• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 14:23
CEST 20:23
KST 03:23
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL19] Ro4 Recap : The Peak11DreamHack Dallas 2025 - Info & Preview19herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2025)17Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, GuMiho, Classic, Cure6Code S RO8 Preview: Classic, Reynor, Maru, GuMiho4
Community News
[BSL20] RO20 Group Stage0EWC 2025 Regional Qualifiers (May 28-June 1)7Weekly Cups (May 12-18): Clem sweeps WardiTV May3Code S Season 2 (2025) - Qualifier Results212025 GSL Season 2 (Qualifiers)14
StarCraft 2
General
herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2025) DreamHack Dallas 2025 - Info & Preview Power Rank: October 2018 Code S Season 2 (2025) - Qualifier Results Code S RO8 Preview: Classic, Reynor, Maru, GuMiho
Tourneys
DreamHack Dallas 2025 Last Chance Qualifiers for OlimoLeague 2024 Winter $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) EWC 2025 Regional Qualifiers (May 28-June 1)
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers [G] PvT Cheese: 13 Gate Proxy Robo
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 474 Futile Resistance Mutation # 473 Cold is the Void Mutation # 472 Dead Heat Mutation # 471 Delivery Guaranteed
Brood War
General
[ASL19] Ro4 Recap : The Peak BW General Discussion Cwal.gg not working BGH auto balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Artosis baned on twitch ?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL19] Semifinal B [BSL20] RO20 Group Stage Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
I am doing this better than progamers do. [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
Beyond All Reason What do you want from future RTS games? Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Grand Theft Auto VI Nintendo Switch Thread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
LiquidLegends to reintegrate into TL.net
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread TL Mafia Plays: Diplomacy TL Mafia: Generative Agents Showdown Survivor II: The Amazon
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Trading/Investing Thread
Fan Clubs
Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Cleaning My Mechanical Keyboard How to clean a TTe Thermaltake keyboard?
TL Community
The Automated Ban List TL.net Ten Commandments
Blogs
Yes Sir! How Commanding Impr…
TrAiDoS
Poker
Nebuchad
Info SLEgma_12
SLEgma_12
SECOND COMMING
XenOsky
WombaT’s Old BW Terran Theme …
WombaT
Heero Yuy & the Tax…
KrillinFromwales
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 22904 users

Maru Becomes The Greatest GSL Player - Page 5

Forum Index > SC2 General
106 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
StabiloBoss20
Profile Joined July 2015
313 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-18 22:36:27
April 18 2019 22:35 GMT
#81
On April 19 2019 06:00 Doink wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 17 2019 13:02 kickina wrote:
Going by average player strength, and amount of rounds required to win, GSL Code S is objectively the hardest tournament to win in SC2.


So if GSL is "objectively" the hardest tournament to win why does Maru not even reach the finals in everything else? Should be easy for him if GSL is so much harder.


???
OSL, SSL, WESG... an IEM where he lost to life if i recall correctly. I'm totally fine with not considering him as GOAT. But sometimes i'm wondering what you guys are talking about...
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-05-14 21:23:05
May 14 2019 21:20 GMT
#82
gsl is not only the hardest tournament but it is also formatted very differently from every other premier tournament. the format generally favors his style and preparation. i don't think there is a real goat of starcraft 2 we haven't had the stability in any champion over a looong period of time. sure, there are lots of streaks and times where one player has dominated insanely for a short amount of time, but the meta shifts so quickly it seems like it is difficult for any one player to shine in various metas.

imo, an emergent goat would most likely be a zerg just based on how reactive play is favored and this has been the case for a long time

edit: i think the closest exception to this rule would be MVP
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
Blargh
Profile Joined September 2010
United States2101 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-05-15 01:38:40
May 15 2019 01:29 GMT
#83
After four seasons and four titles it appears as if the only person capable of standing in Maru’s way is himself. The question has shifted from “will Maru win again?” to “will Maru ever lose?”

Innovation says hi.

Even though I'm sure everyone cares about winning, I feel as if most pros don't put nearly as much effort into it as they used to. Maybe that's false. Major said he practiced 30-40 games a day or something. But I feel like the passion or drive isn't really there like it used to be... I can barely blame Maru for losing in Ro32.

Also, when people compare weekend tournaments to GSL, this is like comparing blitz chess to standard chess. It's not like blitz chess is less meaningful, but you end up with poorer (or perhaps... different) strategy than with standard chess. So most people consider standard chess to be the most prestigious. Weekend tournies may not be seen at the same level as GSL, where people have a week to prepare, but that shouldn't completely discredit them.
Dave4
Profile Joined August 2018
494 Posts
May 15 2019 06:48 GMT
#84
On May 15 2019 10:29 Blargh wrote:
Show nested quote +
After four seasons and four titles it appears as if the only person capable of standing in Maru’s way is himself. The question has shifted from “will Maru win again?” to “will Maru ever lose?”


