The Serral vs Reynor rivalry that swallowed up the 2019 WCS Circuit concluded with the Finnish Phenom getting a modicum of revenge, avenging two prior finals losses with a 4-1 victory over the upstart Italian in the finals of WCS Fall. In the end, the 2019 season saw Reynor and Serral win two Circuit titles a piece, with Reynor winning WCS Winter: Europe and WCS Summer, while Serral lifted the trophy at WCS Spring and Fall (Neeb was the only other Circuit champion, winning WCS Winter: Americas).
The initial focus of WCS Fall centered on the mad dash to qualify for the WCS Global Finals, with players fighting bitterly over every single point. But once the dust settled there, all attention shifted to the third WCS Circuit finals collision between Reynor and Serral in 2019 (fourth, including WCS Montreal 2018). Reynor reached the finals with an impressive 14-2 map score, toppling the likes of ShoWTimE, Elazer, and SpeCial. He was only outdone by Serral, who recorded a perfect 14-0 map score en route to the finals, including a 3-0 sweep against North American despot Neeb at the penultimate stage.
Reynor snagged the first point of the finals after winning a thrilling elimination race on Acropolis. Serral appeared to take a mid-game lead after he countered Reynor's Mutalisk tech with Corruptors, but he committed the ever-so-common folly of over-producing the dedicated anti-air unit. Reynor's deft transition into a Hydralisk-Lurker army proved to be the game-winning masterstroke, rendering Serral incapable of direct engagements and putting him at a fatal disadvantage in the ensuing base trade.
Unfortunately for Reynor, that promising start would be his best showing of the finals. While he came agonizingly close to breaking Serral with a speedling flood in game two, Serral managed to survive and tie-up the series at 1-1. From there on, Serral looked to be in imperious form. 1-1 became 2-1 after Serral held off Reynor's mid-game Mutas and then extracted a GG with a decisive, Hydra-Roach counter-attack. Serral's fury continued in game four, with Serral snowballing a small, early-game lead into a mid-game victory with a Nydus Worm aided Roach finisher. Finally, Serral capped the series off with another Nydus-Roach attack, capitalizing on a brief window of army size and upgrade superiority to finish Reynor off for good.
With the WCS Fall title, Serral won $20,000 in prize money, his sixth WCS Circuit championship, and tenth premiere title* of his career. The victory also locked down his position as the #1 Circuit seed headed into the Global Finals—enough to give him a 'referee's decision' claim to be the king of the 2019 Circuit, even if Reynor equaled his number of Circuit titles and defeated him in two-out-of-three finals matches (more on that below).
*By Liquipedia classification
The Global Finals Race Goes Cold
The much-anticipated competition to finish within the top eight of the WCS points standings ended up being rather staid, with no contenders able to break through the points cutoff. WCS Fall merely caused a minor rankings shuffle within the previous top eight, without any clear winner but perhaps with one loser: #5 ranked TIME who is guaranteed to be seeded into Serral's group at the Global Finals.
A Worthy Battle For the Circuit Crown
Here's the final tally for Serral and Reynor at the end of the 2019 WCS Circuit. Both players won two championships a piece, with Serral taking Spring and Fall while Reynor took Winter/EU and Summer. Serral swept all three EU Challenger tournaments, while Reynor finished top 8, runner-up, and runner-up. Serral put up an overall WCS Circuit record (offline + online) of 43–4 in matches and 118–32 on map score. Meanwhile, Reynor went 43–7 in matches and 106–47 in maps.
In overall head to head, Serral prevailed 4–3 in matches with a 20–12 map score. In offline matches only, the two tied 2–2 with Serral having a 12–9 map score lead. In FINALS only, Reynor led 2–1, while the two players tied 9–9 in map score.
The verdict? You'd be totally insane to say Reynor has been a better player than Serral so far in 2019. But if you said he was the better player on JUST the Circuit alone? ... We'd say you're still insane, but we'll give you a nicer cell in the asylum.
I came to tl.net in the morning to finish watching the WCS, PUT MY HAND IN THE MIDDLE of the screen to not see spoilers. Yet I got to the read the spoiler on the left right away! Later found out the spoiler button got unchecked for no reason, even though I never touched it.
