrible bad (missed second supply). So yeah, in two consecutive maps he played never ever seen BS builds from sOs and he totally break down. Guess what ? Same shit happened to every Korean player. There is a reason people never want to play sOs.
On November 03 2018 21:38 xongnox wrote: Maru win 3 consecutive GSLs while proxying a lot, he's a genius and best player ever. Maru loose while proxy-ing at Blizcon, he proxy-ing himself out of the tournament
Maybe, just maybe, he just had a very bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he plays a tons of customs with his teammate sOs, and know, in the current balance and meta, he stands no chance in straight macro game Maybe, just maybe, sOs really did a good and very new strategic choice: his 1base fast blink is probably BO win versus harass-oriented rax+factory proxy, while dying versus heavy early pressure like reactor cyclones or cyclone/marauder... but.. atm no good terran go heavy pressure vs 1 base toss. Maybe, just maybe, he never ever got photon rushed since age and loosed his composure. For information, proxying rax+facto is maybe the best build versus photon rush on photon-rush favored maps.
So yeah he BO-loose on first map versus a BO never even seen vs terran proxy. Then map 2 his build is totally fine, if he proxy cyclone he win, but again he probably never ever played this situation. Game 3 his build was fine (fact at home), but simply played terrible bad (missed second supply). So yeah, in two consecutive maps he played never ever seen BS builds from sOs and he totally break down. Guess what ? Same shit happened to every Korean player. There is a reason people never want to play sOs.
I agree.
My prediction was wrong too, but as I said I am very happy SoS won. It's just fortifying this legendary status.
On November 03 2018 21:38 xongnox wrote: Maru win 3 consecutive GSLs while proxying a lot, he's a genius and best player ever. Maru loose while proxy-ing at Blizcon, he proxy-ing himself out of the tournament
Maybe, just maybe, he just had a very bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he plays a tons of customs with his teammate sOs, and know, in the current balance and meta, he stands no chance in straight macro game Maybe, just maybe, sOs really did a good and very new strategic choice: his 1base fast blink is probably BO win versus harass-oriented rax+factory proxy, while dying versus heavy early pressure like reactor cyclones or cyclone/marauder... but.. atm no good terran go heavy pressure vs 1 base toss. Maybe, just maybe, he never ever got photon rushed since age and loosed his composure. For information, proxying rax+facto is maybe the best build versus photon rush on photon-rush favored maps.
So yeah he BO-loose on first map versus a BO never even seen vs terran proxy. Then map 2 his build is totally fine, if he proxy cyclone he win, but again he probably never ever played this situation. Game 3 his build was fine (fact at home), but simply played terrible bad (missed second supply). So yeah, in two consecutive maps he played never ever seen BS builds from sOs and he totally break down. Guess what ? Same shit happened to every Korean player. There is a reason people never want to play sOs.
I would add one more thing. Since we don't see into the team, there's a possibility that the team thought that the best possibility for the tournament win lies in the hands of sOs and Rogue, therefore Maru helped Rogue to prepare for his ZvT vs TY who's the 2nd best Terran in the world. Thus Maru came not prepared at all. I think this is highly possible considering Maru isn't exactly great in the weekend tournament settings while both Rogue and sOs are.
On November 03 2018 01:05 TheBloodyDwarf wrote: Beep boop, im from the future
Beep boop ur alreadry half wrong. Granted I'm not much better. Serral fucked my prediction streak.
Your fault for doubting Serral.
Rogue is the toughest opponent for him out of all Blizzcon players but i really hope he just crushes everyone so korean elitists finally stop undervaluing his achievements.
On November 03 2018 21:38 xongnox wrote: Maru win 3 consecutive GSLs while proxying a lot, he's a genius and best player ever. Maru loose while proxy-ing at Blizcon, he proxy-ing himself out of the tournament
Maybe, just maybe, he just had a very bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he plays a tons of customs with his teammate sOs, and know, in the current balance and meta, he stands no chance in straight macro game Maybe, just maybe, sOs really did a good and very new strategic choice: his 1base fast blink is probably BO win versus harass-oriented rax+factory proxy, while dying versus heavy early pressure like reactor cyclones or cyclone/marauder... but.. atm no good terran go heavy pressure vs 1 base toss. Maybe, just maybe, he never ever got photon rushed since age and loosed his composure. For information, proxying rax+facto is maybe the best build versus photon rush on photon-rush favored maps.