Also, when people compare weekend tournaments to GSL, this is like comparing blitz chess to standard chess. It's not like blitz chess is less meaningful, but you end up with poorer (or perhaps... different) strategy than with standard chess. So most people consider standard chess to be the most prestigious. Weekend tournies may not be seen at the same level as GSL, where people have a week to prepare, but that shouldn't completely discredit them.

I hear this comment a lot, and I think the long-held view that prep format SC reigns supreme really might need updating.

The view is held because in Broodwar and early SC2, the game was in a very different state to where it is now. Namely almost all pro gamers were in team houses that were sponsored by big brands, and paid salaries to win tournaments (especially team tournaments).

Proleague SC2 is a lot more appropriate for your example of blitz vs standard chess. That game no longer exists. There's one teamhouse left who are incentivised to develop and hone strategies in a silo away with each other away from streams or ladder.

Anyone playing in a prep tournament with 5 other people helping design their strategies in secret is going to generally (not always) but generally be much better suited to prep format. For everyone outside of JAGW their practice conditions are no longer suited to prep format.

So why do we still need to consider prep format the be-all and end-all? Until we get over this hump there's just going to be the same arguments on the forum that GSL is the only thing that matters, people like Serral don't count cause Korea.
Noa Greenini
Profile Joined April 2015
265 Posts
May 15 2019 07:21 GMT
#85
Why argue? Is Maru really disputable?
Noa Greenini looks like the superior LR poster - Charoisaur 04/05/2019 (Serral vs Showtime match)
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12129 Posts
May 15 2019 07:30 GMT
#86
On May 15 2019 15:48 Dave4 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2019 10:29 Blargh wrote:
After four seasons and four titles it appears as if the only person capable of standing in Maru’s way is himself. The question has shifted from “will Maru win again?” to “will Maru ever lose?”


Also, when people compare weekend tournaments to GSL, this is like comparing blitz chess to standard chess. It's not like blitz chess is less meaningful, but you end up with poorer (or perhaps... different) strategy than with standard chess. So most people consider standard chess to be the most prestigious. Weekend tournies may not be seen at the same level as GSL, where people have a week to prepare, but that shouldn't completely discredit them.

I hear this comment a lot, and I think the long-held view that prep format SC reigns supreme really might need updating.

The view is held because in Broodwar and early SC2, the game was in a very different state to where it is now. Namely almost all pro gamers were in team houses that were sponsored by big brands, and paid salaries to win tournaments (especially team tournaments).

Proleague SC2 is a lot more appropriate for your example of blitz vs standard chess. That game no longer exists. There's one teamhouse left who are incentivised to develop and hone strategies in a silo away with each other away from streams or ladder.

Anyone playing in a prep tournament with 5 other people helping design their strategies in secret is going to generally (not always) but generally be much better suited to prep format. For everyone outside of JAGW their practice conditions are no longer suited to prep format.

So why do we still need to consider prep format the be-all and end-all? Until we get over this hump there's just going to be the same arguments on the forum that GSL is the only thing that matters, people like Serral don't count cause Korea.

It's not about the format per se, but about the fact that GSL has the best players except few foreigners while everything else has less top players. Blizzcon(because only 8 can be Koreans and because the actual form is overshadowed by the former form) and Katowice(because not enough Koreans can go through qualifier) included. GSL has the toughest competition of them all. Deal with it.

Also we can see how good the preparation is for JAGW when they have 1 out of what, 5 or 6 players? Team house powah
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland24523 Posts
May 15 2019 11:34 GMT
#87
On May 15 2019 16:30 deacon.frost wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2019 15:48 Dave4 wrote:
On May 15 2019 10:29 Blargh wrote:
After four seasons and four titles it appears as if the only person capable of standing in Maru’s way is himself. The question has shifted from “will Maru win again?” to “will Maru ever lose?”


Also, when people compare weekend tournaments to GSL, this is like comparing blitz chess to standard chess. It's not like blitz chess is less meaningful, but you end up with poorer (or perhaps... different) strategy than with standard chess. So most people consider standard chess to be the most prestigious. Weekend tournies may not be seen at the same level as GSL, where people have a week to prepare, but that shouldn't completely discredit them.

I hear this comment a lot, and I think the long-held view that prep format SC reigns supreme really might need updating.

