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United States33493 Posts
On October 19 2020 09:22 [Phantom] wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2020 09:05 tskarzyn wrote:
Now that you mention matchfixing, the recall on top of 20 spores in g1 did seem suspicious. And hasn't Zest been connected with strange betting lines in the past? I believe some lines raised so many alarms that bets were cancelled. Obv have to tread very carefully on this subject because this is his livelihood, but I don't think it's crazy to ask the question when tournament winnings aren't enough to pay the bills for most. The problem with that is that the mothership isnt a detector, and 3 spores is not enough to stop zest army. But the lurkers that were there+spores+the rest of Amarni's army is. Zest couldn't have possibly known there were lurkers there, so if he did that to throw on purpose he would have had to agree with armany to leave lurkers there so he could do that before the games started. But then again, the game didn't even end there. He inmediately recalled his army away with a Nexus. Why go through all that trouble then? I think people are reading too much into it. I don't think Zest lost on purpose. That being said... Zest is a suspicious player. Just read this: https://tl.net/forum/starcraft-2/561363-betting-suspicious-activity-detected?page=8Pinnacle has voided bets in like 8 series Zest has played for "suspicious activity". I just don't think this particular case was that suspicious, I think he just played sloppy and underestimated Armani. And Armani played really well. I know Armani hasn't been amazing in his career, but just this GSL he has beaten: -sOs -Cure -Dream -Zoun -And now Zest. Appart from Zoun, I don't think anyone thinks Armani was favored in those matches. The guy is simply playing well and his opponents keep underestimating him. Let's not undermine his achivement. He deserves to be in the semi-finals. User was warned for this post
not the thread for it
casual "oh maybe he was match-fixing" posts aren't allowed on TL
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It's very obvious to me that Zest didn't take Armani seriously enough. He tried to do something different with that build he used on him twice and Armani exposed why it doesn't work, or at least isn't ready yet.
When Zest went back to his usual tried and true playstyle he looked like the MUCH stronger player. However, because he gifted Armani 2 games with his bullshit new build, all Armani needed to do was cheese him out once to take the overall series.
If Zest had just played his usual style from the outset he probably would have won 3-1. Instead Armani will now be hopelessly mismatched against Maru who looks like he is on form again and everyone should be afraid of Maru when he looks on form.
The last time Armani faced off against Maru he looked completely out of his weight class, I'm expecting the same thing to happen in this round.
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I like Maru's chances against Armani, and I like them against Stats/TY as well. His TvP looks good and his TvT was downright dominant in King of Battles recently. Here's hoping for another GSL for the Hamster Terran!
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Czech Republic12129 Posts
On October 19 2020 13:53 Vindicare605 wrote:
It's very obvious to me that Zest didn't take Armani seriously enough. He tried to do something different with that build he used on him twice and Armani exposed why it doesn't work, or at least isn't ready yet.
When Zest went back to his usual tried and true playstyle he looked like the MUCH stronger player. However, because he gifted Armani 2 games with his bullshit new build, all Armani needed to do was cheese him out once to take the overall series.
If Zest had just played his usual style from the outset he probably would have won 3-1. Instead Armani will now be hopelessly mismatched against Maru who looks like he is on form again and everyone should be afraid of Maru when he looks on form.
The last time Armani faced off against Maru he looked completely out of his weight class, I'm expecting the same thing to happen in this round.
He almost won the 1st game with it so it's not much of underestimation as he tried again. Sadly if your opponent expects you to do this it appears they can deny you hard. So the build looks good as a one-time opportunity of a surprise build rather than a standard build.
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You can never exclude possibilities. That's the most important thought you can never neglect for outcome and success in every science and the same is important for real and unbiased discussions. Assumptions, skepticism, unproven feelings are all part of a progressive culture.
In particular this BO5 Match, I think that Zest expected Armani to play differently. Armani took a very defensive approach and Zest wanted to counter aggressive builds which he is safe against with the voids and stargate build. I really don't understand why they never buy the Void Ray speed upgrade. His decisions for Recall were bad, as noted out. The third base was already mined out and there were a lot of spores (he only saw one row with his mothership vision). Also he can't kill the hive with this recall. The lurkers were totally unexpected.
The second game, to forget storm, well, ... that's bad for a progamer. But probably he felt embarrassed and went nervous with a tunnel sight. Even if you think he looks arrogant and his interview style is offensive, he isn't necessarily. Words don't mean as much as deeds.
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I simply think that making dumb mistakes and decisions are way too common for zest, probably thats something to cost to bring up his genius builds and build up new meta. I mean, archon drops(HT and DT), 3 oracle build, adept printer this whole year long are all out of his hand, that must cost something
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I don't know what's so suspicious about a player famous for floating more than any other top player losing a series due to some extremely sloppy play gifting his opponent several games.
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I am super stoked to see Armani advance to the semifinals. He deserves every bit of the spotlight.
(By the way, does anyone know why GSL doesn't show up in the "Upcoming Events" section of the homepage despite being only ~2 days away?)
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On October 19 2020 23:02 Cultmethd wrote:
I am super stoked to see Armani advance to the semifinals. He deserves every bit of the spotlight.
(By the way, does anyone know why GSL doesn't show up in the "Upcoming Events" section of the homepage despite being only ~2 days away?)
It does, if you click on show more it's the 14th option on the list 
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On October 19 2020 23:02 Cultmethd wrote:
I am super stoked to see Armani advance to the semifinals. He deserves every bit of the spotlight.
(By the way, does anyone know why GSL doesn't show up in the "Upcoming Events" section of the homepage despite being only ~2 days away?)
It's because the calendar is manual, not automated. Events have to be submitted (can be done by anyone) and approved (needs special rights) before showing on the sidebar. Usually for big events people are pretty on top of it but there's no guarantee.
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On October 19 2020 23:29 CaptainBurnTurn wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2020 23:02 Cultmethd wrote:
I am super stoked to see Armani advance to the semifinals. He deserves every bit of the spotlight.
(By the way, does anyone know why GSL doesn't show up in the "Upcoming Events" section of the homepage despite being only ~2 days away?) It does, if you click on show more it's the 14th option on the list
Weird, it definitely wasn't there an hour ago 
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On October 19 2020 05:44 RandomPlayer416 wrote:
I am very suspicious of the way Zest played this matchup.
Before I explain why I will just say that the betting line was 5.00x for Armani to win. So if you were to bet $1000 on Armani you would of won $5000 (for those not familiar with betting lines)
Zests strategy in the first game wasn't the greatest but it wasn't really out of line either. The fact he tried to do the exact same build that failed in game 2 is where it becomes suspicious.
I am not sure what the payout structure is for the GSL but it isn't what it once was. I honestly feel that Zest bet against himself and threw the set because he didn't believe he could beat Maru or Trap. The way he played games 3 and 4 were more legit as he moved away from mass stargate play, then lost to an all in on game 5 making it all seem very legit.
I'm curious what other people think about this.
User was warned for this post.
User was banned for this post.
He earned more than half a million dollars in his career. He need that extra few thousand so hard, that he will risk a match fix for that... According to your logic. Jeez...
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My heart is broken for Zest, but Armani played well. Not extraordinary but quite well balanced.
I wonder why Zest never used disruptors in his army composition...
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EPT
