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ASUS ROG Fall 2021: Another Season Finals?

Forum Index > SC2 General
14 CommentsPost a Reply

ASUS ROG Fall 2021: Another Season Finals?

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
September 16th, 2021 23:38 GMT

ASUS ROG Fall: Another Season Finals?

It hasn't even been a week since the DreamHack Fall Finals ended, and we're about to get a tournament that's just as good. Actually, it might be even better.

No, ASUS ROG doesn't have DreamHack Masters' $50,000 prize pool (it's $15,000 total with a $6,000 first place prize), but it does have an absolutely stacked roster. Top players like Maru, Rogue, and Reynor who failed to make the qualifying cut for DHM are all competing at ASUS ROG, alongside virtually every championship contender in the StarCraft II scene.

In fact, the top eleven players on Aligulac.com are all participating in this tournament. Thus, quite literally, ASUS ROG Fall features the best players in the world.

[image loading]
ASUS ROG Fall 2021

The whole tournament could end up being a succession of dreammatches, which makes ASUS ROG Fall mandatory viewing for all fans of competitive StarCraft II.

Stream Schedule
  • Stream: ROGTournament on Twitch
  • All days start at 11:00 GMT (+00:00)
    • September 17: Round of 16 - Groups A & B (GSL-style)
    • September 18: Round of 16 - Groups C & D (GSL-style)
    • September 19: Playoffs - All rounds (BO5 quarters and semis, BO7 finals)


Points of Focus: Following up on the Season Finals

With basically such a stacked roster, it's impossible to hit on every single storyline at this event. So, instead, I'll focus on some of the loose ends from the Season Finals that we may see tied up at ASUS ROG Fall.

Serral's hit list: The Finnish Phenom looked utterly dominant in the DHM Fall Finals, racking up a 14-1 map record as he ended his 2021 title drought. Some fans downplayed this accomplishment, saying Serral got a lucky bracket where Trap was his only top-tier opponent.

Well, let me try to turn that argument around. What if Serral wanted Clem, Reynor, the elite Korean Zergs, and all the other players who robbed him of championships in 2021? After all, Trap was 2-0 against Serral in major tournaments this year, eliminating him from both NeXT Season 1 (RO8) and DHM Last Chance (finals). Finally given the chance to take revenge against an opponent who had caused him such grief, Serral turned things around and completely crushed Trap by a combined 6-0 map score (2-0 in the group stage and 4-0 in the grand finals). No, Serral wasn't the lucky one at DreamHack fall—it was his rivals who were fortunate not to get humiliated like Trap.

...alright, maybe that's too dramatic of an interpretation. But isn't it way more fun to think of it that way?

The usual Clem TvT/TvP problems: Much like Mvp's wrists, Trap's nerves, or soO's curse, you have to talk about Clem's TvT and TvP issues prior to a major tournament. Yes, it's repetitive. But what else can you do? Are you supposed to ignore the single biggest impediment to a player winning a championship? Indeed, TvP ended up being Clem's downfall in DHM Fall, as he lost to MaxPax in the group stages before losing to PartinG in the quarterfinals.

Personally, I'm still clinging on to the viewpoint that Clem's baseline TvP skill is championship-tier—he just has trouble performing in tournament settings. That certainly seemed to be true in his loss to MaxPax in DHM Fall. Clem went into the match with a seven match winning streak against the Danish Protoss in minor cup competitions (with a ridiculous 18-1 map score in those matches), but ended up bungling his proxy-Void Ray defense in the one match that really mattered. Clem did come back to win the decider match, but was ultimately taken out by PartinG in the playoffs after failing to capitalize on some early leads.

Still, if it truly is a mental/nerves issue for Clem, then it should be fixable. After all, if Trap can get over his RO16 wall in the GSL and soO can win an IEM Katowice, what can't be fixed?

...alright that's a lot of false equivalence. But isn't it way more fun to think of it that way?

Big Gabe's second TvP test: It seemed like HeroMarine's reputation as a TvP expert and #2 placement in the Aligulac.com TvP rankings would be put to the test at DHM Fall, as he was thrust into a three-Protoss group with PartinG, sOs, and Neeb. While HeroMarine ultimately did manage to advance, the bizarre content of his matches prevented us from drawing any big conclusions (well, I suppose all conclusions involving HeroMarine are inherently BIG). He advanced by beating sOs twice, in some strange series where the Team NV Protoss repeatedly went for failed proxy-Gateways in the Terran main. Then, five days later, sOs retired. Yeah... I don't know what to make of that.

Fortunately for people like me who like to see Aligulac's holy database put to the test, and see if HeroMarine is equal to Maru in TvP like the numbers say, he has been placed into yet another one-Terran, three-Protoss group in ASUS ROG. This time he'll be facing Trap, Zest, and herO—one of the more brutal TvP tests anyone could devise. Honestly, even Maru wouldn't be favored to advance from this group, so if Big Gabe can do it, I'm ready to crown him as the universe-spanning, infinite-mass king of TvP.

PartinG finally gets the PvZ's he wanted: One of the more curious takeaways from the interviews at DHM Fall was PartinG's confidence in PvZ. While fans tend to think of him as a PvT specialist, the Big Boy spoke up about how PvZ was the match-up he was most confident in. There was also some sense that PartinG wanted to make up for his lackluster play against Dark in the Code S Season 2 semifinals, feeling that he hadn't been able to show his fans what he can really do.