The view is held because in Broodwar and early SC2, the game was in a very different state to where it is now. Namely almost all pro gamers were in team houses that were sponsored by big brands, and paid salaries to win tournaments (especially team tournaments).

Proleague SC2 is a lot more appropriate for your example of blitz vs standard chess. That game no longer exists. There's one teamhouse left who are incentivised to develop and hone strategies in a silo away with each other away from streams or ladder.

Anyone playing in a prep tournament with 5 other people helping design their strategies in secret is going to generally (not always) but generally be much better suited to prep format. For everyone outside of JAGW their practice conditions are no longer suited to prep format.

So why do we still need to consider prep format the be-all and end-all? Until we get over this hump there's just going to be the same arguments on the forum that GSL is the only thing that matters, people like Serral don't count cause Korea.

It's not about the format per se, but about the fact that GSL has the best players except few foreigners while everything else has less top players. Blizzcon(because only 8 can be Koreans and because the actual form is overshadowed by the former form) and Katowice(because not enough Koreans can go through qualifier) included. GSL has the toughest competition of them all. Deal with it.

Also we can see how good the preparation is for JAGW when they have 1 out of what, 5 or 6 players? Team house powah

GSL has previous form overshadowing current form too though, a bad day at the qualifiers and some of the best players don’t get in, or other players slump over the run of the tournament that are in. There’s usually one or two of the real top-tier players who don’t qualify for the GSL every season as well.

Why put preparation on such a pedestal if people are dismissive that JAGW might gain any edge at all by having a team house where they can practice stuff in-house? Maybe not a huge edge but they’ve got to get some value out of that setup.

Part of a competitive strategy game should be having to adapt and play reactively in a condensed tournament as well as having a week+ to prepare for a single matchup with a set map pool.

They’re both important, and it’s not as extreme as my analogy but Formula 1 is different from other racing series and has the most prestige, but also it’s the one where the playing field is the least even, and being in the best overall team makes a huge difference vs other series where they’re playing on a fully even field in terms of car hardware.

Prep formats are collaborative efforts executed by one individual, weekenders are more purely individual, although obviously not fully.

Never mind how prep has a racial element to it as well, Terran and Protoss can proxy and develop really map-specific technical aggressive builds in a way that Zergs simply cannot do as a race, and Legacy has given more options, but also less time in the early game via the earlier worker count to actually sniff some of them out via scouting/reacting.

I don’t think it’s at all coincidental that the reactive race has won plenty of big tournaments in Legacy but hasn’t been winning GSLs
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12129 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-05-15 11:54:26
May 15 2019 11:48 GMT
#88
On May 15 2019 20:34 Wombat_NI wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2019 16:30 deacon.frost wrote:
On May 15 2019 15:48 Dave4 wrote:
On May 15 2019 10:29 Blargh wrote:
After four seasons and four titles it appears as if the only person capable of standing in Maru’s way is himself. The question has shifted from “will Maru win again?” to “will Maru ever lose?”


Also, when people compare weekend tournaments to GSL, this is like comparing blitz chess to standard chess. It's not like blitz chess is less meaningful, but you end up with poorer (or perhaps... different) strategy than with standard chess. So most people consider standard chess to be the most prestigious. Weekend tournies may not be seen at the same level as GSL, where people have a week to prepare, but that shouldn't completely discredit them.

I hear this comment a lot, and I think the long-held view that prep format SC reigns supreme really might need updating.

The view is held because in Broodwar and early SC2, the game was in a very different state to where it is now. Namely almost all pro gamers were in team houses that were sponsored by big brands, and paid salaries to win tournaments (especially team tournaments).

Proleague SC2 is a lot more appropriate for your example of blitz vs standard chess. That game no longer exists. There's one teamhouse left who are incentivised to develop and hone strategies in a silo away with each other away from streams or ladder.

Anyone playing in a prep tournament with 5 other people helping design their strategies in secret is going to generally (not always) but generally be much better suited to prep format. For everyone outside of JAGW their practice conditions are no longer suited to prep format.

So why do we still need to consider prep format the be-all and end-all? Until we get over this hump there's just going to be the same arguments on the forum that GSL is the only thing that matters, people like Serral don't count cause Korea.

It's not about the format per se, but about the fact that GSL has the best players except few foreigners while everything else has less top players. Blizzcon(because only 8 can be Koreans and because the actual form is overshadowed by the former form) and Katowice(because not enough Koreans can go through qualifier) included. GSL has the toughest competition of them all. Deal with it.