Ooh boy. Are we going to have another heated 300 post conversation about how Serral isnt even that good because he hasn't beaten fruitdealer yet and his tournament wins don't even matter? "B-b-but he isnt korean.... only korean players can be good, me almost korean, because I only watch korean starcraft, me better than non korean people"
On September 09 2019 13:01 RandomPlayer wrote: I came to tl.net in the morning to finish watching the WCS, PUT MY HAND IN THE MIDDLE of the screen to not see spoilers (even though I have spoilers disabled in settings). Yet I got to the read the spoiler on the left right away! 10 years and you make the same mistakes all over again, terrible site.
10 years passws and you still do not click the Hide Spoilers box, smh
On September 09 2019 13:01 RandomPlayer wrote: I came to tl.net in the morning to finish watching the WCS, PUT MY HAND IN THE MIDDLE of the screen to not see spoilers (even though I have spoilers disabled in settings). Yet I got to the read the spoiler on the left right away! 10 years and you make the same mistakes all over again, terrible site.
Was it a spoiler though? Think about it for a second.
Did you honestly believe, in your heart-of-hearts, that there'd be someone else but Serral? 😁
On September 09 2019 13:01 RandomPlayer wrote: I came to tl.net in the morning to finish watching the WCS, PUT MY HAND IN THE MIDDLE of the screen to not see spoilers. Yet I got to the read the spoiler on the left right away! Later found out the spoiler button got unchecked for no reason, even though I never touched it.
On September 09 2019 13:01 RandomPlayer wrote: I came to tl.net in the morning to finish watching the WCS, PUT MY HAND IN THE MIDDLE of the screen to not see spoilers. Yet I got to the read the spoiler on the left right away! Later found out the spoiler button got unchecked for no reason, even though I never touched it.
Wait this is a brilliant feature. I saw it just goes to the homepage and has the checkbox checked. Honest question: do you think making non-logged-in/first-time users go default to there would be a better idea? I don't know that the checkbox is in the most visible place, and it may cut down on the spoiler posts (a tad) and make us seem more "passersby-friendly" while not really impacting existing users.
Idk, I check TL pretty religiously nowadays (and don't mind spoilers), but I didn't know about that link! I'm still amazed at how simple but smart it is to have it haha, well done
Crazy for one player to be so dominant for so long. 10 premier victories, and handful more 2nds and semis, in the space of 18 months. Hail the King of SC2.
On September 09 2019 13:01 RandomPlayer wrote: I came to tl.net in the morning to finish watching the WCS, PUT MY HAND IN THE MIDDLE of the screen to not see spoilers. Yet I got to the read the spoiler on the left right away! Later found out the spoiler button got unchecked for no reason, even though I never touched it.
Wait this is a brilliant feature. I saw it just goes to the homepage and has the checkbox checked. Honest question: do you think making non-logged-in/first-time users go default to there would be a better idea? I don't know that the checkbox is in the most visible place, and it may cut down on the spoiler posts (a tad) and make us seem more "passersby-friendly" while not really impacting existing users.
Idk, I check TL pretty religiously nowadays (and don't mind spoilers), but I didn't know about that link! I'm still amazed at how simple but smart it is to have it haha, well done
We're of the (highly controversial) opinion that spoiler-free demands are in the vast minority, which is why we elect to present spoilers. You're right that the auto-nospoiler link could be more prominent, let me have a think about how we can do better with that.
On September 09 2019 13:25 Dave4 wrote: Crazy for one player to be so dominant for so long. 10 premier victories, and handful more 2nds and semis, in the space of 18 months. Hail the King of SC2.
If only there was a word for someone who was this dominant for this long, perhaps starting with a "b"...
On September 09 2019 13:01 RandomPlayer wrote: I came to tl.net in the morning to finish watching the WCS, PUT MY HAND IN THE MIDDLE of the screen to not see spoilers. Yet I got to the read the spoiler on the left right away! Later found out the spoiler button got unchecked for no reason, even though I never touched it.
