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IEM Katowice 2020 RO4 bracket set

Forum Index > SC2 General
60 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 3 4 Next All
TL.net ESPORTS
Profile Joined July 2011
4 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-02-29 20:59:55
February 29 2020 20:59 GMT
#1
[image loading]
Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2020
by Orlok

With the conclusion of the round of 12 and quarterfinals, we are finally left with the final four competitors for the IEM Katowice 2020 championship: (Wiki)Serral, (Wiki)Zest, (Wiki)Rogue, and (Wiki)Maru.

INnoVation booked a quarterfinal match against Serral after winning a decisive victory over (Wiki)ShoWTimE in the RO12, with the German Protoss looking outclassed against the Machine Terran. While ShoWTimE's strong PvZ and PvP earned him a playoff berth, he was pulled apart again and again by the Korean Terran's drop-play and army movements. However, Serral administered a similar beating to INnoVation in their quarterfinal match, with the Finnish Phenom looking every bit the superior player. He blew INnoVation out of the water in every macro game, with INnoVation stealing a single map with a hidden blue-flame-hellion all-in. Despite having enjoyed some success against Serral with late-game play in 2019 (IEM Katowice and WESG), INnoVation's choice to go for a bio-based 'mid-game all-in' style at Katowice 2020 ultimately ended up being less effective.

Zest continued his resurrection in 2020 with a quick dismantling of (Wiki)Hurricane and (Wiki)Dear in subsequent rounds. Hurricane offered little resistance to Zest's PvP prowess and looked thoroughly outclassed in all facets of play. It was similar for Dear, with Zest simply out-muscling or out-braining whatever Dear had planned for his games, be it fast-expands or peculiar unit compositions. Zest did have one major lapse in execution, ceding one map to Dear after a laughable attempt to force his way up his opponent's ramp. But all-around, Zest proved to be an overwhelming player in PvP, deserving to be called the current best PvP-er in the world.

The other double-mirror quadrant of the bracket ended with Rogue crushing (Wiki)Dark to advance to the semifinals. Dark started the day off strong with a 3-1 victory over (Wiki)Solar in the RO12, showcasing his strengths in a variety of styles—be it muta-line-bane, roach ravager mid-games, or lurker-viper management in the late game. However, Dark was unable to continue his momentum against Rogue. As easily as Dark beat Solar, so did Rogue with Dark, taking calculated risks and attacking aggressively. Dark seemed a beat slower in his decision making—as when he made Drones while enemy forces marched under a scouting overlord—or was simply taken completely off guard.

The last quadrant of the bracket ended with a Jin Air Team kill and the rekindling of much hype, as Maru coming out on top. (Wiki)sOs eked out a win in an odd series against (Wiki)Stats, where despite going the full five games ended up being the shortest in terms of game time. sOs using dark templars to varying degrees of effectiveness, while Stats either punished sOs or coming up short against him. However, Maru put a stop to sOs' shenanigans with much more efficiency, punishing his team-mate for choosing builds like proxy gateways, dark templars and glaive adepts.

The hope of a Maru-Serral grand finals burns in the hearts of StarCraft II fans once more. While Zest's poor record against Serral suggests the Finnish Phenom will hold up his end of the bargain, the match between Rogue and Maru could be a much tighter affair. IEM Katowice concludes on March 1st with the semifinals and grand finals.
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Boggyb
Profile Joined January 2017
2855 Posts
February 29 2020 21:27 GMT
#2
(P)Zest 3 - 1 (Z)Serral
(Z)Rogue 3 - 2 (T)Maru
(Z)Rogue 4 - 1 (P)Zest
yubo56
Profile Joined May 2014
687 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-02-29 21:56:30
February 29 2020 21:54 GMT
#3
On March 01 2020 06:27 Boggyb wrote:
(P)Zest 3 - 1 (Z)Serral
(Z)Rogue 3 - 2 (T)Maru
(Z)Rogue 4 - 1 (P)Zest

Some people just want to watch the world burn, drown, freeze, suffocate, get crushed and blown up all at the same time.

Serral 3-0 Zest
Maru 3-1 Rogue
?????????????????

Zest doesn't know how to play PvZ, and I think Maru is all of: on a roll, historically favored vs Rogue, and has Rogue's sympathies. I wonder if Rogue will intentionally play cheesy against Maru so that Maru can hide strats in the final, though maybe he'll accidentally cheese Maru out...

In any case, praying for Serral vs Maru, not just b/c of historical hype, but b/c Serral has already gone through Cure, TY, and INnoVation, and is well on his way to silencing the "but he doesn't play against KR Terrans" crowd. Especially as Dark keeps combusting randomly (and can't play ZvZ - sad Dark fan), it will be nice to have a more stable zerg advance the ZvT meta.

Edit: I realize that a lot of people will say that ZvT isn't exactly the hardest matchup these days. Even so, it would be cool to see how Serral would handle Maru's huge dynamic range.
Jung Yoon Jong fighting, even after retirement! Feel better soon.
Akio
Profile Blog Joined January 2019
Finland1838 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-02-29 22:01:19
February 29 2020 22:00 GMT
#4
I think Maru vs Rogue will be close no matter who takes it. Zest vs Serral on the other hand? Looking at their matchup historically, you could say Serral is going to crush. And fair enough, but I really would like to see Zest's killer ZvP he showcased in the group shine here.