Also we can see how good the preparation is for JAGW when they have 1 out of what, 5 or 6 players? Team house powah

GSL has previous form overshadowing current form too though, a bad day at the qualifiers and some of the best players don’t get in, or other players slump over the run of the tournament that are in. There’s usually one or two of the real top-tier players who don’t qualify for the GSL every season as well.

Why put preparation on such a pedestal if people are dismissive that JAGW might gain any edge at all by having a team house where they can practice stuff in-house? Maybe not a huge edge but they’ve got to get some value out of that setup.

Part of a competitive strategy game should be having to adapt and play reactively in a condensed tournament as well as having a week+ to prepare for a single matchup with a set map pool.

They’re both important, and it’s not as extreme as my analogy but Formula 1 is different from other racing series and has the most prestige, but also it’s the one where the playing field is the least even, and being in the best overall team makes a huge difference vs other series where they’re playing on a fully even field in terms of car hardware.

Prep formats are collaborative efforts executed by one individual, weekenders are more purely individual, although obviously not fully.

Never mind how prep has a racial element to it as well, Terran and Protoss can proxy and develop really map-specific technical aggressive builds in a way that Zergs simply cannot do as a race, and Legacy has given more options, but also less time in the early game via the earlier worker count to actually sniff some of them out via scouting/reacting.

I don’t think it’s at all coincidental that the reactive race has won plenty of big tournaments in Legacy but hasn’t been winning GSLs

Link me to an article where they describe how JAGW team house lately operates. Because AFAIK they can be operating as the foreigner house with a different provider and we wouldn't be able to tell.

I love how everyone is assuming they still operate in the old KeSPA regime while we cannot tell that while they disregard, at the same time, team strategy in tournaments. (and to be worse, these two are not connected)

GSL is the most open tournament on the planet with the highest skill available. Yes, not everyone is part of RO32 as they cannot qualify because of the hard qualifications. But the qualis are hard beacuse it is the hardest tournament.

So, again, it's not just about the format.

Edit> If some top player ignores Code S then it's theirs fault, not Code S'. Because Code S is open to everyone, not like the rest. If you have master account you can go into qualifications.
Katowice are in the shadow zone as the top players are mostly from Korea and Korea - Poland travel cost for local qualis are so huge. (that's IMO)
Edit2> Also because of the European qualification which is bad for the top players from Korea which "lowers" the quality of the player pool. again, that's IMO.
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland24523 Posts
May 15 2019 12:31 GMT
#89
On May 15 2019 20:48 deacon.frost wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2019 20:34 Wombat_NI wrote:
On May 15 2019 16:30 deacon.frost wrote:
On May 15 2019 15:48 Dave4 wrote:
On May 15 2019 10:29 Blargh wrote:
After four seasons and four titles it appears as if the only person capable of standing in Maru’s way is himself. The question has shifted from “will Maru win again?” to “will Maru ever lose?”


Also, when people compare weekend tournaments to GSL, this is like comparing blitz chess to standard chess. It's not like blitz chess is less meaningful, but you end up with poorer (or perhaps... different) strategy than with standard chess. So most people consider standard chess to be the most prestigious. Weekend tournies may not be seen at the same level as GSL, where people have a week to prepare, but that shouldn't completely discredit them.

I hear this comment a lot, and I think the long-held view that prep format SC reigns supreme really might need updating.

The view is held because in Broodwar and early SC2, the game was in a very different state to where it is now. Namely almost all pro gamers were in team houses that were sponsored by big brands, and paid salaries to win tournaments (especially team tournaments).

Proleague SC2 is a lot more appropriate for your example of blitz vs standard chess. That game no longer exists. There's one teamhouse left who are incentivised to develop and hone strategies in a silo away with each other away from streams or ladder.

Anyone playing in a prep tournament with 5 other people helping design their strategies in secret is going to generally (not always) but generally be much better suited to prep format. For everyone outside of JAGW their practice conditions are no longer suited to prep format.

So why do we still need to consider prep format the be-all and end-all? Until we get over this hump there's just going to be the same arguments on the forum that GSL is the only thing that matters, people like Serral don't count cause Korea.

It's not about the format per se, but about the fact that GSL has the best players except few foreigners while everything else has less top players. Blizzcon(because only 8 can be Koreans and because the actual form is overshadowed by the former form) and Katowice(because not enough Koreans can go through qualifier) included. GSL has the toughest competition of them all. Deal with it.

Also we can see how good the preparation is for JAGW when they have 1 out of what, 5 or 6 players? Team house powah

GSL has previous form overshadowing current form too though, a bad day at the qualifiers and some of the best players don’t get in, or other players slump over the run of the tournament that are in. There’s usually one or two of the real top-tier players who don’t qualify for the GSL every season as well.