Wait this is a brilliant feature. I saw it just goes to the homepage and has the checkbox checked. Honest question: do you think making non-logged-in/first-time users go default to there would be a better idea? I don't know that the checkbox is in the most visible place, and it may cut down on the spoiler posts (a tad) and make us seem more "passersby-friendly" while not really impacting existing users.
Idk, I check TL pretty religiously nowadays (and don't mind spoilers), but I didn't know about that link! I'm still amazed at how simple but smart it is to have it haha, well done
We're of the (highly controversial) opinion that spoiler-free demands are in the vast minority, which is why we elect to present spoilers. You're right that the auto-nospoiler link could be more prominent, let me have a think about how we can do better with that.
Thank you for the link, I will use it going forward.
P.S. Serral is getting even more dominant, he is becoming Flash of sc2.
On September 09 2019 13:25 Dave4 wrote: Crazy for one player to be so dominant for so long. 10 premier victories, and handful more 2nds and semis, in the space of 18 months. Hail the King of SC2.
If only there was a word for someone who was this dominant for this long, perhaps starting with a "b"...
On September 09 2019 13:01 RandomPlayer wrote: I came to tl.net in the morning to finish watching the WCS, PUT MY HAND IN THE MIDDLE of the screen to not see spoilers. Yet I got to the read the spoiler on the left right away! Later found out the spoiler button got unchecked for no reason, even though I never touched it.
Wait this is a brilliant feature. I saw it just goes to the homepage and has the checkbox checked. Honest question: do you think making non-logged-in/first-time users go default to there would be a better idea? I don't know that the checkbox is in the most visible place, and it may cut down on the spoiler posts (a tad) and make us seem more "passersby-friendly" while not really impacting existing users.
Idk, I check TL pretty religiously nowadays (and don't mind spoilers), but I didn't know about that link! I'm still amazed at how simple but smart it is to have it haha, well done
We're of the (highly controversial) opinion that spoiler-free demands are in the vast minority, which is why we elect to present spoilers. You're right that the auto-nospoiler link could be more prominent, let me have a think about how we can do better with that.
Thank you for the link, I will use it going forward.
P.S. Serral is getting even more dominant, he is becoming Flash of sc2.
Only problem is that Flash is Flash because his wins were against the best of the best, over and over again. I think it's fair to say that Serral is the best in the world right now, though there may be some mild uncertainty. But Flash? Serral might wind up being that kind of figure, but you really can't compare WCS wins to Korean Kespa-era bw star leagues. These things are not even remotely close, imo.
On September 09 2019 14:41 showstealer1829 wrote: Another Circuit Event. Another Tournament where we could have got Serral and Reynor to toss a coin 7 times and not wasted 3 days
You’re right, let’s do that next time. Oh, and GSL vs the world does also not need to be played, let us give the trophy to Serral and not waste our time. BlizzCon ... ?
When its time to build a base onto the plot of land in Pornainen, Serral shouldn't underestimate the size of his silverware treasury room. Note that it shouldn't be placed near or over a point where community sponsored ultra fast internet cable connects to the base for minimizing possible magnetic interference caused by shit tons of metal piled up there. For giving better impression on all that glimmer the treasury of the base, the room could be placed on a southern side of the future castle, with big windows. That way we mere mortals crawling on a creep could get dazzled from glitter by the sun-induced immense reflection coming from the God-King's citadel.
Executive people there in municipality of Pornainen at least understand something about marketing. Now, next, some architecture company could help Serral, and plan the house. Spire must be high, and creep spread shall not be obstructed at the surroundings.
A golf course extension with few extra holes could also start directly from backyards (from the edge of the creep), that way the God-King won't have to invest for ling speed when annual Serral Open is played. Just pick up the baggy and...
On September 09 2019 14:41 showstealer1829 wrote: Another Circuit Event. Another Tournament where we could have got Serral and Reynor to toss a coin 7 times and not wasted 3 days
You’re right, let’s do that next time. Oh, and GSL vs the world does also not need to be played, let us give the trophy to Serral and not waste our time. BlizzCon ... ?
Considering they've successfully killed the Korean scene thanks to the Region Lock. Sure
EPT
Serral vs 