So yeah he BO-loose on first map versus a BO never even seen vs terran proxy. Then map 2 his build is totally fine, if he proxy cyclone he win, but again he probably never ever played this situation. Game 3 his build was fine (fact at home), but simply played terrible bad (missed second supply). So yeah, in two consecutive maps he played never ever seen BS builds from sOs and he totally break down. Guess what ? Same shit happened to every Korean player. There is a reason people never want to play sOs.
I would add one more thing. Since we don't see into the team, there's a possibility that the team thought that the best possibility for the tournament win lies in the hands of sOs and Rogue, therefore Maru helped Rogue to prepare for his ZvT vs TY who's the 2nd best Terran in the world. Thus Maru came not prepared at all. I think this is highly possible considering Maru isn't exactly great in the weekend tournament settings while both Rogue and sOs are.
No team functions like that. It isn't proleague, players play for themselves not their team.
Maru has even said in the past that he doesn't even care if he has to face teammates, he'll treat them like anyone else.
On November 03 2018 21:38 xongnox wrote: Maru win 3 consecutive GSLs while proxying a lot, he's a genius and best player ever. Maru loose while proxy-ing at Blizcon, he proxy-ing himself out of the tournament
Maybe, just maybe, he just had a very bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he plays a tons of customs with his teammate sOs, and know, in the current balance and meta, he stands no chance in straight macro game Maybe, just maybe, sOs really did a good and very new strategic choice: his 1base fast blink is probably BO win versus harass-oriented rax+factory proxy, while dying versus heavy early pressure like reactor cyclones or cyclone/marauder... but.. atm no good terran go heavy pressure vs 1 base toss. Maybe, just maybe, he never ever got photon rushed since age and loosed his composure. For information, proxying rax+facto is maybe the best build versus photon rush on photon-rush favored maps.
So yeah he BO-loose on first map versus a BO never even seen vs terran proxy. Then map 2 his build is totally fine, if he proxy cyclone he win, but again he probably never ever played this situation. Game 3 his build was fine (fact at home), but simply played terrible bad (missed second supply). So yeah, in two consecutive maps he played never ever seen BS builds from sOs and he totally break down. Guess what ? Same shit happened to every Korean player. There is a reason people never want to play sOs.
By game 3, it was obvious that Maru had to try something else. I'm a bit shocked he didn't even try to play a bit more of a conservative macro game after it became obvious how hard sOs had his number with the proxies. It felt like bad prep vs good prep, honestly.
On November 03 2018 21:38 xongnox wrote: Maru win 3 consecutive GSLs while proxying a lot, he's a genius and best player ever. Maru loose while proxy-ing at Blizcon, he proxy-ing himself out of the tournament
Maybe, just maybe, he just had a very bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he plays a tons of customs with his teammate sOs, and know, in the current balance and meta, he stands no chance in straight macro game Maybe, just maybe, sOs really did a good and very new strategic choice: his 1base fast blink is probably BO win versus harass-oriented rax+factory proxy, while dying versus heavy early pressure like reactor cyclones or cyclone/marauder... but.. atm no good terran go heavy pressure vs 1 base toss. Maybe, just maybe, he never ever got photon rushed since age and loosed his composure. For information, proxying rax+facto is maybe the best build versus photon rush on photon-rush favored maps.
So yeah he BO-loose on first map versus a BO never even seen vs terran proxy. Then map 2 his build is totally fine, if he proxy cyclone he win, but again he probably never ever played this situation. Game 3 his build was fine (fact at home), but simply played terrible bad (missed second supply). So yeah, in two consecutive maps he played never ever seen BS builds from sOs and he totally break down. Guess what ? Same shit happened to every Korean player. There is a reason people never want to play sOs.
By game 3, it was obvious that Maru had to try something else. I'm a bit shocked he didn't even try to play a bit more of a conservative macro game after it became obvious how hard sOs had his number with the proxies. It felt like bad prep vs good prep, honestly.
Game 3 was pure hubris - he knew that standard play at the level of Heromarine should be enough to unsettle SoS, yet didn't try. It's okay, it's how every great eventually falls before learning their lesson.