Why put preparation on such a pedestal if people are dismissive that JAGW might gain any edge at all by having a team house where they can practice stuff in-house? Maybe not a huge edge but they’ve got to get some value out of that setup.

Part of a competitive strategy game should be having to adapt and play reactively in a condensed tournament as well as having a week+ to prepare for a single matchup with a set map pool.

They’re both important, and it’s not as extreme as my analogy but Formula 1 is different from other racing series and has the most prestige, but also it’s the one where the playing field is the least even, and being in the best overall team makes a huge difference vs other series where they’re playing on a fully even field in terms of car hardware.

Prep formats are collaborative efforts executed by one individual, weekenders are more purely individual, although obviously not fully.

Never mind how prep has a racial element to it as well, Terran and Protoss can proxy and develop really map-specific technical aggressive builds in a way that Zergs simply cannot do as a race, and Legacy has given more options, but also less time in the early game via the earlier worker count to actually sniff some of them out via scouting/reacting.

I don’t think it’s at all coincidental that the reactive race has won plenty of big tournaments in Legacy but hasn’t been winning GSLs

Link me to an article where they describe how JAGW team house lately operates. Because AFAIK they can be operating as the foreigner house with a different provider and we wouldn't be able to tell.

I love how everyone is assuming they still operate in the old KeSPA regime while we cannot tell that while they disregard, at the same time, team strategy in tournaments. (and to be worse, these two are not connected)

GSL is the most open tournament on the planet with the highest skill available. Yes, not everyone is part of RO32 as they cannot qualify because of the hard qualifications. But the qualis are hard beacuse it is the hardest tournament.

So, again, it's not just about the format.

How is it when it runs for so long and necessitates a stay in Korea to facilitate that, and has offline qualifiers to boot? Yes but the qualifications are hard, they also don’t guarantee the best Ro32 field you can have every time. I don’t think they use a good format at all for it tbh. Also the GSL both seeds more players, but also does group picks on that basis vs say IEM Katowice.

GSL isn’t really any more stacked than Katowice, certainly not really when it’s at Ro32 level, and in terms of legitimate title contenders each season it shares the same players with those other tournaments, bar Serral I suppose. A tournament like WESG absolutely lacks depth and sufficient Korean presence for sure though.

Who’s assuming JAGW = the old Kespa regime? Presumably they do something useful there and there’s enough hints in terms of what comes out that they do smart in-house practice.

Maru can debut a style of mech at Super Tournament that seemed to have a lot of work put into it and was pretty damn refined, that was also pretty new and also distinct from Gumiho’s mech vP, which was less hidden and new.

Or Maru’s prep vP where he crushes everyone, vs $o$ dismantling him at Blizzcon in his usual madcap fashion.

Maru sometimes looking shaky in groups vs looking insane in the latter stages, there’s enough there reading between the lines to see the benefits of their setup in this format. Maru looks stronger the later GSL goes and the more of his teammates have fallen by the wayside in GSL.

But no we don’t know, I presume that sOs, who’s One of the smarter players out there strategically but whose execution sometimes isn’t the best, living in a house with Maru who is Mr Top Execution in the game probably confers some kind of advantage when it comes to prep tournaments, never mind the rest of the JAGW cast who are all bloody good.

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
fronkschnonk
Profile Joined November 2011
Germany622 Posts
May 15 2019 13:07 GMT
#90
On May 15 2019 16:30 deacon.frost wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2019 15:48 Dave4 wrote:
On May 15 2019 10:29 Blargh wrote:
After four seasons and four titles it appears as if the only person capable of standing in Maru’s way is himself. The question has shifted from “will Maru win again?” to “will Maru ever lose?”


Also, when people compare weekend tournaments to GSL, this is like comparing blitz chess to standard chess. It's not like blitz chess is less meaningful, but you end up with poorer (or perhaps... different) strategy than with standard chess. So most people consider standard chess to be the most prestigious. Weekend tournies may not be seen at the same level as GSL, where people have a week to prepare, but that shouldn't completely discredit them.

I hear this comment a lot, and I think the long-held view that prep format SC reigns supreme really might need updating.

The view is held because in Broodwar and early SC2, the game was in a very different state to where it is now. Namely almost all pro gamers were in team houses that were sponsored by big brands, and paid salaries to win tournaments (especially team tournaments).

Proleague SC2 is a lot more appropriate for your example of blitz vs standard chess. That game no longer exists. There's one teamhouse left who are incentivised to develop and hone strategies in a silo away with each other away from streams or ladder.