(Z)Serral 3-2 (P)Zest
(T)Maru 3-2 (Z)Rogue
Mine gas, build tanks.
QOGQOG
Profile Joined July 2019
834 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-02-29 22:30:17
February 29 2020 22:02 GMT
#5
On March 01 2020 06:54 yubo56 wrote:
Zest doesn't know how to play PvZ

He beat Rogue, Reynor, Armani, and soO in the group stage. I wouldn't say he's favored against Serral, but he's definately got a (good) chance.
Geo.Rion
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
7377 Posts
February 29 2020 22:10 GMT
#6
hmm, so the finals is not Maru vs Serral, we know that. that still leaves 3 possible scenarios!
"Protoss is a joke" Liquid`Jinro Okt.1. 2011
watchlulu
Profile Joined February 2013
Germany474 Posts
February 29 2020 22:11 GMT
#7
I too think that Zest is probably the hardest opponent for Serral.
After Zest there's probably Maru, then Reynor (obv. already out)
Have a nice day!
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
February 29 2020 22:32 GMT
#8
It's easy to look at the bracket and say Zest just PvP'd his way there and will lose to zerg. But he actually looks damn good at this event. And historically he performs better in bigger matches.
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
Geo.Rion
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
7377 Posts
February 29 2020 22:34 GMT
#9
On March 01 2020 07:32 Fango wrote:
It's easy to look at the bracket and say Zest just PvP'd his way there and will lose to zerg. But he actually looks damn good at this event. And historically he performs better in bigger matches.

he PvZd out of his 4Z group actually, his one loss came from pvp in the groups.
I think it s not just the numbers, his PvZ is looking better than ever, he hinted to some special builds, he could take it.
"Protoss is a joke" Liquid`Jinro Okt.1. 2011
mierin
Profile Joined August 2010
United States4943 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-02-29 23:03:17
February 29 2020 23:02 GMT
#10
Zest absolutely has a shot vs. Serral. I just hope it's not a 3-0 bop.

EDIT: would be ok with a 3:0 serral bop, just not Zest lol
JD, Stork, Calm, Hyuk Fighting!
MarianoSC2
Profile Joined June 2015
Slovakia1855 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-02-29 23:24:16
February 29 2020 23:17 GMT
#11
So hyped for Maru vs Rogue. Both players look to be on a roll ! I would say Maru is slightly favored as his TvZ is just absolutely best in the world and Rogue tends to struggle in the matchup, but in the teamkill stats do not matter that much.

My predictions:

(Z)(Z)Serral 2-3 (P)(P)Zest
(T)(T)Maru 3-2 (Z)(Z)Rogue

(T)(T)Maru 4-0 (P)(P)Zest

The thing that makes me most sad is that the semi-final is just a best of 5
Top 11: Rogue, Maru, Inno, Zest, Life, sOs, Stats, Dark, soO, Mvp, Classic/Trap/MC/Rain
MarianoSC2
Profile Joined June 2015
Slovakia1855 Posts
February 29 2020 23:24 GMT
#12
Btw. Rogue is 18-5 (40-14) in ZvZ since last patch. That is outrageous, wow. Kinda makes me want to see a Rogue vs Serral finals
Top 11: Rogue, Maru, Inno, Zest, Life, sOs, Stats, Dark, soO, Mvp, Classic/Trap/MC/Rain
Weavel
Profile Joined January 2010
Finland9221 Posts
February 29 2020 23:37 GMT
#13
Serral vs Maru will finally happen!
Life/Seed//Mvp/NaNiwa fighting! ZeNEX forever!
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
February 29 2020 23:38 GMT
#14
(Z)Serral 3-0 (P)Zest
(Z)Rogue 3-1 (T)Maru
(Z)Serral 4-1 (Z)Rogue
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
Howard_Kao
Profile Joined September 2018
China261 Posts
February 29 2020 23:41 GMT
#15
I don't think zest can beat serral, the history record of him vs serral is just too bad
"You don't need a gsl champion, you don't need a esl champion. I feel like I'm just a normal man. I just practice very hard this time, like 15hrs everyday" Oliveira 2023
hexhaven
Profile Joined July 2014
Finland931 Posts
March 01 2020 00:21 GMT
#16
My prediction is that Serral will stand victorious, and from the Katowice stage, look upon us mere mortals and whisper.

"It's nice."
WriterI shoot events. | http://www.jussi.co/esports
generationzyklon
Profile Joined December 2019
Poland9 Posts
March 01 2020 00:34 GMT
#17
Maru will eat serral
Byun maru ty innovation gumiho special cure ryung
Boggyb
Profile Joined January 2017
2855 Posts
March 01 2020 00:54 GMT
#18
On March 01 2020 06:54 yubo56 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 01 2020 06:27 Boggyb wrote:
(P)Zest 3 - 1 (Z)Serral
(Z)Rogue 3 - 2 (T)Maru
(Z)Rogue 4 - 1 (P)Zest

Some people just want to watch the world burn, drown, freeze, suffocate, get crushed and blown up all at the same time.

Or Rogue is literally my second favorite player behind sOs and ahead of Maru and is the ONLY Zerg I'll root for ever. (I'll root against certain players when they are playing a Zerg I dislike less) Also, my hatred of Serral has overtaken my previous hatred of Zest.
JJH777
Profile Joined January 2011
United States4400 Posts
March 01 2020 01:06 GMT
#19
Hoping that against all expectations Maru and Zest can deliver a miracle final without a Zerg.
FataLe
Profile Joined November 2010
New Zealand4495 Posts
March 01 2020 01:22 GMT
#20
Zest for global champ of new era
hi. big fan.
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