The upsets continued into IEM Katowice's playoff stage, as reigning WCS Global Champion Serral was eliminated in the quarterfinals. soO—who had narrowly avoided being eliminated himself in the group stage—scrapped his way to a 3-2 victory over the Finnish Phenom, getting one step closer to a long-desired major championship. soO's victory over Serral on Year Zero was one of the highlight matches of the day (and 2019 so far), with soO extracting the GG with just a handful of roaches remaining.
herO's underdog run in the tournament continued as he defeated both Trap and Dear in 3-0 sweeps, seemingly insisting that two-basing is still very much in-style in Legacy of the Void.
Stats and Dark claimed the other two semifinal spots, eliminating Neeb and Solar respectively. While Stats took care of business in a quick 3-0, Dark was forced to battle his way through an epic, game-of-the-year tier match before securing his spot in the semis.
Terran struggles were another hot topic of IEM Katowice, with Solar's 3-0 sweep of TY in the RO12 eliminating Terran from the tournament entirely. Combined with Maru and INnoVation's elimination in the group stage, StarCraft II fans were left to wonder if the Terran massacre was just a freak occurrence or a symptom of deeper issues in the current state of the game.
IEM will conclude on Sunday, Mar 03 10:00am GMT (GMT+00:00) with the semifinals and grand final. You can catch up on the games at IEM's official Youtube channel.
This made my day, so happy to see Stats and Soo advance. I was kinda hoping that Stats would be the one to take down Serral, but I should probably just be happy Serral isn't around to eliminate him.
no matter who loses in the finals - it will be heartbreaking herO and Stats have lost IEM Katowice in the finals before and soO and Dark of course have their history of getting 2nd... Tomorrow will be a sad day
On March 03 2019 07:24 Charoisaur wrote: no matter who loses in the finals - it will be heartbreaking herO and Stats have lost IEM Katowice in the finals before and soO and Dark of course have their history of getting 2nd... Tomorrow will be a sad day
and on the glass half full perspective, it's going to be a very happy day for someone tomorrow (soO)
at least everyone is getting paid this time. It's not like IEM Katowice 2014 where even 2nd gets nothing (herO ;; )
Stats is definitely my favourite player of the remaining four and I would be happy if he won. But seeing soO win a championship in his final year would be epic and more well deserved than anything.
On March 03 2019 07:24 Charoisaur wrote: no matter who loses in the finals - it will be heartbreaking herO and Stats have lost IEM Katowice in the finals before and soO and Dark of course have their history of getting 2nd... Tomorrow will be a sad day
Think positively friend.
after tomorrow one of these 4 is guaranteed to have won
On March 03 2019 07:50 blooblooblahblah wrote: We live in a world where ZvZ is producing the most exciting games of the tournament
ZvZ has always had that potential, but for every exciting game, there are five dozen Roach vs Roach or never ending Ling war stinkers.
I think ZVZ is the or one of the matchups most skill level dependent. I mean zvt even low levels ones like in Neuro vs Pig team league are fun, but zvz between the top players or those crazy good specialized european players tend to be awesome. And Serral v z is something else. Like Gumiho v z is something different than tvz
These results proves why StarCraft 2 needs Korea’s Region Lock to stay in place. Serral is an anomaly.
You’re totally right if you argue it isn’t fair; BUT for the good of the game it is what must be.
Also, as an American SC2 fan, super disappointed that Neeb didn’t play better. Did I expect him to pick up after Serral lost? Not really, but I expected better than a 30 minute or less bopping.
GO soO! Hope he takes the championship after that epic effort against Serral. He may never win a GSL (lulz), but hopefully a victory here will stave off him thinking about retiring after this year.
On March 03 2019 11:03 StarcraftSquall wrote: These results proves why StarCraft 2 needs Korea’s Region Lock to stay in place. Serral is an anomaly.
You’re totally right if you argue it isn’t fair; BUT for the good of the game it is what must be.
Also, as an American SC2 fan, super disappointed that Neeb didn’t play better. Did I expect him to pick up after Serral lost? Not really, but I expected better than a 30 minute or less bopping.
The results of this tournament indicate nothing of the sort. I count at least 6 non-Koreans having wins over GSL ro16 players (Serral, Neeb, SpeCial, HeRoMaRiNe, Scarlett, and Lambo) and probably as many others having wins over ro32 players.