Anyone playing in a prep tournament with 5 other people helping design their strategies in secret is going to generally (not always) but generally be much better suited to prep format. For everyone outside of JAGW their practice conditions are no longer suited to prep format.

So why do we still need to consider prep format the be-all and end-all? Until we get over this hump there's just going to be the same arguments on the forum that GSL is the only thing that matters, people like Serral don't count cause Korea.

It's not about the format per se, but about the fact that GSL has the best players except few foreigners while everything else has less top players. Blizzcon(because only 8 can be Koreans and because the actual form is overshadowed by the former form) and Katowice(because not enough Koreans can go through qualifier) included. GSL has the toughest competition of them all. Deal with it.

Also we can see how good the preparation is for JAGW when they have 1 out of what, 5 or 6 players? Team house powah

IEM Katowice is actually ahead of GSL in terms of the pure "best players" criterion. Theoretically every player can be a Korean via qualifiers because server qualifiers aren't restricted. This is why we only had Koreans qualifying through the American Qualifier. The only issue could be seen in the EU qualifier being unfavorable to Koreans due to lag, but then again the top3 EU players should be considered CodeS material. This way IEM features all the best Koreans and the few best Foreigners of a time while GSL normally lacks the best foreigners who can outmatch some CodeS-Koreans. The fact that there were foreigners qualifying via offline qualifiers over Koreans solidifies my point.
Furthermore, I consider that some kind of Code A must be reestablished.
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
May 16 2019 05:27 GMT
#91
it's not like maru does anything crazy in gsl while having a long time to prepare. he plays pretty straight up and probably get an edge here and there based on his knowledge of his opponents' tendencies. that, i think, makes him even better. his preparation is not to go insane with builds that directly counter his opponents' strategies but rather soft counter their tendencies. i still don't think there is a clear goat though
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6831 Posts
May 16 2019 07:51 GMT
#92
On May 15 2019 20:48 deacon.frost wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2019 20:34 Wombat_NI wrote:
On May 15 2019 16:30 deacon.frost wrote:
On May 15 2019 15:48 Dave4 wrote:
On May 15 2019 10:29 Blargh wrote:
After four seasons and four titles it appears as if the only person capable of standing in Maru’s way is himself. The question has shifted from “will Maru win again?” to “will Maru ever lose?”


Also, when people compare weekend tournaments to GSL, this is like comparing blitz chess to standard chess. It's not like blitz chess is less meaningful, but you end up with poorer (or perhaps... different) strategy than with standard chess. So most people consider standard chess to be the most prestigious. Weekend tournies may not be seen at the same level as GSL, where people have a week to prepare, but that shouldn't completely discredit them.

I hear this comment a lot, and I think the long-held view that prep format SC reigns supreme really might need updating.

The view is held because in Broodwar and early SC2, the game was in a very different state to where it is now. Namely almost all pro gamers were in team houses that were sponsored by big brands, and paid salaries to win tournaments (especially team tournaments).

Proleague SC2 is a lot more appropriate for your example of blitz vs standard chess. That game no longer exists. There's one teamhouse left who are incentivised to develop and hone strategies in a silo away with each other away from streams or ladder.

Anyone playing in a prep tournament with 5 other people helping design their strategies in secret is going to generally (not always) but generally be much better suited to prep format. For everyone outside of JAGW their practice conditions are no longer suited to prep format.

So why do we still need to consider prep format the be-all and end-all? Until we get over this hump there's just going to be the same arguments on the forum that GSL is the only thing that matters, people like Serral don't count cause Korea.

It's not about the format per se, but about the fact that GSL has the best players except few foreigners while everything else has less top players. Blizzcon(because only 8 can be Koreans and because the actual form is overshadowed by the former form) and Katowice(because not enough Koreans can go through qualifier) included. GSL has the toughest competition of them all. Deal with it.

Also we can see how good the preparation is for JAGW when they have 1 out of what, 5 or 6 players? Team house powah

GSL has previous form overshadowing current form too though, a bad day at the qualifiers and some of the best players don’t get in, or other players slump over the run of the tournament that are in. There’s usually one or two of the real top-tier players who don’t qualify for the GSL every season as well.

Why put preparation on such a pedestal if people are dismissive that JAGW might gain any edge at all by having a team house where they can practice stuff in-house? Maybe not a huge edge but they’ve got to get some value out of that setup.

Part of a competitive strategy game should be having to adapt and play reactively in a condensed tournament as well as having a week+ to prepare for a single matchup with a set map pool.