On November 03 2018 21:38 xongnox wrote: Maru win 3 consecutive GSLs while proxying a lot, he's a genius and best player ever. Maru loose while proxy-ing at Blizcon, he proxy-ing himself out of the tournament
Maybe, just maybe, he just had a very bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he plays a tons of customs with his teammate sOs, and know, in the current balance and meta, he stands no chance in straight macro game Maybe, just maybe, sOs really did a good and very new strategic choice: his 1base fast blink is probably BO win versus harass-oriented rax+factory proxy, while dying versus heavy early pressure like reactor cyclones or cyclone/marauder... but.. atm no good terran go heavy pressure vs 1 base toss. Maybe, just maybe, he never ever got photon rushed since age and loosed his composure. For information, proxying rax+facto is maybe the best build versus photon rush on photon-rush favored maps.
So yeah he BO-loose on first map versus a BO never even seen vs terran proxy. Then map 2 his build is totally fine, if he proxy cyclone he win, but again he probably never ever played this situation. Game 3 his build was fine (fact at home), but simply played terrible bad (missed second supply). So yeah, in two consecutive maps he played never ever seen BS builds from sOs and he totally break down. Guess what ? Same shit happened to every Korean player. There is a reason people never want to play sOs.
By game 3, it was obvious that Maru had to try something else. I'm a bit shocked he didn't even try to play a bit more of a conservative macro game after it became obvious how hard sOs had his number with the proxies. It felt like bad prep vs good prep, honestly.
Game 3 was pure hubris - he knew that standard play at the level of Heromarine should be enough to unsettle SoS, yet didn't try. It's okay, it's how every great eventually falls before learning their lesson.
The absolutely absurd thing is, he is not some rookie who just broke into the scene. He is a 8 year veteran.
On November 03 2018 21:38 xongnox wrote: Maru win 3 consecutive GSLs while proxying a lot, he's a genius and best player ever. Maru loose while proxy-ing at Blizcon, he proxy-ing himself out of the tournament
Maybe, just maybe, he just had a very bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he plays a tons of customs with his teammate sOs, and know, in the current balance and meta, he stands no chance in straight macro game Maybe, just maybe, sOs really did a good and very new strategic choice: his 1base fast blink is probably BO win versus harass-oriented rax+factory proxy, while dying versus heavy early pressure like reactor cyclones or cyclone/marauder... but.. atm no good terran go heavy pressure vs 1 base toss. Maybe, just maybe, he never ever got photon rushed since age and loosed his composure. For information, proxying rax+facto is maybe the best build versus photon rush on photon-rush favored maps.
So yeah he BO-loose on first map versus a BO never even seen vs terran proxy. Then map 2 his build is totally fine, if he proxy cyclone he win, but again he probably never ever played this situation. Game 3 his build was fine (fact at home), but simply played terrible bad (missed second supply). So yeah, in two consecutive maps he played never ever seen BS builds from sOs and he totally break down. Guess what ? Same shit happened to every Korean player. There is a reason people never want to play sOs.
By game 3, it was obvious that Maru had to try something else. I'm a bit shocked he didn't even try to play a bit more of a conservative macro game after it became obvious how hard sOs had his number with the proxies. It felt like bad prep vs good prep, honestly.
Game 3 was pure hubris - he knew that standard play at the level of Heromarine should be enough to unsettle SoS, yet didn't try. It's okay, it's how every great eventually falls before learning their lesson.
The absolutely absurd thing is, he is not some rookie who just broke into the scene. He is a 8 year veteran.
Truer words haven't been spoken. When that absurdity finally hits him, I hope he does the right thing and gets full blackout drunk, so as to forget this & recover ASAP.
I can't believe people are still hating on Serral, most of the arguments are pretty shit and have been debunked.
On this patch Serral is absolutely the best player in the world, and the best player of 2018, it's unfortunate Maru had sOs -> Stats on his bracket so I figured the chances he'd get by was low (I was still expecting him to make it), but even if he did make it, I don't think Maru would stand any chance, you can sort of see how it'd play out by looking at Maru's TvZ's and Serral's ZvT.