On March 03 2019 12:19 Mudbuddha13 wrote: as dark said "foreigners will always be foreigners" lol
Lol
With that said Dark's disrespect has kicked him back in the face as Serral smoked him in the last two times they met (WCS Global Finals and GSL vs the World). As much as I tend to root for the Koreans almost all the time (especially the Korean Terrans), it's been especially satisfying to watch Serral smack Dark down time and time again lately after all the trash talk. If this tourney ended up being a Dark vs Serral finals, I'd be rooting for Serral.
On March 03 2019 12:19 Mudbuddha13 wrote: as dark said "foreigners will always be foreigners" lol
Lol
With that said Dark's disrespect has kicked him back in the face as Serral smoked him in the last two times they met (WCS Global Finals and GSL vs the World). As much as I tend to root for the Koreans almost all the time (especially the Korean Terrans), it's been especially satisfying to watch Serral smack Dark down time and time again lately after all the trash talk. If this tourney ended up being a Dark vs Serral finals, I'd be rooting for Serral.
its funny cause I don't think Dark will change regardless of Serral beating him, and at the same time his cocky approach to foreigners has been completely validated outside of Serral. He has repeatedly made almost every other top foreigner look like scrubs. Honestly I like that Dark always brings the trash talk cause its just fun and adds a little extra spice to the games
'' Combined with Maru and INnoVation's elimination in the group stage, StarCraft II fans were left to wonder if the Terran massacre was just a freak occurrence or a symptom of deeper issues in the current state of the game.''
On March 03 2019 12:19 Mudbuddha13 wrote: as dark said "foreigners will always be foreigners" lol
Lol
With that said Dark's disrespect has kicked him back in the face as Serral smoked him in the last two times they met (WCS Global Finals and GSL vs the World). As much as I tend to root for the Koreans almost all the time (especially the Korean Terrans), it's been especially satisfying to watch Serral smack Dark down time and time again lately after all the trash talk. If this tourney ended up being a Dark vs Serral finals, I'd be rooting for Serral.
its funny cause I don't think Dark will change regardless of Serral beating him, and at the same time his cocky approach to foreigners has been completely validated outside of Serral. He has repeatedly made almost every other top foreigner look like scrubs. Honestly I like that Dark always brings the trash talk cause its just fun and adds a little extra spice to the games
I agree. A lot of what Dark says and does is for his and the audience's entertainment. He's certainly confident, one may even say arrogant, about his abilities, but he has definitely shown moments of humility.
On March 03 2019 13:48 Majick wrote: I had the impression Serral looked like he was hangover or still sleeping while facing soO who was perfectly warmed up and aware of everything.
Misclicking his army movements, running into banes, eating biles, reacting too late... very uncharacteristic by Serral.
I wonder if it was soO having this effect on him or maybe Inno broke him somehow the day before.
Feel like Serral was pretty on point in games 3-5 but in game 2 he definitely wasn't playing at his full ability. On random note, I feel like game 3 showed that the difference between Serral and Maru I feel is that when Maru is ahead he's almost unbeatable whereas when Serral is behind he's almost unbeatable. Serral will surround your army while killing like 20 of your workers before going down lol.
On March 03 2019 10:54 Vindicare605 wrote: And now the big question emerges. Is THIS the tournament where soO finally does it? He's already slain the monster. Now can he cross the finish line?
He might have defeated the strongest enemy brood but let's not forget about the Protoss invaders.
If Serral is gonna go out it's gonna be a really good match, which him vs soO was. Sadly probably only the good series so far in the play-offs :-/ So that's a bit disappointing but hopefully today delives with more close series!
On March 03 2019 15:40 Noa Greenini wrote: If Serral is gonna go out it's gonna be a really good match, which him vs soO was. Sadly probably only the good series so far in the play-offs :-/ So that's a bit disappointing but hopefully today delives with more close series!
Dark vs Solar was also pretty lit. At least game 3 was
On March 03 2019 11:03 StarcraftSquall wrote: These results proves why StarCraft 2 needs Korea’s Region Lock to stay in place. Serral is an anomaly.
You’re totally right if you argue it isn’t fair; BUT for the good of the game it is what must be.
Also, as an American SC2 fan, super disappointed that Neeb didn’t play better. Did I expect him to pick up after Serral lost? Not really, but I expected better than a 30 minute or less bopping.
as a fellow american fan i expected the outcome
Stats is Neeb's worst nightmare in this metagame. even worse than dark imo.Which is pretty ironic because Neeb's legendary run in the kespa cup came at stats' expense
Neeb struggles vs Protoss players with high mechanics. that's his achilles heel. and Stats is the most solid protoss player on the planet, and just a juggernaut in general.
if neeb got to go through the zergs or terrans instead i think he wouldve had a much better shot.