They’re both important, and it’s not as extreme as my analogy but Formula 1 is different from other racing series and has the most prestige, but also it’s the one where the playing field is the least even, and being in the best overall team makes a huge difference vs other series where they’re playing on a fully even field in terms of car hardware.

Prep formats are collaborative efforts executed by one individual, weekenders are more purely individual, although obviously not fully.

Never mind how prep has a racial element to it as well, Terran and Protoss can proxy and develop really map-specific technical aggressive builds in a way that Zergs simply cannot do as a race, and Legacy has given more options, but also less time in the early game via the earlier worker count to actually sniff some of them out via scouting/reacting.

I don’t think it’s at all coincidental that the reactive race has won plenty of big tournaments in Legacy but hasn’t been winning GSLs

Link me to an article where they describe how JAGW team house lately operates. Because AFAIK they can be operating as the foreigner house with a different provider and we wouldn't be able to tell.

I love how everyone is assuming they still operate in the old KeSPA regime while we cannot tell that while they disregard, at the same time, team strategy in tournaments. (and to be worse, these two are not connected)

GSL is the most open tournament on the planet with the highest skill available. Yes, not everyone is part of RO32 as they cannot qualify because of the hard qualifications. But the qualis are hard beacuse it is the hardest tournament.

So, again, it's not just about the format.

Edit> If some top player ignores Code S then it's theirs fault, not Code S'. Because Code S is open to everyone, not like the rest. If you have master account you can go into qualifications.
Katowice are in the shadow zone as the top players are mostly from Korea and Korea - Poland travel cost for local qualis are so huge. (that's IMO)
Edit2> Also because of the European qualification which is bad for the top players from Korea which "lowers" the quality of the player pool. again, that's IMO.


I like how you point out that everyone can qualify for Code S and how easy it is to attend qualifiers and 1 sentence later you say how unfair the qualification for Katowice is because Korean have to travel there....
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
swarminfestor
Profile Joined September 2017
Malaysia2429 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-06-01 15:33:45
June 01 2019 15:24 GMT
#93
Maru is no longer the Greatest GSL player if Innovation won for his fourth title. Winning back and forth, and looked formidably inconsistent is more awesome that winning consecutively in the long span of months.
Rogue & Maru fan boy. ^^
Xain0n
Profile Joined November 2018
Italy3963 Posts
June 01 2019 15:26 GMT
#94
On June 02 2019 00:24 swarminfestor wrote:
Maru is no longer the Greatest GSL player if Innovation won for his fourth title.


A litte premature, don't you think?
swarminfestor
Profile Joined September 2017
Malaysia2429 Posts
June 01 2019 15:29 GMT
#95
On June 02 2019 00:26 Xain0n wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 02 2019 00:24 swarminfestor wrote:
Maru is no longer the Greatest GSL player if Innovation won for his fourth title.


A litte premature, don't you think?


I guess it depends on how you observe it.
Rogue & Maru fan boy. ^^
Morbidius
Profile Joined November 2010
Brazil3449 Posts
June 01 2019 15:48 GMT
#96
On June 02 2019 00:24 swarminfestor wrote:
Maru is no longer the Greatest GSL player if Innovation won for his fourth title. Winning back and forth, and looked formidably inconsistent is more awesome that winning consecutively in the long span of months.

Innovation who has only made consecutive RO8's once against the guy who won 4 in a row? Innovation, the king of throwing won games and getting reverse swept when it seems impossible?
Has foreign StarCraft hit rock bottom?
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12129 Posts
June 01 2019 20:27 GMT
#97
On June 02 2019 00:24 swarminfestor wrote:
Maru is no longer the Greatest GSL player if Innovation won for his fourth title. Winning back and forth, and looked formidably inconsistent is more awesome that winning consecutively in the long span of months.

Sure, he just made something no one else on this planet ever done but yeah. Trolling or waT?
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
Yoshi Kirishima
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States10318 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-06-02 00:26:36
June 02 2019 00:26 GMT
#98
On April 16 2019 08:52 Waxangel wrote:
Wow what a perfect opportunity to talk about why Mvp's GSL WC title was lesser than a "full" Code S title, and how the 75% re-seeding system of 2011 made the Code S results of 2011 less impressive! I'm not disputing the effectiveness of such a cynically noncompetitive policy—giving Mvp and Nestea an easier road to superstar/legend status gave them much value as tentpole attractions for not only the GSL, but for SC2 esports as a whole. Still, I think the rose-colored glasses we put on when we talk about the older legends is quite excessive—I believe Maru was clearly the best GSL player even after he won "only" 3x back to back.