Well, it looks like PartinG will get his wish after all, as he's been drawn into a group with elite Zergs Rogue and Serral. I have to say, I don't entirely buy PartinG's swagger here—he's rather inconsistent, and thus often ends up talking a bigger game than he can actually play. However, due to his superlative micro, he occasionally plays series that make you wonder why he only has one world championship. Though it's hard to predict him to advance outright, I'm certainly hoping that he shows us the high-level PvZ he thinks he's capable of.




Writer: Wax
Statistics and records: Liquipedia

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TL+ Member
chrusher97
Profile Blog Joined October 2004
Canada811 Posts
September 16 2021 23:51 GMT
#2
What server will these matches be played on?
dysenterymd
Profile Joined January 2019
1199 Posts
September 17 2021 00:02 GMT
#3
Crazy how stacked this tournament is, Bunny is probably the best missing player, which says a lot about the caliber of the competition.
Serral | Inno | sOs | soO | Has | Classic
QOGQOG
Profile Joined July 2019
834 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-09-17 01:13:57
September 17 2021 01:11 GMT
#4
HeroMarine having the #2 TvP spot is one of those things that make me very dubious of Aligulac, but he could well prove me wrong. Be interesting to see how hero can perform.
Kitai
Profile Joined June 2012
United States873 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-09-17 02:07:23
September 17 2021 01:57 GMT
#5
This tourney definitely has the cream of the crop. I feel bad for Astrea and Maxpax - they're the only 2 players that seem to be heavily outmatched by the rest of their group. Everyone else I think has a shot, even if it's an underdog's shot. I'm really looking forward to groups C and D in particular - not generally a fan of ZvZs, but when it's the pretty much undisputed 4 best zergs in the world it gets a bit more interesting
"You know, I don't care if soO got 100 second places in a row. Anyone who doesn't think that he's going to win blizzcon watching this series is a fool" - Artosis, Blizzcon 2014 soO vs TaeJa
angry_maia
Profile Joined August 2020
311 Posts
September 17 2021 02:31 GMT
#6
I think Trap Zest Clem Maru Reynor Dark Serral Parting.

Not exactly bold picks, I picked the overall favorites with the exception of not choosing Rogue. I just don't fully trust Rogue in anything that isn't a bo7.
TanksALot
Profile Joined December 2002
United States153 Posts
September 17 2021 04:23 GMT
#7
Hyped!!
Big up
JJH777
Profile Joined January 2011
United States4400 Posts
September 17 2021 04:25 GMT
#8
All Korea playoffs please.
TheOneAboveU
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Germany3367 Posts
September 17 2021 06:24 GMT
#9
Yes, we've had Season Finals, but what about second Season Finals?

Also Dark please win, thank you.
Moderatoralias TripleM | @TL_TripleM | Big Dark Energy!
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6888 Posts
September 17 2021 07:06 GMT
#10
On September 17 2021 08:51 chrusher97 wrote:
What server will these matches be played on?


I guess they do the standard these days, which is playing on the server in the mid. Matches between EU and KR usually alternate between US Central and US West I believe
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
Argonauta
Profile Joined July 2016
Spain4906 Posts
September 17 2021 07:09 GMT
#11
I just hope Maru will redeem himself
Rogue | Maru | Scarlett | Trap
TL+ Member
MarianoSC2
Profile Joined June 2015
Slovakia1855 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-09-17 13:05:32
September 17 2021 12:56 GMT
#12
Zest vs Trap game 2 best PvP of all time?
By the way Zest seems to be in an unstoppable form, the confidence and strenght that was coming out of his GSL interviews... And his play... There might be something cooking here guys. And if someone deserves to go out with a bang before military, its definitely Zest !
Top 11: Rogue, Maru, Inno, Zest, Life, sOs, Stats, Dark, soO, Mvp, Classic/Trap/MC/Rain
swarminfestor
Profile Joined September 2017
Malaysia2449 Posts
September 17 2021 12:59 GMT
#13
Zest with passion is just another beast in making.
Rogue & Maru fan boy. ^^
yoshi245
Profile Joined May 2011
United States2969 Posts
September 17 2021 13:00 GMT
#14
Zest is on fire. Would be amazing if he continues this momentum and beats Rogue (tall task) in Code S Ro4 later this month.
"Numbers speak about the past, not the present." -Thorzain
uselless
Profile Joined April 2021
92 Posts
September 17 2021 13:51 GMT
#15
Fortunately for people like me who like to see Aligulac's holy database put to the test, and see if HeroMarine is equal to Maru in TvP like the numbers say, he has been placed into yet another one-Terran, three-Protoss group in ASUS ROG. This time he'll be facing Trap, Zest, and herO—one of the more brutal TvP tests anyone could devise. Honestly, even Maru wouldn't be favored to advance from this group, so if Big Gabe can do it, I'm ready to crown him as the universe-spanning, infinite-mass king of TvP.

Wouldn't agree, I think Maru is better than herO and Zest; otherwise, good intro and storybuilding!
maru :D
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