On March 03 2019 11:03 StarcraftSquall wrote: These results proves why StarCraft 2 needs Korea’s Region Lock to stay in place. Serral is an anomaly.
You’re totally right if you argue it isn’t fair; BUT for the good of the game it is what must be.
Also, as an American SC2 fan, super disappointed that Neeb didn’t play better. Did I expect him to pick up after Serral lost? Not really, but I expected better than a 30 minute or less bopping.
as a fellow american fan i expected the outcome
Stats is Neeb's worst nightmare in this metagame. even worse than dark imo.Which is pretty ironic because Neeb's legendary run in the kespa cup came at stats' expense
Neeb struggles vs Protoss players with high mechanics. that's his achilles heel. and Stats is the most solid protoss player on the planet, and just a juggernaut in general.
if neeb got to go through the zergs or terrans instead i think he wouldve had a much better shot.
It doesn't help that his pvp has suffered greatly since the last patch, in contrast to his pvt and pvz which looks better than before. Losing to players like mcanning and astrea recently was always going to spell disaster against top PvPers like stats, zest, trap.. etc. No disrespect to the NA protosses of course, they are excellent players but the top top KR protosses are just terrifying - even the tiniest errors get punished.
On March 03 2019 13:48 Majick wrote: I had the impression Serral looked like he was hangover or still sleeping while facing soO who was perfectly warmed up and aware of everything.
Misclicking his army movements, running into banes, eating biles, reacting too late... very uncharacteristic by Serral.
I wonder if it was soO having this effect on him or maybe Inno broke him somehow the day before.
Feel like Serral was pretty on point in games 3-5 but in game 2 he definitely wasn't playing at his full ability. On random note, I feel like game 3 showed that the difference between Serral and Maru I feel is that when Maru is ahead he's almost unbeatable whereas when Serral is behind he's almost unbeatable. Serral will surround your army while killing like 20 of your workers before going down lol.
Game 3 wasn't just an almost-comeback from serral. He actually did get ahead with better upgrades, hive tech and even supply. soO even looked pretty dead at some points, but then he made some magic happen of his own to win the game after 15 minutes of being behind in tech. Although I guess that does fit your description, where Maru is the one that's unbeatable when he's ahead.
i dont think i w ant to stay up and watch soo play. i hope he wins he deserves it but man that would be soul crushing if he falls to stats in the finals or something like that
On March 03 2019 13:48 Majick wrote: I had the impression Serral looked like he was hangover or still sleeping while facing soO who was perfectly warmed up and aware of everything.
Misclicking his army movements, running into banes, eating biles, reacting too late... very uncharacteristic by Serral.
I wonder if it was soO having this effect on him or maybe Inno broke him somehow the day before.
Feel like Serral was pretty on point in games 3-5 but in game 2 he definitely wasn't playing at his full ability. On random note, I feel like game 3 showed that the difference between Serral and Maru I feel is that when Maru is ahead he's almost unbeatable whereas when Serral is behind he's almost unbeatable. Serral will surround your army while killing like 20 of your workers before going down lol.
Game 3 wasn't just an almost-comeback from serral. He actually did get ahead with better upgrades, hive tech and even supply. soO even looked pretty dead at some points, but then he made some magic happen of his own to win the game after 15 minutes of being behind in tech. Although I guess that does fit your description, where Maru is the one that's unbeatable when he's ahead.
On that note at some point soO had quite a bank and did not go for +3 attack. I really don't know much about ZvZ, was there a strong rationale behind that or did it look like a mistake?
On March 03 2019 13:48 Majick wrote: I had the impression Serral looked like he was hangover or still sleeping while facing soO who was perfectly warmed up and aware of everything.
Misclicking his army movements, running into banes, eating biles, reacting too late... very uncharacteristic by Serral.
I wonder if it was soO having this effect on him or maybe Inno broke him somehow the day before.
Feel like Serral was pretty on point in games 3-5 but in game 2 he definitely wasn't playing at his full ability. On random note, I feel like game 3 showed that the difference between Serral and Maru I feel is that when Maru is ahead he's almost unbeatable whereas when Serral is behind he's almost unbeatable. Serral will surround your army while killing like 20 of your workers before going down lol.