On the other hand, there's a fair (if inevitably contentious) argument to be made about the weakened competition in the most recent GSL's, where Code A has been effectively scrapped due to lack of player base. Perhaps the "middle year" Code S tournaments were the most competitive, where there was no 75%-seeding for incumbent Code S players, but still a deep enough player base to make getting through Code B-A-S32 a relevant challenge (wait, did this become an argument supporting Miz's favorite player soO????)


Totally agree, I remember way back then people started to consider MVP's record as being way better than Nestea due to the 3 Code S + GSL WC.

Like, IIRC, the WC was a 16 person Invitational where half the players were foreigners (who at the time were very weak compared to Code S players). Some Koreans were invited due to popularity despite already having fallen off, like Tester who was considered a top player during the Beta but wasn't able to keep that up. Winning the WC was much much easier than winning a Code S tournament involving 32 Code S Koreans.
Mid-master streaming MECH ONLY + commentary www.twitch.tv/yoshikirishima +++ "If all-in fails, all-in again."
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1480 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-06-02 09:51:24
June 02 2019 09:50 GMT
#99
hate posts like these. The accomplishments are all weighted the same. SC2 in korea is at the lowest point it's ever been in terms of competitiveness. A victory when there are 500 guys practicing 12 hours a day under strict kespa regimen vs a victory now is very different...
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
renaissanceMAN
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1840 Posts
June 02 2019 14:43 GMT
#100
On June 02 2019 18:50 CicadaSC wrote:
hate posts like these. The accomplishments are all weighted the same. SC2 in korea is at the lowest point it's ever been in terms of competitiveness. A victory when there are 500 guys practicing 12 hours a day under strict kespa regimen vs a victory now is very different...


Could not disagree more, especially since some of the ex-kespa players came out and said that they got better after they were no longer doing 12-hours/day gaming.
On August 15 2013 03:43 Waxangel wrote: no amount of money can replace the enjoyment of being mean to people on the internet
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Road to EWC
15:00
DreamHack Dallas Group Stage
ewc_black2350
ComeBackTV 1635
SteadfastSC429
CranKy Ducklings343
Rex147
EnkiAlexander 110
CosmosSc2 70
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
SteadfastSC 429
Rex 147
CosmosSc2 70
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 22806
Calm 4962
Shuttle 1188
EffOrt 924
Stork 292
ggaemo 195
Dewaltoss 112
Aegong 65
sSak 45
Backho 20
[ Show more ]
scan(afreeca) 17
Terrorterran 11
Sacsri 11
HiyA 10
Sexy 8
Hm[arnc] 6
Dota 2
Gorgc11834
qojqva2910
LuMiX1
Counter-Strike
fl0m2403
Foxcn305
flusha111
Stewie2K75
edward73
Super Smash Bros
C9.Mang0123
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu465
Khaldor187
Other Games
FrodaN2679
Grubby1160
Beastyqt698
ArmadaUGS180
KnowMe179
Trikslyr24
EmSc Tv 18
Organizations
Other Games
EmSc Tv 18
StarCraft 2
EmSc2Tv 18
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 19 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• kabyraGe 77
• Adnapsc2 15
• IndyKCrew
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• intothetv
• Kozan
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki14
• FirePhoenix5
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2498
League of Legends
• TFBlade640
Counter-Strike
• Nemesis4206
Other Games
• imaqtpie1206
• Shiphtur230
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
15h 37m
SC Evo League
17h 37m
Road to EWC
20h 37m
Afreeca Starleague
1d 10h
BeSt vs Soulkey
Road to EWC
1d 19h
Wardi Open
2 days
SOOP
3 days
NightMare vs Wayne
Replay Cast
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
GSL Code S
4 days
Cure vs Zoun
Solar vs Creator
[ Show More ]
The PondCast
4 days
Online Event
4 days
Clem vs ShoWTimE
herO vs MaxPax
GSL Code S
5 days
GuMiho vs Bunny
ByuN vs SHIN
Online Event
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-05-16
2025 GSL S1
Calamity Stars S2

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
ASL Season 19
YSL S1
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
China & Korea Top Challenge
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
NPSL S3
DreamHack Dallas 2025
Heroes 10 EU
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
ECL Season 49: Europe
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025
YaLLa Compass Qatar 2025
PGL Bucharest 2025
BLAST Open Spring 2025
ESL Pro League S21

Upcoming

Rose Open S1
Copa Latinoamericana 4
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLAN 2025
K-Championship
SEL Season 2 Championship
Esports World Cup 2025
HSC XXVII
Championship of Russia 2025
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2025
2025 GSL S2
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.