Serral is 18-0 vs T this patch on offline games, including an absolute stomp over inno 3-0, and 1-0 over Maru, Inno went 6-1 vs Rogue, a week before Serral decimated him, uThermal vs Reynor is pretty even, and Reynor gave Maru a hard time, uThermal vs Serral hasn't been close in a while.
The most telling thing about Serral isn't even the insane stats, such as 6 Premiers in a row, highest winrate vs koreans out of anyone in 2018... but...... how he is actually winning, watch the god damn games, he is stomping koreans playing standard, while they try to throw weird shit at him, it's actually the inverse KR vs non-kr scenario.
Well done Olli! You did not see sOs upsetting Maru, but all the other seven result predictions were correct with three exact scores guessed right. By far the best prediction out of all of writing staff's ones.
On November 05 2018 00:25 terribleplayer1 wrote: I can't believe people are still hating on Serral, most of the arguments are pretty shit and have been debunked.
On this patch Serral is absolutely the best player in the world, and the best player of 2018, it's unfortunate Maru had sOs -> Stats on his bracket so I figured the chances he'd get by was low (I was still expecting him to make it), but even if he did make it, I don't think Maru would stand any chance, you can sort of see how it'd play out by looking at Maru's TvZ's and Serral's ZvT.
Serral is 18-0 vs T this patch on offline games, including an absolute stomp over inno 3-0, and 1-0 over Maru, Inno went 6-1 vs Rogue, a week before Serral decimated him, uThermal vs Reynor is pretty even, and Reynor gave Maru a hard time, uThermal vs Serral hasn't been close in a while.
The most telling thing about Serral isn't even the insane stats, such as 6 Premiers in a row, highest winrate vs koreans out of anyone in 2018... but...... how he is actually winning, watch the god damn games, he is stomping koreans playing standard, while they try to throw weird shit at him, it's actually the inverse KR vs non-kr scenario.
You are either blind or do not know the game enough.. Serral and Maru are head and shoulders above the competition skillset wise right now. You simply can't judge Serral's ZvT simply because he does not have enough matches versus Maru (and Inno and TY or Gumiho), just versus medicore competition in the EU, not to mention saying Maru would not stand a chance. Maru only lost one match the whole year vs Zerg that matters (vs Rogue Katowice, same amount as Serral only lost one match vs T in WESG). As of todayMaru is the only player capable of going toe to toe in multitasking in TvZ vs Serral. Just look at his game against Rogue in GSL ST2. He clearly prepared for Serral, with his building placements versus ling counterattacks. I am not saying Maru would beat Serral in a BO7, i am only Saying he is the only one capable of beating Serral right now. I would say it is a 50-50 chance.
Also this blizzcon showed us that TvP is in a very bad state right now, as the best T in the world thinks proxying is the only chance of winning against a struggling Protoss, and it is especially alarming since sOs multitasking is one or two level below of Maru's.
On November 05 2018 00:25 terribleplayer1 wrote: I can't believe people are still hating on Serral, most of the arguments are pretty shit and have been debunked.
On this patch Serral is absolutely the best player in the world, and the best player of 2018, it's unfortunate Maru had sOs -> Stats on his bracket so I figured the chances he'd get by was low (I was still expecting him to make it), but even if he did make it, I don't think Maru would stand any chance, you can sort of see how it'd play out by looking at Maru's TvZ's and Serral's ZvT.
Serral is 18-0 vs T this patch on offline games, including an absolute stomp over inno 3-0, and 1-0 over Maru, Inno went 6-1 vs Rogue, a week before Serral decimated him, uThermal vs Reynor is pretty even, and Reynor gave Maru a hard time, uThermal vs Serral hasn't been close in a while.
The most telling thing about Serral isn't even the insane stats, such as 6 Premiers in a row, highest winrate vs koreans out of anyone in 2018... but...... how he is actually winning, watch the god damn games, he is stomping koreans playing standard, while they try to throw weird shit at him, it's actually the inverse KR vs non-kr scenario.
Serral has not yet proved he can beat a top Korean Terran. He beat Innovation at a time when Inno was at his low, but has not faced Gumiho, TY, or Maru.
Yes, he is undeniably the best in the world right now. But he hasn't yet shown the tier of ZvT we want to see.