Game 3 wasn't just an almost-comeback from serral. He actually did get ahead with better upgrades, hive tech and even supply. soO even looked pretty dead at some points, but then he made some magic happen of his own to win the game after 15 minutes of being behind in tech. Although I guess that does fit your description, where Maru is the one that's unbeatable when he's ahead.
On that note at some point soO had quite a bank and did not go for +3 attack. I really don't know much about ZvZ, was there a strong rationale behind that or did it look like a mistake?
Refusing to go hive is his rebellion against EU ZvZ.
ok i stayed up to watch soo beat hero and am happy. soo has beaten serral and secured at least another silver medal. i'm not gonna stay up anymore, hopefully when i wake up he will have gotten first place. not sure if he can beat stats though, but praying for a miracle. go soo!!!!!!!
On March 03 2019 13:48 Majick wrote: I had the impression Serral looked like he was hangover or still sleeping while facing soO who was perfectly warmed up and aware of everything.
Misclicking his army movements, running into banes, eating biles, reacting too late... very uncharacteristic by Serral.
I wonder if it was soO having this effect on him or maybe Inno broke him somehow the day before.
Feel like Serral was pretty on point in games 3-5 but in game 2 he definitely wasn't playing at his full ability. On random note, I feel like game 3 showed that the difference between Serral and Maru I feel is that when Maru is ahead he's almost unbeatable whereas when Serral is behind he's almost unbeatable. Serral will surround your army while killing like 20 of your workers before going down lol.
Game 3 wasn't just an almost-comeback from serral. He actually did get ahead with better upgrades, hive tech and even supply. soO even looked pretty dead at some points, but then he made some magic happen of his own to win the game after 15 minutes of being behind in tech. Although I guess that does fit your description, where Maru is the one that's unbeatable when he's ahead.
On that note at some point soO had quite a bank and did not go for +3 attack. I really don't know much about ZvZ, was there a strong rationale behind that or did it look like a mistake?
If he has a clear reason, I don't understand it. I think he totally could've transitioned and would've had every advantage.
On March 03 2019 19:44 fishjie wrote: ok i stayed up to watch soo beat hero and am happy. soo has beaten serral and secured at least another silver medal. i'm not gonna stay up anymore, hopefully when i wake up he will have gotten first place. not sure if he can beat stats though, but praying for a miracle. go soo!!!!!!!
oh my god!!!!! i woke up anxiously checking the results, pretty sure stats would've beaten dark and then soo. didn't want to stay up late watching soo get second place again. sad to have missed it live, but holy shit i am in tears!!!!! SOOOO YOU BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL CHAMPION!!!!!!
On March 03 2019 11:03 StarcraftSquall wrote: These results proves why StarCraft 2 needs Korea’s Region Lock to stay in place. Serral is an anomaly.
You’re totally right if you argue it isn’t fair; BUT for the good of the game it is what must be.
Also, as an American SC2 fan, super disappointed that Neeb didn’t play better. Did I expect him to pick up after Serral lost? Not really, but I expected better than a 30 minute or less bopping.
The results of this tournament indicate nothing of the sort. I count at least 6 non-Koreans having wins over GSL ro16 players (Serral, Neeb, SpeCial, HeRoMaRiNe, Scarlett, and Lambo) and probably as many others having wins over ro32 players.
If region lock is lifted, with the talent pool the way it currently is, this is not hyperbole: StarCraft DIES. While no one disputes Korea is an overpowered region the reality is that casual SC2 fan does not want to see a BlizzCon with 15 Koreans and one token foreigner. Yes, it’s been THAT bad. We have lived through it. So know that you’re advocating for the death of a game that’s recovered from that and is now thriving as an esport, because of the region lock. When we see consistent foreigner production against TOP level Koreans... not your Leenocks, but your Maru, Stats, TY.... and they legitimately can win 50% of series that mean something Then this can be revisited. Until then for the health of the game it must stay put.
On March 03 2019 07:24 Charoisaur wrote: no matter who loses in the finals - it will be heartbreaking herO and Stats have lost IEM Katowice in the finals before and soO and Dark of course have their history of getting 2nd... Tomorrow will be a sad day
and on the glass half full perspective, it's going to be a very happy day for someone tomorrow (soO)
at least everyone is getting paid this time. It's not like IEM Katowice 2014 where even 2nd gets nothing (herO ;; )
EPT
![[image loading]](https://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/iem/katowice2019/iemkatowice2019banner.jpg)
Serral was eliminated in the quarterfinals. ![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/iem/katowice2019/finalbracket.png)