Edit: That's why I was looking forward to Blizzcon. I hoped that TY would beat Rogue and Maru would Finals so that we could see at least one of Serral v. TY or Serral v. Maru.
Thanks to Maru's bad choices and TY's dumb luck vs Rogue, neither happened. Honestly I almost gave up watching the Finals, another boring ZvP until Stats turned the fire back on in game 4 and 5.
On November 05 2018 00:25 terribleplayer1 wrote: I can't believe people are still hating on Serral, most of the arguments are pretty shit and have been debunked.
On this patch Serral is absolutely the best player in the world, and the best player of 2018, it's unfortunate Maru had sOs -> Stats on his bracket so I figured the chances he'd get by was low (I was still expecting him to make it), but even if he did make it, I don't think Maru would stand any chance, you can sort of see how it'd play out by looking at Maru's TvZ's and Serral's ZvT.
Serral is 18-0 vs T this patch on offline games, including an absolute stomp over inno 3-0, and 1-0 over Maru, Inno went 6-1 vs Rogue, a week before Serral decimated him, uThermal vs Reynor is pretty even, and Reynor gave Maru a hard time, uThermal vs Serral hasn't been close in a while.
The most telling thing about Serral isn't even the insane stats, such as 6 Premiers in a row, highest winrate vs koreans out of anyone in 2018... but...... how he is actually winning, watch the god damn games, he is stomping koreans playing standard, while they try to throw weird shit at him, it's actually the inverse KR vs non-kr scenario.
Serral has not yet proved he can beat a top Korean Terran. He beat Innovation at a time when Inno was at his low, but has not faced Gumiho, TY, or Maru.
Yes, he is undeniably the best in the world right now. But he hasn't yet shown the tier of ZvT we want to see.
Yasss!! Came for a good quality goal-post move, leaving satisfied!
On November 05 2018 00:25 terribleplayer1 wrote: I can't believe people are still hating on Serral, most of the arguments are pretty shit and have been debunked.
On this patch Serral is absolutely the best player in the world, and the best player of 2018, it's unfortunate Maru had sOs -> Stats on his bracket so I figured the chances he'd get by was low (I was still expecting him to make it), but even if he did make it, I don't think Maru would stand any chance, you can sort of see how it'd play out by looking at Maru's TvZ's and Serral's ZvT.
Serral is 18-0 vs T this patch on offline games, including an absolute stomp over inno 3-0, and 1-0 over Maru, Inno went 6-1 vs Rogue, a week before Serral decimated him, uThermal vs Reynor is pretty even, and Reynor gave Maru a hard time, uThermal vs Serral hasn't been close in a while.
The most telling thing about Serral isn't even the insane stats, such as 6 Premiers in a row, highest winrate vs koreans out of anyone in 2018... but...... how he is actually winning, watch the god damn games, he is stomping koreans playing standard, while they try to throw weird shit at him, it's actually the inverse KR vs non-kr scenario.
Serral has not yet proved he can beat a top Korean Terran. He beat Innovation at a time when Inno was at his low, but has not faced Gumiho, TY, or Maru.
Yes, he is undeniably the best in the world right now. But he hasn't yet shown the tier of ZvT we want to see.
Edit: That's why I was looking forward to Blizzcon. I hoped that TY would beat Rogue and Maru would Finals so that we could see at least one of Serral v. TY or Serral v. Maru.
Thanks to Maru's bad choices and TY's dumb luck vs Rogue, neither happened. Honestly I almost gave up watching the Finals, another boring ZvP until Stats turned the fire back on in game 4 and 5.
Part of why I personally believe Serral would win is because in his match vs Innovation we saw some great things. For example, in one game he held 4-5 hellions and a reaper with no queens and ~ 10 lings because he just spread them perfectly. So well it almost looked like he intentionally baited innovation in so he could kill them. I had never seen a Zerg do that before. There's just no room for Inno to do anything about that except just not attack.
EPT![[image loading]](https://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Olli/jussibracket.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/Rh7dImv.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Olli/ollibracket.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/nD6Xz0u.png)
![[image loading]](https://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Olli/soulbracket.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Olli/marcobracket.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Olli/Ziggybracket.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/rJE3Q4Q.png)
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/KnH43iz.png)
